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 THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT ~ CHRIST’S TESTIMONY TO ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

(Read Matt. xi, 2-10.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY, in the gospel of this Sunday, the three characteristics of St. John the Baptist praised by Jesus Christ, in order that you also may imitate them. The first is firmness and constancy in the good begun. What went ye out into the wilderness to see, a reed shaken by the wind? From his earliest days St. John began his life in the desert and never wished to leave its solitude, not even in order to rejoice in the personal presence of Jesus Christ. He maintained ever afterwards the same tenour of life, whether in the court of Herod or immured in prison. No change of surroundings could affect the solidity of his virtue.

APPLICATION: Are you such as he was, or are you not rather more like the reed that lets itself be bent by every breath of wind? Do you persevere steadily in your good resolutions and in your exercises of piety? How often do you not for some slight obstacle or small difficulty leave off the good which you have so well begun? Be steadfast in the way of the Lord. (Ecclus. v, 12.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I have sworn, and I am steadfastly purposed, to keep the judgments of thy justice. (Ps. cxviii, 106.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY another characteristic of St. John praised by our Blessed Lord, namely, the union in him of a perfect innocency of life with the utmost degree of penance and austerity, clothing himself in camel’s hair, eating only locusts, and taking what repose was necessary only upon the bare ground.

APPLICATION: How far have you a love or desire for penance in order to atone for your sins, and to bring into subjection your stubborn and rebellious nature? Oh how mistaken are you if you think to acquire virtue and to taste of the delights of the Spirit, in the midst of the conveniences and delights of the world and of the flesh. What penance do you practise? Mark well that the true spirit of a follower of Jesus Christ is not to be found in the land of them who live in delights. (Job xxviii, 13.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: When shall I come and appear before the face of God. My tears have been my bread day and night. (Ps. xli, 3-4.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY, that the last great characteristic of St. John was that, whilst leading an angelic life and giving an example of such austere penance, he devoted himself to preaching the coming of the Messiah and to disposing the people to acknowledge and receive Him as the Saviour of the world. And this he did with such zeal and earnestness that, even when confined in Herod’s prison, he did not cease to make Him known and to send Him fresh disciples.

APPLICATION: This too is the most sacred service you can desire to render to God, namely, the disposal and invitation of all men to the knowledge and the service of Jesus Christ. If you cannot do this by preaching, do it by your good example and holy conversations, and this will both be more beneficial for your neighbour and more profitable for yourself.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The zeal of thy house has eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me. (Ps. lxviii, 10.)

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MONDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT ~ REPARATION FOR THE SIN OF ADAM

I am come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly. (John x, 10.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that Adam by disobedience lost original justice, and having incurred the penalty of death and countless woes for himself and all his descendants, the Divine Goodness would not delay in providing a remedy to such great misery, in order that it might be made evident how much God has at heart the salvation of all men. Who will have all men to be saved. (I Tim. Ii, 4.) It was also in order that you might learn, when you have been surprised into some sin or fault, not to allow yourself to remain in that unhappy state, but to have recourse at once to the remedy by rising up from your fall and not to make matters worse by your delay.

APPLICATION: Use this alacrity even in your smallest faults, e.g. correcting some act of impatience or of pride or of vanity by an act of the opposite virtue; and thus your gain will be greater than the harm done.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I cried unto thee, O save me, that I may keep thy commandments. (Ps. cxviii, 146.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY, that God in preparing a remedy for the sin of Adam, willed also to comfort him by the promise of a Redeemer Who should spring from his own race, and Who would restore superabundantly all the damage wrought by that deceiver the serpent upon him and upon his descendants, freeing them from the slavery of Satan and rising them to the sublime height of glory. What sentiments of gratitude and tenderness, think you, arose in Adam’s heart at this promise?

APPLICATION: Your heart should experience the like feelings of gratitude, you who have been made a sharer of so much good. By your own personal sins you have renewed in yourself all the evils of original sin, but you must not therefore be alarmed nor lose hope in your Redeemer, Who stands ready on His side to raise you up and do all for your greater good. Know you not that many terribly guilty sinners have been raised by the hand of God to a high degree of virtue? Cast yourself then at the feet of Jesus with true confidence, and with the utmost fervour, and doubt not that all will be well.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity. (Ps. 1, 3.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY, that the promise of a future Redeemer made to Adam in the beginning, was confirmed by God to his descendants by many prophecies, types and sacrifices, in order that all might rejoice in the remedy and the fruit of the merits of Christ through their faith in Him. The infinite merits of Christ are extended to all times and to all men, whether past or present or future.

APPLICATION: Of these same merits of Jesus Christ you can even more copiously participate, by the reason of a clearer knowledge of this mystery by the Incarnation and by means of the Sacraments of the new law. Will you not at least be grateful to Him? How much better than you do, would the Fathers of old have profited by the same, had they received the lights and the favours that have been accorded to you. Be abashed and deplore your own ingratitude.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: With the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. (Ps. cxxix, 7.)

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TUESDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT ~ EXPECTATION OF THE MESSIAH

I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see. (Ps. cxxix, 7.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY, that although God had decreed an adequate remedy for the sin of Adam by His promise of a future Redeemer, yet He delayed His coming on earth for more than five thousand years, during which the patriarchs and prophets and all His chosen people awaited the advent of the Messiah with incessant tears and longings. And this for three reasons. The first was in order to teach us that, in order to obtain the graces which God intends to bestow upon us, we should ask and implore them of Him with ardent and persevering prayer.

APPLICATION: Here then is the reason why you do not obtain the graces that you need, because you are cold and inconstant in asking for them. If you find that you are not heard at once, you get vexed and give up asking.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before thee. (Ps. lxxxvii, I.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY, that the second reason of this delay was that as the human race was before the coming of Christ sunk in the corruption of vice, and lay miserably buried in the thick darkness of ignorance, the utter need and intense benefit of a Redeemer, in order to redeem mankind and to restore it to health, might be made the more manifest.

APPLICATION: In a like manner does our Lord deal with you. He delays to free you from some annoying temptation or from some troublesome work, in order that you may realize your own weakness, that you may humble yourself the more and that you may more fully value His goodness when it shall be His good pleasure to set you free.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and He was attentive to me. (Ps. xxxix, 2.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY another, and a last reason for His delay, was because He desired to come at a time when the heart of His chosen people was wholly set on earthly things, and when they looked forward to the Messiah only in order to be liberated from the yoke of the Romans. Seeing Him than appear upon earth so poor and so despised the scorned Him, they persecuted Him, and they condemned Him to the death of the Cross, and it was by the merits of this His death He was to free us from the slavery of the devil and of sin, and to win for us the reward of His eternal kingdom.

APPLICATION: Oh what a precious lesson is this for you! Your heart often longs to do some good in your work or perhaps your particular ministry, but you are disheartened at finding yourself ignored by your companions, mortified by your superiors, nay possibly persecuted by others. In consequence you draw back from doing the good  you had at heart. But it should be just the opposite. Now is precisely the best time for you to exercise patience, humility and charity, and to work merely to please God and thus become richer in virtue and in merits. This is the way also to conform yourself more to the example of Jesus Christ.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: My father and my mother have left me: but the Lord has taken me up. (Ps. xxvi, 10.)

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WEDNESDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT ~ ESPOUSAL OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

A virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph. (Luke i, 27.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY, that although the Blessed Virgin had made a vow of virginity, yet she consented to be espoused to St. Joseph, having received an assurance from heaven that this would be no prejudice to her resolve, but rather it would be a means of keeping concealed the virtue of virginity, which at that time was little known among mankind, and would at the same time make it more pleasing in the sight of God. Every virtue has great worth and merit in His sight, but when it is hidden from the eyes of men and only seen by God how much greater is its value as regards both humility and merit!

APPLICATION: And how do you act? Are you careful that God alone shall know the good that you do, or do you like rather to parade it before men? The grain of wheat except that it be buried shall not bring forth fruit that is of any worth.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The words of my mouth shall be such as may please: and the meditation of my heart always in thy sight. (Ps. xviii, 15.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY that God willed that the Blessed Virgin should be espoused to St. Joseph, in order that the great mystery of the Divine Incarnation, wrought through the Holy Ghost in the womb of Mary, should remain concealed. It was thus in accord with the dispositions of Divine Providence  and the economy of our redemption that this secret mystery should for some length of time be hidden.

APPLICATION: To you also it would be of the greatest advantage to keep concealed not only the good that you do and your virtues, but also any talents and abilities that you may have until God shall order otherwise through those who are placed over you. You would then be imitating Jesus Christ, Who lived a hidden life until He was thirty years old, and allowed Himself to be commonly regarded as no more than an ordinary man.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden from those that fear thee. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy face, from the disturbance of men. (Ps. xxx, 20-21.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY, that these espousals were willed by God in order to preserve the Divine Son and His Mother from the slightest breath of ill-fame, and that the Blessed Virgin might have help in safe-guarding the life of her Son in the midst of poverty and even [persecution. Conclude then what a blessing this marriage was in reality to the Blessed Virgin, though it had first seemed to run counter to the vow she had made.

APPLICATION: So it will always be with you if only you let yourself be guided by Divine Providence. You will always find relief and comfort where most of all you fear difficulty. Learn then to trust yourself entirely to God and to leave in His hands all the care of yourself.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: In thee, O lord, do I put my trust; I said, thou art my God. My lot is in thy hands. (Ps. xxx, 15-16.)

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THURSDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT ~ THE MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL GABRIEL

(Read Luke i, 26-29.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY, that although Almighty God had decreed so long before to redeem mankind by means of the Word Incarnate, yet He would not that His divine plan should be carried out in the person of the Blessed Virgin without her full consent. Accordingly He sent her the Angel Gabriel, in order that she might of her own free will become the Mother of God. A like method does God pursue in working out the salvation of each one of us. He wills not to raise any one to the dignity of a son of God without his own consent. Consequently He sends His messages, that is to say His inspirations, in order that man should of his own free will co-operate in the acquisition of so high a dignity, which he can never attain to without the concurrence of his own will. He Who created you, says the great St. Augustine, without yourself, will not save you without yourself.

APPLICATION: Ask yourself how far you until now corresponded with the divine inspirations? How far have you been promptly faithful to them? This neglect on your part is the principal reason of your living perhaps far short of what God expects of you.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: That I should do thy will; O my God, I have desired it and thy law is in the midst of my heart. (Ps. xxxix, 9.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY, that before giving her consent the Blessed Virgin pondered well the proposal, to see how the title of Mother could be consistent with her vow of virginity. How shall this be done? (Luke i, 34.) In this she manifested a consummate prudence, and together with it an intense love of purity.

APPLICATION: You on your part at one time perhaps do not give ear to God’s inspiration, at another you rush at a resolution without reflection and without counsel. Learn from the Blessed Virgin to listen to the voice of God which speaks to your heart, and also in serious matters not to act without the advice of your confessor or director lest otherwise you take a false step.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge. (Ps. cxviii, 66.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that the Blessed Virgin was not only chosen in order that she might consent and accept the dignity of Mother of God, but she was also chosen to receive in the name of the whole human race the Word Incarnate as Lord and Redeemed of the world. In this way therefore she was made a protectress to all mankind, and also the channel of all those blessings which the Incarnation has brought to us. Consequently, as through her there came to us all the blessings of the Divine Word, so in like manner through means of her we receive all the marvellous benefits of the most sacred humanity.

APPLICATION: This being so, beg of her with all possible fervour to obtain for you the grace of which she is dispenser, seeing that she is the distributor of all the gifts of heaven. Above all, implore her to obtain for you the grace to correspond faithfully with the inspirations of God, upon which your welfare so much depends.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: How I have loved thy law, O Lord: it is my meditation all the day long. (Ps. cviii, 97.)

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FRIDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT ~ MARY’S REPLY TO THE ANGEL GABRIEL

(Read Luke i, 29-38.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY, that in this visit of the Archangel the Blessed Virgin made three heroic acts of humility. The first was when she heard herself praised as most blessed among women and declared full of grace. Thereupon she felt no complacency nor the slightest exaltation, but on the contrary, she was troubled at his saying, albeit that praise came from the lips of a heavenly messenger from whom she could not fear any deception.

APPLICATION: Oh how quite other is your behaviour than that of this most humble Virgin! When you are praised you are at once elated, you often seek after such praise, and even at times you are not ashamed to praise yourself. On the other hand, when you justly are corrected for your faults you are troubled, and you grow indignant. Thus it is that your pride, one might almost say, strives to emulate the humility of the Blessed Virgin.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: It is good for me that thou hast humbled me, that I may learn thy ordinances. (Ps. cxviii, 71.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY, the act of humility on the part of the Blessed Virgin, who directly she saw herself so exalted abased her own nothingness and declared herself to be the most lowly handmaid of that God Who was about to become her son and the fruit of her womb. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word. It was precisely this humility that merited for her so exalted a dignity: for He hath regarded the humility of His handmaiden.

APPLICATION: What feelings do you experience in yourself, when God visits you with any gift or specially favours you in time of prayer? If at such times you recognise your own unworthiness and animate yourself the more to serve Him faithfully, it is well with you. But if you exalt yourself and grow proud, fear with good reason lest you be deprived of these gifts and be severely humbled. God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy; and teach me thy ordinances. (Ps. cxviii, 124.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY, that the Blessed Virgin, most deeply versed in the holy Scriptures and instructed by God in the divine plan of our redemption, knew clearly beforehand all the sufferings and ill-treatment that her Divine Son would meet with during the course of His life  and particularly at His death. Thus then in offering herself as His handmaid she understood well that she was offering herself as His inseparable companion in His labours and in His ignominy, accepting with equal readiness to participate resignedly in the sufferings of the Son of God as to be exalted to the Dignity of Mother of God. Herein lay her third act of humility.

APPLICATION: You too must do likewise. The more our Lord favours you, the more faithful and ready should you show yourself in accompanying Him to Calvary. God grant that you may never be of the number of those servants the more they are favoured by their Master become the more insolent and rebellious.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: What shall I render unto the Lord for all the things that He hath rendered unto me? (Ps. cxv, 12.)

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SATURDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT ~ THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE INCARNATION

And the Word was made flesh. (John i, 14.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY, that as the words of Consecration uttered by the priest in the Mass, the Body of Jesus Christ is immediately made present, so at the words of the Blessed Virgin there was created the Soul, and there was formed the sacred Body of Christ in the womb of Mary. His soul was endowed with all those highest gifts that could render it worthy of being the dwelling place of God. His Body on the contrary, wanting all those gifts of glory which were its due, was framed with the utmost possible sensitiveness in order to be capable of suffering the more.

APPLICATION: And you till now, how have you regarded your gifts of mind and body? Have you valued the holiness and the virtues of your soul more than the health and the natural gifts of your body? Acknowledge the mistake you have made, and whilst remembering that for your sake Jesus Christ chose to take to Himself a body, more exquisitely fitted than those of others to suffer, learn to accept willingly for love of Him and for the good of your soul all your infirmities and all your bodily sufferings.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Then said I, behold I come. In the head of the book it is written of me that I should do thy will, O my God. (Ps. xxxix, 8-9.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY that at the same moment that His soul was created and His body was formed, the most sacred humanity was hypostatically united with the Divine Word so that man was made God, and God was made man, and by that personal union that blessed soul rejoiced from the first moment of its existence in the beatific vision. It was enriched with all the treasures of the Divinity and with all the plenitude of grace, yet still it could not only in itself grow in merit as regarded the future glory of that sacred soul, but it could moreover merit for our advantage, and as our head cause to overflow upon us all His gifts and all His merits.

APPLICATION: Rejoice, then, in all these benefits bestowed upon that sacred humanity, and thank God for the immense graces brought to you through Jesus Christ. How great would have been your wretchedness had you not Jesus Christ for your redeemer and for your head? The sacred humanity of Jesus Christ received all the treasures of the Divinity through its intimate union with the Word. You also, the more perfectly you are united with Christ by love, the  more surely will you become partaker of His treasures.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever. (Ps. lxxii, 26.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY the complacency and the joy of the Most Holy Trinity in this the greatest work of the Divine omnipotence: the Father rejoicing for having fulfilled His promise, the Word in having communicated with the Divinity which He had received from the Father to man who is the image of the Father, and the Holy Ghost in having manifested in this gift the highest degree of His divine love. All the angels too rejoiced to whom the command had been given that they should acknowledge and adore the sacred humanity, as the head of the whole Church both triumphant and militant.

APPLICATION: Do you also adore Him and protest with your whole heart that Him alone will you obey and serve as your Lord, your Captain and your Redeemer.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Let all the angels of God adore Him. (Ps. xcvi, 7.)

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