6. First Friday of Advent

Meditations no. 6 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Our Lord is coming to save us. We are filled with confidence, in spite of our personal failings.

The Lord is coming from heaven in splendour to visit his people, and bring them peace and eternal life. Jesus comes into the world to save us. Our hopes rest on him, for he became flesh out of love for us, and died on the Cross to redeem us. He is always ready to give us his grace, but particularly during this season: grace for a new conversion, grace to rise higher in the supernatural life; grace to be more dedicated, to progress in sanctity, to be more on fire with love.

Behold, the Lord God comes with might, the liturgy proclaims, and he will give light to the eyes of his servants - a supernatural light that reveals Jesus to us as the Saviour. It will also bring the grace we need to make up our minds, once and for all, to follow in his footsteps.

We are looking forward to this new coming of the Lord. In the certainty that we will not have long to wait, we implore him from the depths of our hearts: Come, Lord, and make no delay. We know we are unworthy; but the awaited Saviour is coming, not because of any merits of ours, but because he has heard the call of our wretchedness and has taken pity on us.

Now that the time of our salvation is approaching, it is consoling to hear St Paul’s words: When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy.

If you leaf through holy Scripture, you will discover constant references to the mercy of God. Mercy fills the earth. It extends to all his children, to all living beings, and is all around us. It comes to meet us. It extends to the heavens to help us, and has been continually confirmed. God, in taking care of us as a loving Father, looks on us in his mercy - a mercy that is tender, and as welcome as rain-clouds.

The weaker we feel, the more reason we have for placing our hope in God. It will comfort us to know that he has come on our behalf, and that he has a special love for those who are sick and for sinners who show heartfelt sorrow and contrition. He tells us in the words of Isaiah: Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. For the ruthless shall come to naught and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off.

Anything that obstructs the action of grace must be removed.

The Lord is drawing near. During this first week of Advent we have started preparing for his coming, and our hearts are filled with joy. Nonetheless, it may also be true that deep down we feel a little worried at the thought of meeting him so soon. Jesus’ presence at our side, the sight of his sacred Humanity, throws into relief our own faults and failings and the meagre results of our efforts so far.

We have been chosen by him with a very special love; we have a vocation which is a call to sanctity. St Paul tells us that he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. That call specified what was to be our way on earth. We are convinced that, after the grace of faith, our vocation is the greatest grace and the best possible proof of God’s fatherly love. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? God has shown us his boundless generosity. What more could he have done for us? Today, as we prepare to receive our Lord, we are conscious of how mean and unproductive we have been in the way we have answered his call. It makes us sorry, but not sad or downcast. Our weakness only makes us trust him even more. In the words of St Paul: I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

What security should be ours in considering God’s mercy! If he cries to me I will hear, for I am compassionate. It is an invitation, a promise that he will not fail to fulfil. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The enemies of our sanctification will be rendered powerless, for the mercy of God goes before us. And if through our own fault and weakness we should fall, our Lord comes to our aid and raises us up.

But this trusting attitude should not lead us to become presumptuous or irresponsible. The basis of our hope is the knowledge that God has not abandoned us; the grace of our vocation is always there. Now is the time to uproot old obstacles and open up our hearts loyally to the Saviour. Let us go to meet him with willing hearts, leaving behind all half-hearted desires, all unspoken resistance. Then the graces of Advent will find a broad, smooth channel along which to flow, and Christ’s power will shine forth in our lives.

In the Confidence we receive light to recognize obstacles, and strength to get rid of them.

This is the will of God, your sanctification; so St Paul tells us. Our Lord’s coming, the grace of Advent, reminds us that our divine vocation is a call to holiness. His coming also fills our hearts with confidence, for it tells us that God’s grace will make up for our weakness and help us to do his will. But any obstacles that there are on our part need to be removed. This is the “second conversion” which the liturgy encourages us to undergo during this season of expectation.

Even though we have good will, we should ask God for light to see more clearly. Like the two blind men in today’s Gospel, let us beg insistently: Have mercy on us, Son of David. And when Jesus asks us: Do you believe that I am able to do this? let us answer without hesitation: Yes, Lord.

We will show that we have faith in Christ if we are truly convinced of the value of the fraternal chat. It is there that we will discover, through our Directors, whatever it is that we need so that the graces of Advent can work a new conversion in us. No matter how great our weakness, we too can scale the “humble heights” of love for God, of service to all men. But to do this, we must make sure our soul has no nooks or crannies where Christ’s light cannot shine.

This is what we seek to do when we open our hearts in the Confidence. There we will learn what Jesus wants of us; and we will find out, with no risk of being mistaken, what we need to do to fulfil his will. There we will gain new light to see our way clearly, and strength from God to uproot those things that get in the way -the specific obstacles to our sanctification. In the fraternal chat, we have to throw out all the cares that can separate us from him. And that way, Christ in your intelligence, Christ on your lips, Christ in your heart, Christ in your deeds. Your whole life - heart and deeds, intelligence and words - will be filled with God.

One modest, but very necessary, resolution as we finish this time of prayer is to make very good use of our next confidential chat. Let us place this resolution in the hands of our Blessed Lady. She, our Mother, will help us to carry it out.