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Pope Benedict XVI- Homilies |
On God's Presence and
Coming
"He Is Here and Comes to Visit Us"
H.H. Benedict XVI
Nov. 28, 2009
Homily of
First Vespers for the First Sunday of Advent.
Dear
brothers and sisters,
With
this evening celebration we enter the liturgical time of Advent. In
the biblical reading we just heard, taken from the First Letter to
the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul invites us to prepare for the
"coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (5:23), keeping ourselves
irreproachable, with the grace of God. Paul uses, in fact, the word
"coming," in Latin adventus, from whence comes the term Advent.
Let us reflect briefly on the meaning of this word, which can be
translated as "presence," "arrival," "coming." In the language of
the ancient world it was a technical term used to indicate the
arrival of a functionary or the visit of a king or emperor to a
province. But it could also indicate the coming of the divinity,
which goes out of concealment to manifest itself with power, or
which is celebrated as present in worship. Christians adopted the
word "advent" to express their relationship with Jesus Christ: Jesus
is King, who has entered into this poor "province" called earth to
visit everyone; he brings to participate in his advent those who
believe in him, all those who believe in his presence in the
liturgical assembly. With the word adventus an attempt was made
essentially to say: God is here, he has not withdrawn from the
world, he has not left us alone. Although we cannot see or touch
him, as is the case with tangible realities, he is here and comes to
visit us in multiple ways.
The meaning of the expression "advent" includes therefore also that
of visitatio, which means simply and properly "visit"; in this case
it is a visit of God: He enters my life and wants to address me. We
all experience in daily life having little time for the Lord and
little time for ourselves. We end up by being absorbed in "doing."
Is it not true that often activity possesses us, that society with
its many interests monopolizes our attention? Is it not true that we
dedicate much time to amusements and leisure of different kinds?
Sometimes things "trap" us.
Advent, this intense liturgical time that we are beginning, invites
us to pause in silence to grasp a presence. It is an invitation to
understand that every event of the day is a gesture that God directs
to us, sign of the care he has for each one of us. How many times
God makes us perceive something of his love! To have, so to speak,
an "interior diary" of this love would be a beautiful and salutary
task for our life! Advent invites and stimulates us to contemplate
the Lord who is present. Should not the certainty of his presence
help us to see the world with different eyes? Should it not help us
to see our whole existence as a "visit," as a way in which he can
come to us and be close to us, in each situation?
Another essential element of Advent is expectation, expectation that
at the same time is hope. Advent drives us to understand the meaning
of time and history as "kairos," as a favorable occasion for our
salvation. Jesus illustrated this mysterious reality in many
parables: in the account of the servants invited to await the return
of their master; in the parable of the virgins who await the
bridegroom; or in those of the sowing and harvesting. Man, in his
life, is in constant waiting: When he is a child he wants to grow,
as an adult he tends to his realization and success, growing in age,
he aspires to his deserved rest. However the time comes in which he
discovers that he has waited too little if, beyond his profession or
social position, he has no choice but to wait. Hope marks the path
of humanity, but for Christians it is animated by a certainty: The
Lord is present in the course of our life, he accompanies us and one
day he will also dry our tears. In a not too distant day, everything
will find its fulfillment in the Kingdom of God, Kingdom of justice
and peace.
However, there are very different ways of waiting. If time is not
filled by a present gifted with meaning, the waiting runs the risk
of becoming unbearable; if something is expected, but at this moment
there is nothing, namely, if the present is empty, every instant
that passes seems exaggeratedly long, and the waiting is transformed
into a weight that is too heavy because the future is totally
uncertain. When, instead, time is gifted with meaning and we
perceive in every instant something specific and valuable, then the
joy of waiting makes the present more precious.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us live the present intensely, when
we already have the gifts of the Lord, let us live it projected to
the future, a future full of hope. The Christian Advent thus becomes
an occasion to reawaken in ourselves the true meaning of waiting,
returning to the heart of our faith which is the mystery of Christ,
the Messiah awaited for long centuries and born in the poverty of
Bethlehem. Coming among us, he has brought us and continues to offer
us the gift of his love and of his salvation. Present among us, he
speaks to us in many ways: in sacred Scripture, in the liturgical
year, in the saints, in the events of daily life, in the whole of
creation, which changes in aspect if he is behind it or if it is
obfuscated by the mist of an uncertain origin and an uncertain
future. In turn, we can speak to him, present to him the sufferings
that afflict us, impatience, the questions that spring from the
heart. We are certain that he always hears us! And if Jesus is
present, there is no time deprived of meaning and void. If he is
present, we can continue to wait also when others can no longer give
us their support, even when the present is exhausting.
Dear friends, Advent is the time of the presence and the expectation
of the eternal. Precisely for this reason it is, in a particular
way, the time of joy, of an internalized joy, that no suffering can
erase. Joy because of the fact that God became a child. This joy,
invisibly present in us, encourages us to walk with confidence.
Model and support of this profound joy is the Virgin Mary, through
whom the Child Jesus has been given to us. May she, faithful
disciple of her Son, obtain for us the grace to live this liturgical
time vigilant and diligent in waiting. Amen.
[Translation by ZENIT]
Look
at the One they Pierced!
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
