Introduction There are so many wonderful reasons to be a Christian! But I know not everybody feels that way. I once met a woman at a wedding who told me she was not interested in religion. I asked her why. Because it seems to me religion has more constraints than advantages. Really? When you think about it, how many constraints are there? People often point to the Ten Commandments, but is it really a constraint to love God and neighbor by not murdering, stealing, lying, blaspheming, or being disloyal to God, parents, or spouse (present or future)? That is simply to be human. On the other hand, Advent is a wonderful season to think about how many advantages there are to following Jesus! As we look forward to Christmas, why not take a closer look at what we are looking forward to? Many of the advantages to being Christian leap out from the Scriptures we will read at Mass during the next three weeks. Let s explore what Scripture means when it tells us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This Advent, we can all come to see a bit more clearly how Jesus gives happiness and leads us ultimately to the enjoyment of all that is True and Good and Beautiful. twenty-third publications, A division of Bayard; One Montauk Avenue, Suite 200; New London, CT 06320; (860) 437-3012 or (800) 321-0411; www.twentythirdpublications.com ISBN: 978-1-62785-321-7 Copyright 2017 David Knight. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission of the publisher. Write to the Permissions Editor. Printed in the U.S.A. DM DK Knight Advent 2017 final.indd 1
DECEMBER 3 P First Sunday of Advent ISAIAH 63:16b 17, 19b; 64:2 7; 1 CORINTHIANS 1:3 9; MARK 13:33 37 Something New Every Day Be alert! You do not know when mark 13:33 My friend Joey once described his life to me as same old, same old. It s just like throwing old shoes into a box, he said, One thing after another. Nothing ever changes. We can t say that about Christianity. If we experience religion as just rules, rituals, and recitations of the same old doctrines, Advent is a time to wake up. Our religion is ongoing interaction with God. Be alert! We do not know when God is going to show us something new, ask something new of us, or give us new insight into what he has said. Our God is a living God. We are always waiting for God s next move. Advent means coming, or arrival. It is a time to live in conscious expectancy. It reminds us to live our whole lives consciously dealing with the living God. If we ever think we know our religion, we don t understand what it is. Jesus says, See, I am making all things new (Revelation 21:5). DAILY PRACTICE: Expect God to show you something new every day. Look for it. At night, ask what it might have been. ADVENT PRAYER: Pray all day: Lord, make me turn to you; let me see your face. Show me what you are doing, what you are offering, what you are asking. 2 DM DK Knight Advent 2017 final.indd 2
DECEMBER 4 P Monday of the First Week ISAIAH 2:1 5; MATTHEW 8:5 11 Living with God s Strength Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed matthew 8:6 Once in the Smoky Mountains I saw a car go off the road. Some small trees stopped it, and the driver was unhurt. But he was paraplegic, paralyzed from the waist down. I had to drag him up the steep slope to the road. I could barely do it. His paralysis made him dead weight. I had no idea being unable to move could make such a difference. Now I appreciate better the spiritual paralysis of cultural conformity. Sometimes we are simply unable to think, choose, or act as free persons. Exhortations can t move us. We are dead weight. But Jesus is able to enable us. He can give us the power to move. With grace the gift of sharing in the life of God we live and move and have our being on the level of God (Acts 17:28). By faith (and it is a gift), we can know the Truth. With hope (another gift), we can walk in the Way. Through love (the greatest gift), we can experience Life to the full. Without these, we are paralyzed by cultural inertia until Jesus says, Rise and walk! DAILY PRACTICE: Think of some way you just couldn t go against what everyone else is doing like talking or dressing differently, starting conversations about God, inviting friends to read the Bible with you, defending unpopular values, praying out loud. Rethink. Rise and walk. ADVENT PRAYER: Come and save us, Lord our God. 3 DM DK Knight Advent 2017 final.indd 3
DECEMBER 5 P Tuesday of the First Week ISAIAH 11:1 10; LUKE 10:21 24 The Divine Light I give you praise, Father for although you have hidden these things from the wise and learned you have revealed them to the childlike luke 10:21 When I visited Carlsbad Caverns and was deep into the cave, the guide turned off all the lights. I want you all to experience what utter darkness is, she said, perhaps for the first time in your life. We stood there with no stars, no distant streetlights, no ambient light at all. Utter darkness. For those without the divine light of faith, this is what the mysteries of Christianity are: utter darkness. No amount of intelligence or education makes them intelligible. Without the divine light of faith, we simply cannot know Jesus Christ. We cannot know God as Father (1 Corinthians 12:3; Galatians 4:6). We cannot know that we have eternal life (1 John 5:13; John 17:3). We can see what happens at baptism and Mass, but we cannot understand or experience it. Faith is the power, not just to believe, but to see. Many, of course, who call themselves unbelievers have the gift of faith without knowing it. Sometimes, we call these persons anonymous Christians. Sometimes, they put believers to shame. The advantage of being Christian is that we know, and know that we know. DAILY PRACTICE: Count mysteries. Be aware of what your faith adds to things you see and say every day. Join light to sight. ADVENT PRAYER: Lord, you are the fountain of life; in your light let me see light. 4 DM DK Knight Advent 2017 final.indd 4
DECEMBER 6 P Wednesday of the First Week ISAIAH 25:6 10a; MATTHEW 15:29 37 Christianity Is Enjoyment On this mountain the Lord will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food... isaiah 25:6 I grew up on peanut butter sandwiches and hamburgers. Then one day my father took me to Antoine s Restaurant in New Orleans. It was a shock. I never knew such food existed. For those who understand, Mass is the same shocking experience. There we taste the bread of heaven, receiving it both from the table of God s word and the table of the Lord s body. This is the bread of life, about which Jesus said, Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Those who live the Mass will experience this in a way that is beyond all comprehension. Like an extraordinary meal, it cannot be explained; it must be experienced. But for this to really be experienced, all, as Vatican II says, must take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full participation, in order to be drawn into ever more perfect union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all. To taste and see at Mass, we must keep ourselves aware of what we are eating. And also of those with whom we are celebrating. Mass is a communal meal. DAILY PRACTICE: Read Scripture daily, savoring it. Taste what you hear at Mass. ADVENT PRAYER: Lord, you spread your table before me. My cup overflows. 5 DM DK Knight Advent 2017 final.indd 5
DECEMBER 7 P Thursday of the First Week ISAIAH 26:1 6; MATTHEW 7:21, 24 27 A Foundation to Build a Life On Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. matthew 7:24 In El Paso, Texas, a developer from out of state went against local advice and built houses in an arroyo. When the rains came, a solid wall of water washed them all away. It isn t enough to build well; you have to know what you are building on. What Christianity gives us is a solid foundation to build our lives on. In fifty-five years as a priest, I have dealt with many wrecked lives: addictions, unhappy marriages, feelings of aimlessness and failure. In almost every case, the sufferers had not built their lives on the solid foundation Christianity offers: the word and yes, the laws of God, the sacraments, daily reflective prayer, and personal and communal interaction with Jesus as Friend, Teacher, and Lord. For Christians, Jesus is the Way (if we follow), the Truth (if we listen), and the Life (if we live out our relationship with him). He is a rock to build a life on. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse. DAILY PRACTICE: Glance at the foundation your house is built on. Then write down the principles you are building your life on. Check them daily. ADVENT PRAYER: Lord, I will trust you forever, for you are my Rock. 6 DM DK Knight Advent 2017 final.indd 6
DECEMBER 8 P Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary GENESIS 3:9 15, 20; EPHESIANS 1:3 6, 11 12; LUKE 1:26 38 Pardoned and Purified He chose us in him to be holy and without blemish ephesians 1:4 I like stories with happy endings. For all who are in Christ, the ending of our human story is a perfect one. Mary s immaculate conception promises us an immaculate conclusion at the end of our lives. In heaven, we will be as perfect as if we had never, ever, sinned at all: as perfect believe it or not as Mary is. We will be like Christ, says the First Letter of John, for we will see him as he is (1 John 3:2). The Church teaches that in Mary we see the preview and pattern of the Church brought to perfection (prefaces for the Immaculate Conception and Assumption). We will be as free of sin as Mary was from the time of her immaculate conception. We sin, yes. But God does not just forgive us. As Lamb of God, Jesus takes away the sin of the world. The uniqueness of Christianity is that because we have died and risen in Christ we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) not just pardoned, but purified. The Immaculate Conception is the mystery and preview of what we will be. DAILY PRACTICE: Every time you catch yourself saying, I m not perfect, add, But I will be. ADVENT PRAYER: Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds. 7 DM DK Knight Advent 2017 final.indd 7
DECEMBER 9 P Saturday of the First Week ISAIAH 30:19 21, 23 26; MATTHEW 9:35 10:1, 5a, 6 8 Meeting God Face to Face Jesus went around to all the towns and villages matthew 9:35 How long does it take you to get a doctor s appointment? Could you get in to see the president of the United States? Important people tend to be unavailable. God is not only available all the time; in Jesus, he came to earth so we could deal with him face to face. Isaiah says, No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher. And God made sure he would always be available in visible form: Jesus sent out the Twelve after instructing them thus, Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel What is different about Christianity is that, for those who have eyes to see, Jesus is still present in all the members of his body on earth, speaking, acting, and loving with them, in them, and through them. He came to be Emmanuel, God with us, until the end of time. If we are fully aware, our interactions with each other should be mystical experiences! True, for Jesus to be seen in us, we have to live in surrender to him. And we must keep ourselves aware that he is trying to express his truth and his love both through us and through those we deal with. DAILY PRACTICE AND ADVENT PRAYER: Pray the WIT Prayer all day long: Lord, do this with me, do this in me, do this through me. 8 DM DK Knight Advent 2017 final.indd 8
DECEMBER 10 Second Sunday of Advent ISAIAH 40:1 5, 9 11; 2 PETER 3:8 14; MARK 1:1 8 The Kaleidoscope of Faith Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together. isaiah 40:5 Have you seen the glory of the Lord in a sunset? In the faces of children? In the beauty of a running horse? In people acting out of love? John said we would see the glory of the Lord in Jesus: One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. The glory of God is best revealed when God s divine life shines out through our humanity. St. Irenaeus said, Life in humans is the glory of God, meaning the divine life in us that is the vision of God. One advantage of Christianity is that it lets us recognize this glory in Christ s body on earth today. Jesus said of his disciples, I have been glorified in them (see John 17:1 10). And Saint Paul said all his preaching was summed up in the words Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). Jesus said, The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these (John 14:12). God s glory shines in every member of his body. DAILY PRACTICE: Look for glimpses of God showing himself in people you work with. Do they sometimes sound like Jesus? Act like him? ADVENT PRAYER: Lord, let me see your glory. Show me your salvation. 9 DM DK Knight Advent 2017 final.indd 9