THE RISING SUN AND SPLENDOUR OF ETERNAL LIGHT

21 DECEMBER

Song 2:8-14; Ps 33:2-3,11-12,20-21; Lk 1:39-45

From Friendship to Espousal

The Advent season is a season of love.  In yesterday’s reflection, we considered the divine intention of creating man as geared toward developing an everlasting friendship with him. The development of friendship leads to our cohabitation with God and a mystical union with him. We presented familiarity with the word of God as the necessary condition for the divine friendship to develop in our souls. We cannot overemphasize the need to get acquainted with the word of God. The friendship between two persons cannot thrive in their ignorance of each other. God’s self-communication invites us to be his friends. Since ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of Jesus Christ, who reveals the will of the Father. So, it is ultimately the ignorance of the Father’s will. The Church presented the unique example of the Blessed Virgin Mary as one whose occupation and preoccupation were the meditation and contemplation of the divine word. These activities established a unique friendship between her and the Eternal Word; the angel Gabriel testified to this yesterday. At the point of the annunciation by the angel Gabriel, the friendship between the Blessed Virgin Mary and God has entered the level of mystical union, the consent of which God sent the archangel to receive from our Blessed Mother.

Without the consent of the bridegroom and the bride, a marriage or nuptial union cannot be contracted. The exchange of consent marked the conception of the Eternal Word in human nature. The angel Gabriel carried and represented the consent of the Eternal Word, which his words refer to: “Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” These words tell her that the Lord is present and eager to unite with her if she pleases. The invisible presence and intention of the Eternal Word are what the Song of Songs poetically presents to us in today’s reading. That the Blessed Virgin refers to the Eternal Word as my Beloved indicates the maturity of the friendship for marriage. “I hear my Beloved. See how he comes leaping on the mountains, bounding over hills.” These words show the desire of the Eternal Word to be with us always, overcoming every obstacle on the way. He stands behind our wall because human nature is like a wall that prevents us from seeing the presence and desire of God to unite with us. “See where he stands behind our wall. He looks in at the window, he peers through the lattice.” The window and the lattice represent the means through which he communicates with the Blessed Virgin; that is, through the archangel in visible form and audible words. Through these means, she hears his voice loud and clear: “My Beloved lifts up his voice, he says to me, Come then, my love, my lovely one, come. … show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face beautiful.”

The Eternal Word expresses that the time of mere friendship is over; the time is ripe for deeper engagement or marital covenant. Winter and rain characterise the time of friendship when we sow the divine word and cultivate its growth with the graces God provides in abundance. It is a time when we move with difficulty because the ground is wet and covered with rain or snow; we fall easily into sin because of a lack of consistent attention to the word of God. The weather and the atmosphere look sombre and unattractive because of our ignorance of God’s will and his love for us; we approach the word of God in an abstract and nonpersonal manner; because of our attachment to material and passing things that often fail us. All these characterise the time of friendship with the word of God. But it is a necessary season we must pass to get to the season of love and espousal. Once espoused to the Eternal Word, we become developers and facilitators of friendship between the Eternal Word and souls. A soul mystically united with the Eternal Word brings forth Jesus Christ in word and deed. In this sense, the Lord says that whoever does the will of the Father is his mother, brother, and sister. The effect the presence of the Virgin Mary produced in the house of Zechariah confirms the facilitation. “She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” May God grant us the grace to attain mystical espousal with him.

et us pray: Hear in kindness, O Lord, the prayers of your people, that those who rejoice at the coming of your Only Begotten Son in our flesh may, when at last he comes in glory, gain the reward of eternal life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.