advent The Sánchez Archives

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
YEAR A

By
Patricia Datchuck Sánchez

MYTHS AND REVOLUTION

ISAIAH 2:1-5
ROMANS 13:11-14
MATTHEW 24:37-44

Do you believe in Santa Claus? Do you now, or at any time in your life, did you ascribe to the delightful myth of the red-suited, portly, jolly and bearded, giver of gifts? A figure whose origins are usually associated with the equally mythical St. Nicholas, whose feast day was dropped from the calendar in 1969 when it was realized that no historical evidence of his existence could be produced, Santa Claus is nevertheless a popular Christmas character among young people in many western cultures. Variously called Papa Noël (France), Sinter Claes (Netherlands), Kriss Kringle (from the German Christ-kindl), etc., the very idea of Santa Claus evokes excitement and eager anticipation in the hearts of those who prepare for his annual coming. Traditional songs, poems and stories remember and celebrate his appearance. Each year the letters sent to St. Nick, with their lists of desired games and goodies, offer clear evidence of the firm faith and unflinching confidence of their young authors. No request is considered too great and each is made without a shadow of a doubt that Santa Claus and his elves will come through on Christmas morning.

Inevitably, there comes a time in each child’s life, when the wonder of Santa Claus is demythologized; along with the Great Pumpkin, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, the happy myth of Santa Claus must yield to the realization that others (parents, guardians, relatives) have been responsible for the joy and plenty of the Christmas season. Included in the process of demythologizing Santa is a necessary appreciation of the true spirituality of Christmas and of the liturgical season of Advent. For many, however, even their ideas about Christmas and Advent require some measure of demythologization.

Perhaps it is the traditional trappings of the season or the simplistic notion that Christmas is merely the birthday of Jesus. . . whatever the reason, many of us become preoccupied with the star, the shepherds and the stable as the representations of a long-ago birth. Retelling the story certainly has its merits provided that all the ramifications and dimensions of that event are also appreciated. Each Advent, we celebrate the coming, not only of a baby Jesus born in Bethlehem, but of the risen and universal Christ. Each Advent season, we are plunged into his coming, past, present and future; in a wondrous intermingling of possession and expectation, we celebrate the abiding and saving presence of Jesus. As Karl Rahner once explained, the liturgy of the Advent season “unites the past, that is, the Old Testament longing for the coming of salvation, that was still hidden in God alone; the present, that is, the salvation that is now taking place in the world but which is still hidden in Christ; and the future, that is, the salvation which will be unveiled with the transformation of the world at the end of time.” The Church which yearly observes the season of Advent “must make memorial of and reexperience all three mysterious stages of salvation.” (The Great Church Year, Crossroads Pub. Co., New York: 1994).

To demythologize Advent and Christmas is to be renewed in the reality and implications of the Incarnation. Because Christ has come once, he will come again; indeed he has never left, but is continually present in his Church. For this reason, Advent is at once a celebration of the Christ who was, who is and always will be. In addition to being a season of the year, Advent is also a mystery; that is to say, it is a present reality that contains and mediates salvation. In his book, The Revolutionary year, Jay C. Rochelle underscores the importance of celebrating the liturgical mysteries. Celebrations are “a way of organizing religious experience throughout the seasons of the revolutionary year and a medium through which God’s love may be experienced in and through others.” Rochelle uses the term “;revolutionary year,” explaining that from both an emotional and intellectual perspective, the Church assists us to undergo a personal and communal revolution each year we celebrate it” (The Revolutionary Year, Fortress Press, Philadelphia: 1973).

Do you believe in Santa Claus? More importantly, do you believe in Jesus? During the next few weeks, the scriptural texts will confront us with the abiding presence of Jesus in the world, in the Church, in the Word, and in the Bread of Life. How shall his ever-coming and continual saving presence revolutionize your life this year?

ISAIAH 2:1-5

At the beginning of the twentieth century, two countries in South America were experiencing a revolution of a different sort, a revolution which was eventually resolved and put to rest, as it were, at the feet of Jesus Christ.

For decades, the relationship between Argentina and Chile was threatened by political mistrust and disputes over the border between the two nations. By 1900, all out war broke out and when the conflict appeared to be insurmountable, a group of citizens from both Argentina and Chile appealed to their leaders to prevail upon King Edward VII of Great Britain to act as arbiter in their dispute.

After two years of wrangling, the two governments signed a peace treaty. To celebrate the event, a noblewoman from Argentina, Señora de Costa commissioned a statue of Christ to be made, shaped from the very cannons that had previously rained terror and death upon the warring factions.

When it was completed, the bronze likeness of Jesus was carried high up into the Andes mountains to the summit of Uspallata Pass and was set on a granite base, directly on the border between the two countries. There, amid the perpetual snow, the inscription of the statue reads in Spanish: “Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than Argentineans and Chileans break the peace sworn at the feet of Christ the redeemer.”

When Isaiah, son of Amoz, shared his hope and vision of peace with his contemporaries, he also laid it at the feet of his Lord. Only when all the nations of the earth would accept his invitation to come to the mountain of Zion, i.e. Jerusalem, and only when they would accept to be instructed in his ways, only then would true peace become possible.

In a sense, Isaiah’s vision (found also in Micah 4:1-3), served to explode a myth which had been popular among his contemporaries for generations. Ever since the promise made by God to David (2 Samuel 7:14), viz. that his dynasty would never end, the people of Judah looked for a messiah, i.e. an anointed one, to be born of David’s lineage. Gradually these messianic expectations were mythically embroidered with several assumptions, e.g. that the coming messiah or David king would have the military prowess to restore his nation to its former greatness; that Israel would dominate the other nations, impose and enforce its own terms of peace on those nations and, as sole heir of God’s blessings, enjoy all the fruits of the messianic era.

In obvious conflict with Isaiah’s vision, his contemporaries’ messianic myth had to admit to the realization God alone would determine the parameters and terms of peace for his people. War, military might, and provincialism must necessarily yield to the ways of God which negated hostility in favor of a universal and mutual respect. As the instructor, judge and caretaker of all, the Lord himself would speak the words of peace by which all the peoples of the earth should live.

With the advantage of hindsight and through the awareness of faith, believers in Jesus understand that he is the anointed one, by whose coming, true peace has become and attainable reality in this world. But this peace will be finally appropriated and celebrated, only when the tools of human destruction are shaped into implements for human growth. When all accept to beat their swords, cannons and nuclear weapons into plowshares and pruning hooks, then shall the revolution which is the peace of Christ prevail.

ROMANS 13:11-14

Each year, as the holiday season approaches, newsstands and talk shows abound with articles and programs offering advice as to how to deal with and survive the stress and hectic schedule of activities which characterize the last six or seven weeks of the calendar year. The frenzy usually begins with a search for just the right tree, after which it is decorated and homes are festooned with garlands, wreaths, lights, bells and ornaments of every shape, color and style. Parties are planned, cards are written and mailed; a seemingly endless list of gifts are bought, wrapped, mailed and/or delivered. Special foods are prepared, guests both expected and unexpected must be welcomed and entertained. Somewhere, in the midst of all the perennial hullabaloo, Christmas day arrives and despite all the well intentioned albeit materialistic distractions which surround it, the ever-coming presence of Jesus is remembered and celebrated.

In his commentary on this pericope, Charles Curran has suggested that the Romans were very much like the pragmatic and materialistic culture of our present day. “Paul acknowledged that the advantages of physical security and well-being are, of course, valuable and understandable pursuits--within limits. But he is cautioning us that an excessive focus on the material advantages of being a successful and leading nation can lead to a kind of blindness.” (The Word Becomes Flesh, Loyola University Press, Chicago: 1974). He calls us therefore to avoid the darkness of materialism (carousing, drunkenness, sexual excess, lust, quarreling and jealousy) in order to be able to perceive and welcome the daylight which is Christ.

Writing to the church at Rome in the mid to late fifties C.E., Paul’s references to the coming of Christ were obviously focused on his second and final advent. Having rejected the law as the means of salvation, Paul called his readers to embrace the higher ethic which Christ had taught. Consisting of the love of God and all other people --even enemies--, this higher ethic demanded that believers live in constant exposure to the light of Christ.

As Christians living in the time between the two climactic comings of Christ, believers must realize that they are “already living in the eschaton, for the two ages have met. This period of Christian existence is called kairos (hour, vs. 11), a time when Christians are called upon to manifest by their actions that they are such, viz. Christian, and to conduct themselves suitably.” (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, “Romans,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs: 1990).

The kairos, or hour of salvation, is not an event relegated solely to the future, but rather the kairos, the appointed time has begun with the consummation of Jesus’ hour, i.e. with his death and resurrection. Therefore we are challenged to turn our attention away from the countdown of shopping days left until Christmas, away from an undue preoccupation with gifts, decorations, parties, food and festive clothing, in order to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and live honestly, holy and happily in his never ending day.

MATTHEW 24:37-44

Residents of the southern United States, eastern Mexico and the Caribbean are visited annually by fierce storms called hurricanes. Similar storms generated in the Pacific Ocean are called typhoons. These storms usually occur during the months of June to November and provide an opportunity for residents of these areas to be on a “first-name-basis” (pun intended) with the incredible forces of nature. Because of the development of highly sensitive meteorological instruments, hurricanes (and typhoons) can be detected at their point of origin and tracked with an astonishing degree of accuracy. Consequently, residents in the path of the storm can be forewarned; this enables them to make the necessary preparations which include boarding up windows, mooring boats, stocking up on water, batteries, and imperishable foods and, --in the event that a strong storm is expected to make land fall nearby--, to evacuate the area. In spite of the fact that they have been duly warned of the impending danger, there are always a few who literally throw caution to the wind and ignore the advice given them. Others flaunt a cavalier attitude and claim that they can “ride out” the storm. Needless to say, some of these daring individuals have proven to be no match for the storm and have perished during its onslaught.

Evidently there were some in Jesus’ day, as well as in the primordial days of Noah who were similarly unimpressed and unresponsive to warnings concerning divine intervention. Because of this, they were ill-prepared and therefore susceptible to harsh judgment. In today’s gospel, believers are given fair warning. Unlike a storm which can be predicted and tracked, and unlike the shopping days left before Christmas which can be subjected to a countdown, the Son of Man will appear unannounced and unexpected. The only antidote to this realization is to live in a constant state of preparedness, alert to his overtures, mindful of his challenges, aware and responsive to his daily calls to discipleship.

Comprised of three parables, this excerpt from Matthew’s gospel advises its readers of all eras, to remain vigilant at every moment, eagerly anticipating the Lord’s coming. The first parable (vss. 37-39) warns against an over preoccupation with the routine happenings of every day, e.g. “eating and drinking, marrying and being married” (parties, Santa, decorations, gifts, cards, etc.). The second parable (vss. 40-42) underscores the fact that Christ’s coming will bring to light distinctions among people which hitherto had passed unnoticed. For example, two women grinding at a mill or two men in a field will appear to be similar in every way until Jesus is factored into the equation. Only when he appears will differences be known, and these will be determined and judged only by the Lord. A final parable (vss. 43-44) touches the heart of every home-owner. No one desires a break-in; each of us guards against it with a vast array of devices, alarms, watch-dogs, flood lights, etc. Yet, at some point, in each of our lives, without warning and without prior protocol, Jesus has said that he will appear like a thief in the night.

He comes again at Christmas! He comes in the person of the bell-ringer on the corner. He comes in the family in need of a home. He comes in the person confined to home or the hospital for the holidays. He comes in the endless requests for charity for those in need. He comes in you; he comes in me; he comes in the least likely and most unwelcome guest. He comes in quiet and in chaos.

Have you abandoned the myth and embraced the revolution? Are you prepared to welcome him, past, present and future? Do you truly believe in his coming?

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