1 — THE LORD COMES FROM AFAR

1st Sunday of Advent

Presence of God. — The Lord is about to come; I put myself in his presence to meet him with all the impetus of my will.

Meditation

1 — “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar... Looking into the distance, I see the power of God coming... Go and meet him and say to him: - Let us know if you are the One who must reign...”. Thus the liturgy of the day; and, almost as a response, he invites us: “Come, let us adore the King, the Lord who is about to come!...” (BR).

Centuries and centuries have awaited this coming, announced by the prophets, longed for by the righteous who were unable to see the dawn. The Church commemorates and renews this expectation at each return of Advent, and expresses the longing for the Savior who is to come. But for us the ancient sigh, supported solely by hope, has become the confident sigh, supported by the consoling reality of the Redemption already accomplished. Historically accomplished for 19 centuries, it must however be implemented every day, renewed in an ever deeper and fuller reality for every Christian soul. The liturgical spirit of Advent, which commemorates the great wait of the centuries invoking the Redeemer, wants to prepare us to celebrate the mystery of the Word made flesh through an intimate, personal expectation of the renewed coming of Christ in each of our souls. Coming that is realized through grace and, as grace develops and matures, it becomes more abundant, more invasive, to the point of transforming the soul into an alter Christus. Advent is a time of waiting and of fervent longing for the Redeemer: “O heavens, send your dew from above and let the clouds rain down on the Righteous One!” (BR.).

2 — In today’s Epistle (Rom. 13, 11-14) St. Paul exhorts: “It is now time for you to wake up from your sleep.” In Advent, the “spring” of the Church, we must awaken to bear new fruits of holiness; and from today the Apostle points out to us the great fruit of Advent: “let us throw away the work of darkness, let us put on the weapons of light... put on the Lord Jesus Christ”. If our souls had fallen asleep or languished a little in the service of the Lord, now is the time to awaken to new life, to generously strip ourselves of our miseries and weaknesses in order to “put on Jesus Christ”, that is, his holiness. To help us reach this goal, Jesus urges us with the memory of his sweet coming as Redeemer and comes to meet us with his grace: it is the infinite Mercy that bends over us.

On the other hand, the Church, precisely in today’s Gospel (Lc. 21, 25-33), also puts before us the final coming of Jesus as Supreme Judge: “And then they will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory”. Coming of love to Bethlehem, coming of grace in our souls, coming of justice at the end of the centuries: triple coming of Christ, synthesis of Christianity, invitation to vigilant and confident expectation: “Rise up, lift your heads, because your redemption is near”.

Colloquy

My God, Word of the Father, who becomes flesh for our love, who takes on a mortal body to be able to suffer and sacrifice yourself for us, I would like to prepare for your coming with the ardent desires of the prophets and the righteous who in the Old Testament longed for you, the only Savior and Redeemer. “Ah, Lord, send Him whom you must send... As you promised, come and free us!”. I would like to make it like an Advent in my soul, that is, a continuous sigh, a continuous expectation of this great Mystery in which the Word is incarnated, to show us the abysses of your redeeming, sanctifying mercy.

O my sweetest Savior, You come to meet me with your infinite love, with the abundance of your grace: they are torrents of mercy and charity with which you want to invade my soul to attract it to you. Come, oh Lord, come! I too want to run towards you with love, but, unfortunately, my love is so limited, weak, imperfect: You make it strong and generous, make me capable of overcoming myself to give myself totally to you. Yes, my love can become strong because it is based on the intimate certainty of being reciprocated with the love of a God. O Lord, I cannot have any doubts about your tenderness, since You Yourself have demonstrated it to me in many ways with the precise aim of leaving me firmly convinced. So, leaning on yours, my weak love becomes strong with your strength. What comfort, O Lord, at the moment of death, to be able to think that we will have to be judged by Him whom we loved above all things! We will then also be able to come before you with confidence, despite the burden of our debts” (T.G. Cam. 40, 7 e 8).

Grant me, O Lord, such love: I desire it ardently and not only to one day escape your severe judge’s gaze, but also and above all to reciprocate in some way your infinite charity!

O Lord, no, do not allow that excessive love that led you to incarnate for my salvation to be in vain for me! My poor soul needs you so much and sighs for you as for a most compassionate doctor who, alone, can heal its wounds, lift it from the languor, from the lukewarmness in which it lies, can infuse it with new vigor, new impetus, new life. Come, Lord, come! And I prepare to welcome your work with a humble and docile heart, ready to let you heal, purify and work. Yes, with your help, I want to make any sacrifice, I want to renounce anything that could delay your redemptive work in me.

Move, O Lord, your power and come. Come and don’t be late!