Advent

            It is December, cold and dark, silent and dead.  To the ancient Greeks December is the avenging curse of the goddess Demeter because her daughter was abducted to the underworld by the king of night, the god Hades.  In her wrath Demeter uses December to bring about hunger and famine.  But for Christians harsh December is the season of hope amid the darkness of long nights.  Ever vigilant, Advent sees a dawn that breaks forth over the earth.  At first, the light of dawn is dim.  It often shares the sky with long wisps of clouds, the final breath of dying night.  The light is soft yet of deep color, not bold but confident as it fills the whole horizon.  In that dawning light Advent sees the shape of two people coming towards us, the shape of a man and a woman.

            The man arouses intense curiosity.  Along the Jordan he shatters 500 years of silence since the last prophet had appeared.  Full throated he invites to conversion in the baptism in the Jordan.  It is a bath of vigilance because God is near and this bath is an integral preparation for His presence.  It is a bath of humility and of being a good neighbor.  John lives quietly in the wilderness, alone with the Word of God.  Now John the Baptist receives a very public mission in proclaiming the advent of one greater than himself who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and unquenchable fire.  You will see Him stand upon the heights where his glory shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

            The other person, the woman, is Mary.  By contrast with John she is pure silence attending God.  John preached that God was very near.  Mary knows just how near God is – within her and of her flesh.  John speaks to all, unafraid either of broods of vipers or indeed of Herod himself.  Mary speaks to God.  Rejoice O Highly Favored Daughter, the Lord is with You.  He will exult with joy over you and renew you in his love.  He will dance for you with shouts of joy as at a festival!  God’s own joy overflows in Mary touching her prayer, giving it shape.  She exults in the Lord who is holy and faithful, full of mercy without limit.  Torrents of grace overwhelm her – the woman clothed with the sun.  “Come, let me show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb (Rev 21:9).”  She embodies “the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God” with its apostolic foundations. 

            These two figures intensify the light of Advent but also instill a spirit of foreboding.  Of John people asked ‘what will be become? For truly the hand of the Lord is with him.’  And Mary is told ‘a sword will pierce your own soul too.’  What finally does Advent see in the dawning light?  A star…rising…halting…over the place where a child is newly born. 

 Fr. Kevin Tortorelli