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December 10, 2009
— Anniversary of the death of Thomas Merton
+ In keeping with the prophetic spirit we have just heard about in the figure of
John the Baptist this morning, let me quote Fr Louis Merton in regard to this
season of Advent: "We may at times be able to show the world Christ in moments
when all can clearly discern in history some confirmation of the Christian
message.
But the fact remains that our task is to seek and find Christ in the world as it
is, and not as it might be. The fact that the world is other than it might be
does not alter the truth that Christ is present in it and that His plan has been
neither frustrated nor changed: indeed, all will be done according to His will.
Our Advent is the celebration of this hope.
What is uncertain is not the "coming" of Christ but our own reception of Him,
our own readiness and capacity to "go forth to meet Him." We must be willing to
see Him and acclaim Him, as John did, even at the very moment when our whole
life’s work and all its meaning seem to collapse. Indeed, more formidable still,
the Church herself may perhaps be called upon some day to point out the
Victorious Redeemer and King of Ages amid the collapse of all that has been
laboriously built up by the devotion of centuries and cultures that sincerely
intended to be Christian."
One is able to hear in these words of Fr. Louis, the great hope that is ours but
also the very real challenge they present us.
More in keeping with his passage on this day 41 years ago he adds the following
a further on: "Advent for us means acceptance of this totally new beginning. It
means a readiness to have eternity and time meet not only in Christ but in us,
in humanity, in our life, in our world, in our time. If we are to enter into the
beginning of the new, we must accept the death of the old. The beginning,
therefore, is the end. We must accept the end before we begin."
Gospel for December 10, 2009: Matthew 11: 11-15
Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of
women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen; yet the least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he is. Since John the Baptist came, up to this
present time, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the
violent are taking it by storm. Because it was towards John that all the
prophecies of the prophets and of the Law were leading; and he, if you will
believe me, is the Elijah who was to return. If anyone has ears to hear, let him
listen!
Michael Casagram, OCSO
Abbey of Gethsemani
10 December 2009
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