Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
December 2, 2023
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120223.cfm
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we finally stand at the edge of the diving board before our plunge into the sublime days of Advent!
Daniel, at the end of a daunting passage, closes with this conviction that foreshadows the Messiah’s reign:
Then the kingship and dominion and majesty
Daniel 7:27
of all the kingdoms under the heavens
shall be given to the holy people of the Most High,
Whose Kingdom shall be everlasting:
all dominions shall serve and obey him.
In our Gospel, Jesus uses a tone similar to Daniel to encourage our vigilance:
Jesus said to his disciples:
Luke 21:34-36
“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.”
I take these words as an imperative to engage the days of Advent for what they are supposed to be – a time of thoughtful, prayerful preparation to receive the gift and mystery of Christ in all its splendor.
The Gospel seems to suggest that we might become too tired for such prayer during all our frenetic Christmas preparations, or that we might break out the spiked egg nog a little too early. We are admonished to be alert, sober, and unanxious. We are advised to “Be vigilant” – that is, to light the heart’s candle and to wait patiently for God.
Poetry: Tug and Sigh – May Sarton, from “The Silence Now”
Like the datura’s yellow trumpets I am waiting for the breath of angels to perfume the twilight of this ordinary day and play the vigil hymn reminding me that heaven and earth wed long ago. I too am married to the unseen sigh and scent, filling and returning, thus never full – always longing, often failing, yet ever blessed with heaven’s pull.
Music: Silent Vigil – Tony O’Connor
Lavish Mercy 