"Heart of my own heart"

Ah, week two of Advent is nearly in the books. What a week this was: Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Loreto, and Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is fitting that we honor the Blessed Virgin during Advent. When I consider most of those to whom Our Lady has appeared, they, too, were lowly people. I think of the children of Fatima, Saint Bernadette, and Saint Juan Diego, among others. Indeed, as Paul wrote: "God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something" (1 Cor 1:27). Of course, this reached its culmination with Jesus's birth in Bethlehem. The title of John Meier's magisterial work gets this quite right, Jesus was A Marginal Jew.

For many, myself included, the end of this year seems like the end of the world. The coup in Bolivia, the election results in the United Kingdom, the unsettling political situation here in the United States, the latest installment of which is a very troubling Executive Order concerning the nature of Judaism, something the state should never address, especially after the horror that occurred in Germany in the twentieth century.

While political engagement is not to be eschewed, it bears remembering that as Christians we should remain thankful in all circumstances, return good for evil, love and pray for those whom we perceive as our enemies. This does not for one moment mean we should give up resisting and opposing what what is clearly evil. Our resistance primarily consists of continuing to do good in the midst of evil, to appeal for justice in the face of injustice, etc. I can't help but think what powerful witnesses the Cistercian martyrs of Tibhirine, Algeria remain for us today. They demonstrate for us how to follow Christ in the midst of violent chaos; how to resist evil through non-violence. Non-violence is not passivity. Non-violence has nothing to do with fatalism. Non-violence, especially in the face of violence, is perhaps the ultimate witness to hope.

In addition to this week's heavily Marian character, today is the Feast of Saint Lucy. She is a martyr, one of the many who are mentioned in the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I). She was likely killed during the Diocletian persecution, which took place in the early fourth century (AD 302-304). In addition to it being Friday, next week, the week following Saint Lucy's feast, is traditionally an Ember Week. This means observing next Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday as days of fasting and abstinence. Heaven knows, we have plenty for which to fast and pray!

Like witness of the martyrs, Advent shows us that hope lies beyond optimism. When things look dire and it seems you've run out of options the situation is ripe for God to step in and do what only God can do: create, bring life from death, bring justice for the oppressed, sight for the blind, hearing for the deaf, liberation for captives. Again, this does not mean sit back and wait. But it does mean never forgetting that our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. This should give us the strength we need to keep striving.

This Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, is Gaudete Sunday. Advent pivots on the Third Sunday from considering Jesus's return to commemorating, celebrating, and thinking about the meaning of his birth in the most humble of circumstances. In other words, the Church pivots from the "not yet" to the "already."

It has been noted that the Incarnation of God's only begotten Son is "is so earth-shattering that it enacts something akin to the psychoanalytic concept of trauma" on the world (John Milbank, Slavoj Zizek, Creston Davis, Paul’s New Moment: Continental Philosophy and the Future of Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press), 7). Those who refuse to be traumatized by the Incarnation are those who lack faith. It is particularly troubling and all the more difficult that so much that is contrary to the Gospel is done according to clearly misbegotten "Christian" principles. The beating that the poor and downtrodden of the world are taking right now is stunning, to say the least.

Michael Card singing the lovely Celtic hymn "Be Thou My Vision" is our traditio for this Second Friday of Advent:

Hope is not only on the way but is right here in our midst, a light in this darkness. Saint Lucy, pray for us.