Thursday, December 6, 2012

Put on the splendor of glory...



How radical are you feeling today?

One way of thinking about the time of Advent is to consider it a time of conversion – perhaps even radical conversion.  When John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, that was pretty radical stuff!  John, born to a family of priests, is ministering to people in the desert, people who need to cross over to another side, either literally or spiritually.  John can preach about people starting over, removing barriers, opening themselves to relationship with God, precisely because he himself has done just that:  he is allowing God to work in him, to bring the people to God.  And he is announcing a new way:  the way of the Lord.  Pretty radical!

The references to radical conversion in our first reading this Sunday, from Baruch, are more direct:  Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of glory from God forever.  The conversion takes on vestment imagery:  the prophet speaks of donning cloaks and mitres as a way of imagining clothing oneself in God.  To wear God, so to speak, is to embrace God’s love and all it represents, that is, all that connects us, all that brings us together in union.  And in so doing, we take on a new identity in God – another radical transformation.  And thus, as St. Paul tells the Philippians, our love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception.  Our openness to God allows God to complete His work in us until the day of Christ Jesus.  Radical stuff, for a radical season!
How radical are you feeling today?


This reflection is based on notes from Fr. Pat's Thursday Scripture class.
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