Advent Calendar

He will come like last leaf’s fall.
One night when the November wind
has flayed the trees to the bone, and earth
wakes choking on the mould,
the soft shroud’s folding.

He will come like frost.
One morning when the shrinking earth
opens on mist, to find itself
arrested in the net
of alien, sword-set beauty.

He will come like dark.
One evening when the bursting red
December sun draws up the sheet
and penny-masks its eye to yield
the star-snowed fields of sky.

He will come, will come,
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free.
He will come like child.

Rowan Williams

There are four verses of this poem by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams: four verses for the four Sundays of Advent.  In the poem, there is also repetition of the words, “He will come, will come, will come.”

Great mystics of the Church, in particular St. Cyril of Jerusalem, describe how the Lord has two comings.  He has come already in the flesh ‘in great humility’ and will come again, not in humility; but in great power, and on the clouds of heaven. But there are, in fact, three ‘comings.’ He came in humility; He will come in great power; but he also comes to us every day, every waking hour, silently, by invitation.

In the classical Roman Missal, the Collect and the Gospel for the last Sunday of the Year have a strange ‘Advent-like’ tone to them.  There is a stirring up in the great Excita, Domine collect which is mirrored in the First Sunday of Advent.  We have this strange ‘watershed’ between the last Sunday of the Year and the First: through which Christ is revealed as Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end, or perhaps we could say the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning. That is not to speak in riddle, but rather to understand the mystery of Christ’s coming amongst us. He comes in the flesh and humility. He will come again in great power. He is always both beginning and end.

But do you fear the definitive coming of the Lord in great power?

Imagine it, for a moment.
Imagine the very sky that we gaze at riven in two.
Imagine the sound of the angels’ trumpets, the flashes of light from East to West, the Sign of the Son of Man in the sky. (What is that sign? It is the Cross!)

You will not fail to recognize these awesome wonders: you will know what they mean and what will happen when they appear.  The coming of the Son of Man on the clouds, in great power will bring judgment and the end of this world.

How does that make you feel?

Do you eagerly await with great expectation His return, hastening His coming with prayers and supplications? “Come Lord Jesus!  Marana tha!  Come Lord Jesus!” Or, do you fear His coming and pray to delay His return?

Not yet Lord…. Not yet….
Not until I’ve had a few more family Christmases with my loved ones…
A few more Manhattans by the fire in great company.
Not yet, Lord.  Don’t come now. Don’t disturb my life now.
I’ve got things that I need to do.
I’m not yet ready. I need to make that retreat.
I need to find the priest that I’m going to make that long confession today and deal with all the stuff that I gloss over in my regular confessions.
Not yet, Lord.

We all have experienced this desire to delay:

I need time to respond to the Gospel. I need more chances. Don’t come. Not yet.

And yet the Church cries out insistenly: “Come Lord Jesus. Creator of the starry sky…”

The Lord’s First Coming was quiet, and simple, and humble. Only a few knew about it. Of course Our Lady and St. Joseph, the Wise Men and the Shepherds, but nobody else. It was a quiet coming. The heavens were filled with Angels singing, Gloria in Excelsis Deo, but only those with ears to hear could hear. The very Cosmos responded in loud silence to the coming of the Lord, to the coming of the Christ-child with a guiding Star hovering over the humble crib, but only those with eyes to see could see.

But his Second Coming ends all time: no more chances.

There will be no need for Faith, no need for Faith in the Lord Jesus when you see Him with your own eyes coming on the clouds of heaven in great power. Nobody will be able to deny it, or delay it. It will be plain as day for all to witness in the flesh.  Just as He was taken up in a cloud; so He will return in a cloud, as He told us He would. Look to the East! look to Olivet, the Mount of Olives! Look where the Shekinah hovered once it departed from the Temple! The lightning flashing from the East to the West. (This is the reason we face East when we pray, because the Church is always looking for the return of the Lord)

Come, Marana tha, Come Lord Jesus! Saints of God, do not look down. The texts of the Mass say to you –  To you have I lifted up my soul. I trust in you. Respicite, et levate capita vestra.  Look up and raise your heads!

Your Salvation is better than a thousand Manhattans by the fire! If you really loved your family, you, too, will be crying out, “Come Lord Jesus.  Come –  take us away from the fireplace! Take us away from the comfort! Take us away from the stability! You have given us enough chances.” Our answer is yes…

But, you do not cry out.
You do not lift up your head.
You don’t want Him to come.
I don’t cry out.
I don’t lift up my head.
I don’t want Him to come.

And yet, irrespective of all of that, He is coming and He is coming soon. His coming does not depend upon your consent, or mine.

But what does depend upon your consent, and mine, is that secret Third Coming. The coming-in-between-comings; the coming by grace into your heart today, by the Eucharist and the Sacraments.  That secret coming prepares your soul for His definitive coming.
It prepares your soul to be lifted up,
to leave go of the Manhattans and the fireplaces,
and family
and all earthly comforts,
and sin
and death.

Amen. Come Lord Jesus!