Point I. The Coming of the Judge.
When will He come?God "hathappointeda day wherein He will judge the world in equity by the Man whom He hath appointed." (Actsxvii. 31). The day then isfixed, "but of that day and hour no one knoweth, no not the Angels of Heaven, but the Father alone." (St. Matt.xxiv. 36).
How will He come?He "shall so come as you have seen Him going into Heaven" (Actsi. 11), the Angel told the Apostles who had just watched His Ascension. He will come, that is, in His beautiful Resurrection Body, dazzling with brightness and glory, with the wounds in Hands and Feet and Side. He will come "with much power and majesty" (St. Matt.xxiv. 30) for He will come to judge, not to preach penance nor atone for sin; He will come unexpectedly "as a thief in the night" (1 Thess.v. 2) "at what hour you think not" (St. Lukexii. 40); He will come "with thousands of His Saints" (Jude 14) for all those "who have slept throughJesuswill God bring with Him" (1 Thess.iv. 13); He will bring, too, "all the Angels with Him" (St. Matt.xxv. 31); He will come "with the voice of an Archangel, and with the trumpet of God" (1 Thess.iv. 15); He will come "with the clouds" (Apoc.i. 7); He will come "in the glory of His Father with His Angels" (St. Matt.xvi. 27); He will come "as lightning" (xxiv. 27) and before Him will come His Cross—"the sign of the Son of man" in the heavens (verse 30), every eye shall see it. What different emotions that sign will excite!
Point II. The Effects of His Coming.
"Every eye shall see Him, and they also that pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth shall bewail themselves because of Him" (Apoc.i. 7).
"We shall all rise again." (1 Cor.xv. 51).
"The sea will give up the dead that are in it, and death and hell ... their dead that are in them." (Apoc.xx. 13).
"The dead who are in Christ shall rise first." (1 Thess.iv. 15).
"We shall be changed, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." (1 Cor.xv. 52).
"He shall send His Angels with a trumpet, and a great voice, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds." (St. Matt.xxiv. 31).
"Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them (those who died in Christ) in the clouds to meet Christ." (1 Thess.iv. 16).
"Then shall He sit upon the seat of His Majesty," (St. Matt.xxv. 31) and "render to every man according to his works." (chap.xvi. 27).
Then "the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be melted with heat, and the earth and the works which are in it shall be burnt up." (2 Pet.iii. 10). And all these events are to take place "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye!" (1 Cor.xv. 52).
With the vivid words of Scripture before us, it is not difficult to make a picture of the scene—the sign of the Cross where all can see it; the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God heralding the approach of the Judge; the Son of Man, coming in the clouds with all His Angels and thousands of His Saints (all those from Heaven and Purgatory); the cries of those to whom His coming is as that of "a thief in the night" (1 Thess.v. 2); the shouts of joy of "the children of light" (verse 5); the opening of the graves, the sea giving up its dead and the reunion of each soul, whether from Heaven, Purgatory or hell, with its body; the changing of the bodies of those who are living on the earth into Resurrection bodies; then the great multitude of the electclothed in their bodies of immortality rising to meet their Lord in the air; then "the great white throne" set up and He who is "appointed by God to be Judge" (Actsx. 42) taking His seat upon it, "His garment ... white as snow ... His throne like flames of fire ... thousands of thousands" ministering to Him (Dan.vii. 9, 10); the dead, great and small, standing in the presence of the throne (Apoc.xx. 12), "ten thousand times a hundred thousand" standing before Him. (Dan.vii. 10).
Point III. The Judgment.
(1)The Separation.Quickly the Angels separate that vast multitude into two companies—those on His right Hand and those on His left, the sheep and the goats, those who are to enter into life everlasting and those who are to enter into everlasting punishment (St. Matt.xxv. 46); those who have been faithful over the few things entrusted to them and those who have hidden their Lord's talent; those whose lamps are burning and those whose lamps are going out. There is fixed a great chaos between the two companies, so that they who would pass from one side to the othercannot, it is too late. (St. Lukexvi. 26).
(2)The books."And the books were opened ... and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books, according to their works." "And another book was opened, which is the book of life," and only "they that are written in the book of life of the Lamb" shall enter Heaven. (Apoc.xx. 12,xxi. 27). "Every man's work shall be manifest" (1 Cor.iii. 13); "every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of Judgment" (St. Matt.xii. 36). Then will be seen, andallwill acknowledge it, the triumph of right over wrong, the triumph of theKingdom, the triumph of Christ; then will be adjusted all that we have so often longed to adjust but could not, for "let both grow together till the harvest" was the King's order. Then will seeming injustices be explained and crimes that have called to Heaven for vengeance receive their just reward. Then will the unanimous cry be: "The Lord He is God," and all will be forced to add: "He doeth all things well."
(3)The Sentences.There are onlytwo: (1) "Then shall the King say to them that shall be on His right Hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." He tells them why they are to have such a blessed reward—they have been faithful subjects of their King during their lives on earth, they have ministered to His needs, lived for Him and not for self. They seem surprised, they cannot remember doing acts of charity to their King and He explains: "As long as you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me." (St. Matt.xxv. 40). The sentence "Come" is pronounced on those who lived their lives for their King, who did all they had to do, no matter what it was, for Him, thus uniting themselves with Him, and now He will unite Himself with them for all eternity—"Come!"
(2) "Then He shall say to them also that shall be on His left Hand: Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire." And again He gives His reasons for this terrible punishment—they would not acknowledge Him as their King, would not serve Him, lived for self instead of for Him and His brethren: "As long as you did itnotto one of these least, neither did you do it to Me" (verse 45). During their lives they separated themselves from the King and His interests: "We will not have this Man to reign over us;" now He will separate Himself from them for all eternity.—"Depart from Me!"
Then He "will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into My barn." (St. Matt.xiii. 30). "The Angels shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire" (verses 49, 50). "Then shall the just shine as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear let him hear" (verse 43).
Colloquy.
Inter oves locum praesta,Et ab hoedis me sequestra,Statuens in parte dextra.(Among the sheep grant me a place,separate me from the goats,placing me on Thy right Hand).
Inter oves locum praesta,Et ab hoedis me sequestra,Statuens in parte dextra.(Among the sheep grant me a place,separate me from the goats,placing me on Thy right Hand).
Resolution.To remember "the doctrine ... of eternal judgment" (Heb.vi. 2) to-day.
Spiritual Bouquet."He shall come again to judge the living and the dead."
"A man going into a far country called his servants and delivered to them his goods; and to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to every one according to his proper ability; and immediately he took his journey."(St. Matt.xxv. 14).
"A man going into a far country called his servants and delivered to them his goods; and to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to every one according to his proper ability; and immediately he took his journey."
(St. Matt.xxv. 14).
1st. Prelude.Jesustelling this parable to His disciples.
2nd. Prelude.Grace to learn the lessons from it which He intended.
Point I. The Talents.
It is Christ Himself Who is the Author of this parable and He told it to show us how we are to prepare for His Coming. Every word of it is of importance and bears some instruction or warning for Advent.
The "man going into a far country" is the Man-God, He Who came from Heaven to take our human nature and to redeem us to God by His Blood. His work of Redemption is finished and He is going back to His own country—"A far country"—implying that He will be gone a long time.
(He) "called His servants." They are His own servants, He has created them, He has bought them with His Blood, they belong to Him—their service, their time, their very lives are His, and this not because they areslavesforced to labour, but because of their own free will and out of love and gratitude to Him who has bought them from the cruel slavery of sin, they have said: "I love my Master ... I will not go out free" (Ex.xxi. 5).
"And (He) delivered to them His goods." They areHisgoods not the servants', they all belong to Him and He entrusts them to His servants to take care of them and to do the best they can with them while He is gone. What are these "goods?" All the good things which God has given to man—his life, his preservation, his Baptism, his christian education, intellect, faith, health, rank, wealth, talents, conscience, opportunities of doing good, position,—and all have to be traded with, for the Master to Whom they belong. His "goods" include too what the world would label "evils"—ill-health, difficulty, failure, poverty, incapability; these have to be traded with too, and there is often a higher profit to be made out of these than out of the others. They are all the Master's goods and He delivers them to His servants.
"To one He gave five talents and to another two and to another one, to every one according to his proper ability." He knows His servants, and He knows exactly the strength and capability of each. He measures each burden before imposing it and calculates each sum before giving it. This servant can manage five, this one two, this can only manage one. It is no disgrace to have only one talent, the ability of the servants is the Master's affair, not the servants'. They cannot turn to Him and say: "Why hast Thou made me thus?" (Rom.ix. 20). He makes each one according to His own Will and endows him according to His Will too. What the servant has to remember is that he is responsible for all that is entrusted to him, that hecantrade with it and that it is not too much for him, it is "according to his proper ability," and that though his Master will never try to reap where He has not sown, Hewillexpect to reap where Hehassown, He will expect a harvest from each talent.
Point II. The Traders.
"He that had received the five talents went his way and traded with the same and gained other five." He lost no time, he loved his Master and he loved the "goods" because they belonged to his Master and because they had been lent by Him. The whole of their value lay in the fact that they were the Master's; he felt responsible, he must not only take care of them but put them to the best account, and so he set to work at once to trade with them, and he did well, for he gainedcent per cent!
"And in like manner he that had received the two gained other two." There was no jealousy, no thinking the Master partial or that He had underrated his powers in only giving himtwotalents. He loved and trusted his Master; the two talents were very precious because they were His and because Hehad chosen them out with such love and care, giving the servant just what he could manage, no more and no less. He went and traded and did as well as the first,cent per cent.
Thus the good servants, that is those who love, who have said, Iwillnot go out free, are always trading for their Master. They say to themselves: This talent, this time, this opportunity, this health, this strength belongs to my Master not to me, I must use it for Him. They forget sometimes; the Master is so long away and they act as if the goods were their own, and even trade with them for their own profit, using their talents to attract people to themselves rather than to their Master! But as they really love Him and want to "trade" for Him only, they see the dishonesty of their trading and they do their best by acts of reparation to restore to Him His own. When He comes back, He will not expect perfection buteffort. Some, He says, will gain "a hundred fold" but for our consolation and encouragement He adds: "some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold" (St. Matt.xiii. 8).
"But he that had received the one, going his way digged into the earth, and hid his lord's money." He lost no time either, his mind was made up at once, he would take no trouble, make no effort, would hide his Master's talent and forget all about it; he wanted no responsibility, he could not be troubled with "trading." His Master could not expect much from him, he argued, because he had entrusted so little to him, he knew he was not capable of doingmuch, but he would do nothing at all. He did not waste or spoil his Master's goods, his sin was one ofomission—you did itnotto Me. He dug in the earth instead of laying up treasure in Heaven.
Point III. The Reckoning.
"After a long time the Lord of those servants came and reckoned with them." Each servant must come up before Him to give an account and to be judged according to his works.
"Lord, Thou didst deliver to me five talents, behold I have gained other five over and above."
"Lord, Thou deliveredst two talents to me, behold I have gained other two." The Lord gives exactly the same answer, the same reward to each, showing clearly that what counts in the reckoning is not thenumberof good works but the spirit and intention and motive with which they are done, be they many or few.
"Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things." The reward is not given to the most capable, nor to those who have the most or the greatest talents, but to those who have beenfaithfulover the few things entrusted to them. They have traded with their talents for God's glory and for the salvation of their own souls. They have realized that each thing entrusted to them was a "good," whether it was sickness or health, poverty or riches, prosperity or adversity, and they have said about each: This belongs to the Master, how can I best use it for Him? Now they find that the merit of each action done, each suffering borne for Him, has been carefully stored up.
"Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." It is His joy, His interest, His glory that the faithful servant has studied on earth, now he shall share them for ever.
"He that had received the one talent came and said: Lord, I know that Thou art a hard man" expecting the impossible,"and being afraid I went and hid Thy talent in the earth; behold here Thou hast that which is Thine." He could have traded and madecent per centas the others had done and earned the "Euge" ("Well done!") He not only did not do this, but he put all the blame on his Master Who with such care had given him just the talent that was suited to his ability. He wasafraid, he said, afraid of what? Of his Master because He was hard and unjust? No, this was only an excuse, he knew his Master and he knew it was not true. What he was afraid of was hard work, effort, ceaseless watching against temptation. It was far less irksome to bury the talent and live a life of ease, letting things just take their course, and hoping all would come out right in the end; but at the end things were not right, for he had nothing to give to his Master, the one talentwasthe Master's, he knew that quite well: "Behold here Thou hast that which is Thine."
"Wicked and slothful servant"—wicked, because he had robbed God of His rights; slothful, because he would not raise a finger to serve his Master.
"Take ye away therefore the talent from him and give it him that hath ten." It is a solemn thought that a grace refused by one may be handed on to another who is more faithful.
"To everyone that hath shall be given" is a principle of the Kingdom. He ever giveth "grace for grace" (St. Johni. 16). For every grace used He gives "more grace"—"he shall abound."
"From him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away." There is such a thing as a last grace, a last opportunity. God has nowhere pledged Himself to give the grace of repentance; grace is ever a free gift and He is not unjust if He withholds it. I can never say: I will sin and repent after! To sin is in my power, but to repent is not. Our Lord speaks of sinners filling up the measure of their iniquity (St. Matt.xxiii. 32). Had Herodreached the limit, filled up the measure? Is that why Our Lord refused to speak to him? We do not know, but we do know that it is possible for a sinner to sin to such an extent—not necessarily by gross sin, but by steadily refusing God's grace and the opportunities offered to him—that what he has, that is, his opportunities, will be taken from him.
"The unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness." He ever shunned the light and now it willneverbe his. He wasunprofitable, that was his sin, he did nothing for his Master. All sins, however terrible, will be forgiven if the sinner turns to God and repents, because his repentance shows that he is "trading," though he may often fail in his business; but the unprofitable servant carries on no trade with God at all, he leaves Him out altogether. There is nothing for God to do but to leave him out in the "exterior darkness" which he has deliberately chosen.
Colloquywith the Master, Who though He is a "long time" coming, is never far from those who are trading for Him.
Resolution.Never to leave the Master out of anything I do.
Spiritual Bouquet."Well done good and faithful servant!"
"I think it meet ... to stir you up by putting you in remembrance."(2 Pet.i. 13).
"I think it meet ... to stir you up by putting you in remembrance."
(2 Pet.i. 13).
1st. Prelude.Paul writing to Timothy: "Stir up the grace of God which is in thee" (2 Tim.i. 6).
2nd. Prelude.Grace to stir myself up this Advent.
On the Sunday before Advent and nine times during the Advent Masses, the Church puts on the lips of her children this prayer:Stir up, O Lord. Let us try in this Meditation to catch her spirit which runs all through the Advent season and see what it is that she wants God to stir up.
Point I. His own Might.
We ask Him during Advent to stir up His might for four different reasons.
(1)To protect and deliver us."Stir up Thy might, we beseech Thee O Lord and come: that by Thy protection we may deserve to be delivered from the threatening dangers of our sins and by Thy deliverance be saved." (The "Collect" for Advent Sunday.)
We ask Him to show His might byprotectingus from dangers and bydeliveringus from sin. We want to spend a good Advent, we want to prepare well for His Coming, then there rise up before us the "threatening dangers of our sins"—those old temptations that are sure to come back again as soon as we begin to put forth fresh effort. Are we to be discouraged, to dread them, to say we are sure to fall again, and thus give the enemy a hold over us? No, but to believe that our God Who is coming will protect us in the day of battle, that though to humiliate and to strengthen us, He may still permit the temptations, yet He will Himself be our shield and buckler, and will deliver us if we trust in His strength and not in our own—"Stir up Thy might, O Lord, and come to protect and deliver."
(2)To free us from adversity."Stir up Thy power, we beseech Thee O Lord and come, that they who confide in Thy mercy may be more speedily freed from all adversity" (The "Collect" for Friday in Ember week).
The adversity from which the Church prays to be freed here is probably the same as she continually teaches us to pray for deliverance from in her Litanies: war, pestilence, famine, floods, earthquakes—all things which damage the peace of nations and the produce of the earth, great national disasters. From all such the world will never be free till the Advent of her Lord, till God stirs up His power and comes to save it. Meanwhile for our consolation we can remember that it is when God's judgments are in the earth that the nations learn justice (Isaiasxxvi. 9). Adversity is a great teacher and trainer for Heaven, and as we advance in the spiritual life we see more and more that many things which are adversity to the body are prosperity to the soul. We should naturally like to be freed from the adversity of sickness, poverty, failure, loss of friends, of health and strength, but all these adversities have their work to do. "These are they who came out of great tribulation," and it is probable that but for the tribulation many would never "have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Apoc.vii. 14). Let us strive to be amongst those whotrustHim, whoconfidein His mercy, who believe that He knows what is best for them, and who gladly let Him arrange all for them. Hewillstir up His power and speedily free them one day, but it will not be till the flail of adversity has done its work and the corn is ready to be garnered in the heavenly barns.
(3)To save us."Stir up Thy might O Lord and come to save us."
In the Masses for the third week, that is Ember week, the prayer occurs five times, twice in the Mass for the third Sunday and three times in that for Ember Saturday. The time of the birth of the Saviour is drawing nearer, and the Church is beginning to be importunate. Stir up Thymight; for thoughHe is coming as a little helpless infant, He is God "mighty to save."
(4)To accelerate His Coming."Stir up Thy might, we beseech Thee O Lord and come; and succour us with great power, that by the help of Thy grace, the indulgence of Thy mercy may accelerate what our sins impede." (The "Collect" for the 4th. Sunday of Advent).
We ask Him to stir up His might incoming. His Advents show His Omnipotence. Only aGodcould come to this world to save it, only aGodcould come to a soul and raise it to the supernatural state. These are miracles and we ask Him to stir up His might to come and work them. It is our sins that hold Him back and hinder His work both in our own souls and in the world. We want them to do so no more and so we ask for His succour and indulgence.
Point II. Our Wills.
"Stir up the wills of Thy faithful, O Lord, we beseech Thee; that earnestly seeking after the fruit of good works, they may receive more abundant helps from Thy mercy." (The "Collect" for the Sunday before Advent).
Here we pray for something which it is far more difficult to "stir up"—our own wills. We are not sufficiently in earnest; the might and the mercy of God are there waiting to help us, but we have not the energy nor the desire to receive them. We weaken our wills by yielding to temptation, by deliberately going into occasions of sin, by allowing ourselves to be careless about rules and resolutions, by letting things drift and contenting ourselves with a low standard. Advent is a time to rectify all this, to pull ourselves up and make a fresh start, and if we are in earnest, we shall gladly join in the prayer: "Stir up the wills of Thy faithful, O Lord,"stir upmywill. It is not a prayer to be said lightly for it means much—a will stirred up to "seek after the fruit of good works" means constant and continued effort; it means mortification, suffering, death to self; it means a determination to do or sufferanythingrather than run theleastrisk of committing theleastsin; it means constant unremitting attention to little things—to the smallest duties, the least prickings of conscience; it means hard work.DareI say this prayer? If I amreallyanxious for "the fruit of good works," I shall dare anything. Fruit is impossible without hard work either in the natural or the spiritual world.
"Who is sufficient for these things?" Certainly I am not, but the consolation is that the work isco-operative. As soon as I pray: Stir up my will, O God, because I want to bring forth fruit to Thy glory; He will be there giving me "more abundant helps" from His mercy. God does not expect me to work alone, nor to suffer alone, nor to make efforts alone. What He wants is a good will. He is coming "to men of good will," and nothing can prove that I am one of them, better than a fervent prayer that my will may be stirred up, cost what it may. The "abundant helps" will immediately be at my service; and when it seems sometimes as if, in spite of all my efforts, the day is going to be lost, I will hold on still, remembering that the help is "moreabundant" when the need is greater. The stores of His mercy are infinite and He ever givesmoreto the generous soul.
Point III. Our Hearts.
"Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the ways of Thy only-begotten Son: that by His Coming we may be worthy to serve Thee with purified minds." (The "Collect" for the 2ndSunday of Advent).
Here lies the secret; if ourheartsare stirred upthere will be little difficulty about ourwills. If Ilove, I shall gladly make efforts, no trouble will be too much, no work too exacting, no sacrifice too great, no mortification too hard. "If you love Me, keep My commandments." My will is to be stirred up toseek, but my heart is to be stirred up toprepare. It is my King Who is coming, He Who has a right to my heart, and He is quite sure to pass by my way, for to win my heart and make it all His own is one of the special reasons of His Coming. No pains, no cost shall be spared in my preparation; my heart shall be decorated with the flowers that I know He loves and hung with banners which shall speak of my gratitude for all He has done. This is the preparation of the heart—the preparation oflove; and it will not stop at my own heart, for if I really love my King I shall take an interest in all the work that He is coming to do; I shall try to prepare His way for Him in the hearts of others; I shall let them know thatJesusof Nazareth is going to pass by. Perhaps I shall have no opportunity of speaking about His visit, but the careful preparations I am making will not go unnoticed—each thing that I do out of love to Him will in some way or another spread His Kingdom in the hearts of men.
Colloquy.With my King Who is coming.
Resolution.To do somethingto-dayin preparation.
Spiritual Bouquet."Stir up!"
"This is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my Angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee."(St. Matt.xi. 10).
"This is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my Angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee."
(St. Matt.xi. 10).
1st. Prelude.Picture of the Naming Day of St. John the Baptist who is on Our Lady's knee, while Elizabeth and the kinsfolk are discussing the name and Zachary is writing on a tablet; St. Joseph is looking on.
2nd. Prelude.The spirit of penance.
Often during Advent the Church directs our thoughts to the great Precursor ofJesusChrist, to him who was sent to prepare His ways. On four occasions she chooses for the "Gospel" in the Mass, passages which relate to St. John the Baptist and his work of preparation. If we would prepare well for the coming of our King, we cannot do better than meditate on St. John the Baptist and try in our small measure to prepare as he did.
Point I. The Preparation before his birth.
(1)A prophecy.Four hundred years before the Precursor's birth, Malachias prophesied of him: "Behold I send My angel," that is Mymessenger; and Our Lord tells us expressly (His words are noted by three of the Evangelists, St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke) that this messenger was John the Baptist, who was sent by God to prepare the ways of the Messias.
(2)His miraculous conception—for his parents were both "well advanced in years." Both his fatherand mother were "just before God walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame;" and they had their cross to bear—the "reproach" of having no son and therefore no hope of the Messias being born to them; but this did not prevent them from praying, as all fervent Israelites prayed, for the coming of the Messias. The answer to their prayer was nearer than they thought. One day as Zachary was performing the most solemn part of his priestly office—offering incense on the golden altar that stood "over against the veil" which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies—he saw an angel standing on the right side of the altar, who, after he had calmed his fear, told him that his prayer was heard, that the Messias was coming, and that his wife Elizabeth was to bear him a son who was to be His Precursor, "he shall go before Him." The angel then prophesied many things about this child, which all show how careful was God's preparation of His Precursor:
"Thou shall call his name John" (the Grace of God). Only those who had an important future before them were named by God Himself before their birth.
"Many shall rejoice in his nativity." Many—both angels and men.
"He shall be great before the Lord." Great in sanctity and great in office.
He "shall drink no wine nor strong drink." He shall be a Nazarite, one separated and consecrated to God by a vow.
"He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb"—that is, he shall be cleansed from the stain of original sin and put into the state of grace before his birth as was Jeremias (Jer.i. 5).
"He shall convert many" by preaching penance and telling of Him who takes away sin.
"He shall go before Him ... to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people." Zachary listened but he could not believe that what he heard was true, though Gabriel, who stands before God, had been sent expressly to him with the message of good tidings. He asked for a sign and He received one which not only proved to him that God can do what He wills as He wills, but also that He expects His children to trust Him.
When at length Zachary appeared from behind the curtain to the waiting and wondering people, instead of giving them the accustomed blessing (Num.vi. 24, 26), he made signs to them and remained dumb and they understood that he had seen a vision. God dealt severely with Zachary because he was so closely bound up with the Advent of the Messias. He had to be taught, and we through him, that the least venial sin may hinder God's work and designs, and that if we would be His instruments used by Him for the preparation of the Coming of His Son, we must be absolutely faithful about little things, full of confidence in God, setting no limit to His power and never doubting His dealings with us.
(3)He was filled with the Holy Ghost.Six months later, Elizabeth who had been waiting in solitude and silence for God to fulfil His designs, received a visit from the Mother of God, and the Precursor and the Messias Who was to come were brought into close contact. We cannot doubt that it was at that moment when, as Elizabeth said "the infant in my womb leaped for joy," that John was "filled with the Holy Ghost." Thus God cleansed His Precursor before his birth from the stain of original sin, again showing us that those who are to prepare for the Coming of His Son must be distinguished by their purity.
(4)By the holiness of his mother and his home.His mother taught by the Holy Spirit was the first to recognize Our Lady as the Mother of God; she was saluted by Our Lady and ministered to by her. She had the unspeakable privilege of having Our Lady with the blessed Fruit of her wombJesusliving under her roof for three months. A home where the Mother of God was welcomed and honoured—such was the home God chose for the Precursor of His Son.
Point II. The Preparation after his birth.
"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came to bear witness of the Light, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people." (The "Gradual" for the Vigil of St. John the Baptist). The Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is a Double of the First Class with an Octave, for Mary and her Son were present at his birth and he was "great before the Lord."
The eighth day was the day of circumcision and the naming day. Everybody naturally was calling him Zachary, but his mother who knew from her husband that the name was fixed, said: "Not so, but he shall be called John." They would not have it and appealed by signs to the deaf and dumb father, who wrote: "Johnishis name," for "he was so named of the angel before he was conceived." At that moment Zachary's penance came to an end and "hespokeblessing God." This fresh miracle was soon "noised abroad" and the people asked in fear: "What an one, think ye, shall this child be?" Zachary, "filled with the Holy Ghost," used his loosed tongue to sing his beautiful hymn of praise to God who had remembered His holy testament, and had allowed "theOrientfrom on high" to visit them. And then addressing his little son, he said: "And thou child shalt be called the prophet of theHighest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways."
He began to "prepare His ways" by a life of hardship, solitude and penance, having no fixed home, living on what he could find in the deserts—locusts and wild honey, and wearing as a garment camels' hair with a leathern girdle. Tradition tells us he began all this at a very early age and he continued it "until the day of his manifestation to Israel," that is, until the day he left his solitude and began to preach—nearly thirty years later. He had thirty years' preparation for his life's work, like Him whose way he was preparing, and he was preparing it no less as a solitary in the deserts than as the great preacher of penance by the Jordan.
What lessons can we learn for our own preparation for the Coming of Christ this Advent?
1. That because we are going to be amongst those who in some way or other "prepare His ways," God has occupied Himself with our preparation even before we were born. Either by surrounding us with good, or by bringing good out of evil or by some of His many ways which are not our ways, He has had a hand in all that concerns us. We have first firmly to believe this, and secondly to co-operate with all God's designs for us, as John did.
2. That if we would prepare the ways of Christ we must be familiar with His Mother, accustomed to receiving her salutations and to returning them. That we must have her to live with us and take an interest in all that concerns us. Who could better help us to prepare for the Coming of her Son than His own Mother?
3. That we must be filled with the Holy Spirit and never turn Him out of our hearts by sin. It would be useless to try to prepare the way for Christ if we had not the co-operation of the Holy Spirit.
4. That penance in one form or another must have a share in our preparation for the Coming of Christ. All we know of John from the time of his infancy till he began his mission is that "he was in the deserts." It was not that he preferred such a life, but he felt that it was the one most suited to his own preparation for the Messias, for during those long years in the deserts he was preparing the way of Christ in his own heart; during his mission he prepared it in the hearts of others. Solitude, fasting, lack of ease and comfort, coarse clothing—these were the allies which John chose to aid him in his preparation for the Coming of the King, for His "Kingdom is not of this world" and "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal" (2 Cor.x. 4). He was consecrated to God, and he separated himself from everything that might interfere with his entire consecration.
Colloquy.(1) With God the Father Who has chosen me to prepare the ways of His Son.(2) With Him Who is coming.(3) With God the Holy Ghost Who is co-operating with me.(4) With Our Lady who is ready to let me do all my work by her side. (Ecclus.xxiv. 30).(5) With St. John the Baptist who will obtain for me, if I ask him, the spirit of penance.
Resolution.To examine myself to-day as to the place penance is having in my Advent, and if it has none, to fix at leastonedaily penitential act.
Spiritual Bouquet."He was in the deserts."
"In those days cometh John the Baptist preaching in the desert of Judea.... preaching the baptism of penance unto remission of sins."(St. Matt.iii. 1. and St. Marki. 4).
"In those days cometh John the Baptist preaching in the desert of Judea.... preaching the baptism of penance unto remission of sins."
(St. Matt.iii. 1. and St. Marki. 4).
1st. Prelude.John preaching and baptizing by the Jordan.
2nd. Prelude.Gratitude to the "Friend of the Bridegroom" for pointing Him out to the Bride.
Point I. The Prophet.
When John was about thirty years of age the "word of the Lord" (St. Lukeiii. 2) reached him in his solitude, just as it had done all the prophets of old from Samuel down to Malachias, but since then, that is for a period of four hundred years, God had spoken through no prophet. As a result of this "word" the "Prophet of the Highest" came into all the country about the Jordan—a large area—and began his mission. His arrival made a great stir and the people flocked to see and hear him. There "went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the country about Jordan." All classes went—publicans, soldiers, even the Pharisees and Sadducees, for if this man were really a prophet sent from God, it behovedthemto know all about him. What did the multitudes see? A man wearing a "garment of camels' hair and a leathern girdle about his loins," whose food consisted of locusts and wild honey—a man as the Angel Gabriel had prophesied "in the spirit and power of Elias" (seeivKingsi. 8). What did they hear? A voice ofone crying in the desert: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight His paths." (St. Matt.iii. 3). And what were their conclusions? That this was he who was spoken of by Isaias the prophet (verse 3), that he was "sent from God" (St. Johni. 6) and that he "came for a witness, to give testimony of the light" (St. Johni. 7). What light? The "Light of the world." John came to proclaim that the dawn which the world had been so long watching was on the point of giving place to day, that the "Sun of justice" was even now rising with "health in His wings" for those that feared God's name, and that they must go forth to meet him (Mal.iv. 2).
I too must go forth. What am I going to do to-day which will prove to myself, to my Guardian Angel, to my Patron Saint, to Mary my Mother and to Him Who is coming that I am preparing the way of the Lord?