Advent Reflections II

Better late than never :)  Readings for the second Sunday of Advent: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120411.cfm

One of my favorite things about Advent is all of the readings from Isaiah - and this Sunday's readings include one of my favorite passages.  I love the opening words of this Sunday's first reading from Isaiah: "Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God" (40:1).  I get a thrill every time I hear this verse.  This is truly one of those "life verses" that jumps right out of the Bible and speaks directly to me - a reminder that the Bible is indeed God's love letter to me.  But even more important than the moral sense of my own comfort are the literal and allegorical senses of this passage.  Isaiah has just spent the past 39 chapters informing the kingdom of Judah of their impending exile as a consequence of their sin and lack of repentance; this first section is often called the Book of Woes, as it is full of Judah's unfaithfulness to God.  But chapter 40 takes a new tone and offers comfort (giving chapters 40-66 the name of the Book of Consolations): God will not abandon Judah, even though they have broken the covenant.  God will remember his promise to his people and send them a savior - Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who will feed his flock and gather and lead us with care.

The second reading, from the second letter of St. Peter, is an elaboration on this comfort promised by Isaiah: "The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard 'delay," but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (3:9).  So many times in my life it has seemed like God was indeed delaying his promise.  But just as God did not delay his fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of salvation but rather waited for the fullness of time in which to deliver his people, so also in my life God's blessings come in his perfect time, not mine.  Surely Israel would have been thrilled to receive the messiah when they returned from exile in Babylon instead of waiting another five centuries, but although that would have been a good, it would not have been God's best.  The messiah was to come not only to save and lead Israel but to gather all the nations into the worship of the one true God.  And so in the fullness of time Jesus came and founded his Church, in the midst of an empire that would facilitate the spread of the gospel and an intellectual tradition that had reached as high as the human mind could on its own.

This reading includes a slightly confusing statement: "conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God" (3:12).  Wait... we can make Jesus return sooner?  In a certain sense... yes!  St. Peter gives the reasoning behind this in the verse quoted above: "he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (3:9b).  Conducting ourselves in "holiness and devotion" hastens the "coming of the day of God" because God desires that "all should come to repentance."  While it can be easy to look at how broken our world is and to think that the end has to be near (how much worse will God let things get before He returns?!), this passage from 2 Peter instead indicates a different way of looking at it: the sooner we allow God's grace to transform our own lives and invite our family and friends to allow Him to transform their lives, the sooner Christ will return.

The gospel reading from Mark gives us a picture of just what kind of messiah God has sent for our comfort and salvation.  After a lengthy description (for the concise St. Mark) of John the Baptist identifying him as the new Elijah (promised in Malachi 4:5, the last prophetic word in the Old Testament), John states that "One mightier than I is coming after me.  I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals" (Mark 1:7).  This statement gives us insight into the humility of the Baptist and the dignity of Christ, but it also goes further.  The Greek word which both the NAB and RSV translate as "worthy" is hikanos - which more specifically means "sufficient."  To quote my Greek professor, the rugged John the Baptist, dressed in camel hair and eating locust (something even the toughest men I know would probably rather avoid), is saying "I am not man enough to even untie the sandal of the messiah."  What does this tell us about Jesus?  Well, basically that The Passion of the Christ is a better depiction than Jesus Christ Superstar - but you don't need to know Greek to figure that out!

Come, Lord Jesus!

Not in line with John the Baptist's statement...
or much of anything Scriptural... catchy tunes, though!
(credit: http://www.religionfacts.com/jesus/images/jesus-christ-superstar.jpg)

Advent Reflections I

Happy New Year!  As the first Sunday of Advent, today is the first day in the new liturgical year.  The readings for today (which can be found here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/112711.cfm) set the tone of watching and waiting for the rest of this holy season.

I love how Isaiah's lament over Judah's sinfulness in the first reading is answered by Paul's assurance that Christ will keep us firm to the end in the second reading.  This juxtaposition illustrates the relationship between Law and Grace; as St. Augustine said, "The law was therefore given, in order that grace might be sought; grace was given, in order that the law might be fulfilled" (Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter, 34).  Israel failed to remain faithful to the law, but Christ perfectly fulfilled the law - and we are offered the grace to join our lives to his and participate in his perfect obedience.  This requires us to watch vigilantly for the coming of our Lord, as He instructs in the Gospel.  This year there is another application for the command to be vigilant: with the new translation of the Mass beginning today we must all be extra vigilant during Mass in order to not be caught unawares with an "And also with you" instead of an "And with your spirit"! :)

In this season of Advent we meditate on and prepare for the coming of our Lord in three different ways.  The most familiar preparation during Advent is our preparation for Christmas, when we remember and celebrate Christ coming to us in history.  Advent is also a time to take a close look at how we recognize the presence of our Lord as He comes to us each and every Mass in the Eucharist.  Am I truly prepared to receive him?  He is really present - but do I take his presence for granted?  Finally, we begin the new liturgical year with a focus on the end: am I prepared to meet our Lord when He comes again in glory (or when I meet him at death)?

In the midst of all the holiday preparations - and all the end-of-semester business for both Alex and myself - it seems nearly impossible to find time to really prepare to celebrate the joyous mystery of Christmas.  But I am determined that this year (unlike every other year where I say the same thing) I will truly appreciate Advent; on Christmas Eve I will not find myself saying "Christmas?  But I'm not ready!"  Hopefully the fact that we completed most of our Christmas shopping yesterday is a good sign of spiritual preparations to be completed in a timely manner as well :)

Many or all?

I LOVE the new translation of the Roman Missal (although I am less than enthusiastic about some of the musical settings for the new Mass parts, but modern music and the Mass are a diatribe for a different day).  I look forward to everyone becoming more comfortable with the changes so that once again there will be a unified response during Mass, instead of a hesitant mumbling which comes across as "Andalsowithyourspirityou."

As a good friend pointed out today, one of the more drastic and potentially confusing changes seems to be during the Words of Institution.  During the consecration of the chalice the priest now says, “Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.  Do this in memory of me.”  In the old translation the priest said “It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven.”  This change from “for all” to “for many” more literally translates the original Latin, but it may be rather shocking to many Catholics.  Is the Church saying that Christ only died for some?

As St. Paul would say, me genoito! (By no means! or No indeed!)  The Catholic Church teaches, as the Bible clearly states, that Christ died for all (see, for example, 1 Tim 2:6, “[Christ Jesus] gave himself as a ransom for all…” RSV).  However, we must each accept this gift so that Christ’s blood is not simply poured out but is poured out for “the forgiveness of [our] sins.”  He died for all, but not all choose to benefit from his death.  The original Latin of the Mass and this new translation both point to this reality.

The Latin in the Mass refers to Matthew 26:28, "For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (emphasis mine).  The Greek is polloi, literally “the many.”  In this verse Jesus is associating himself with the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53.  The Septuagint uses polloi three times in Isaiah 53:11-12 (only two of which are translated in the RSV): “He shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities.  Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great (literally he will be given many), and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”  The repetition of many here highlights the contrast between the one righteous servant of God and the many who benefit from his sacrifice; the wording in the Mass preserves this juxtaposition.  We are reminded of the gift we have been given to be numbered among the many.

For more information on Scripture in the Mass, as well as a better understanding of the new translation, I highly recommend Dr. Edward Sri’s A Biblical Walk Through the Mass (http://guidetothemass.com/information/new-translation/3/study-program-bible-biblical-faith).

Playtime!

It's hard to believe our little one is over 10 months old now!  Here's a video of Michael enjoying two of his favorite things: blocks and books.

Too good for breakfast!

What do you do with a zucchini that's almost as big as your 8 1/2 month old?  Why, make muffins, of course!

My mother-in-law gave us a giant zucchini from her garden.  Maybe it's really not that big for a good ol' home-grown zucchini, but I'm used to the dinky little ones you buy at a grocery story - and this one was seriously huge by those standards.  How convenient that my mom has an amazing zucchini muffin recipe!  So last night after getting Michael to bed I was so excited to start making some muffins.  I had already decided to blog about the zucchini adventure, because I had thought up a perfect photo of a plate of muffins and the huge zucchini - very artsy (yes, Alex and I are still hooked on the Food Network - so what?).  I was able to enjoy the thought of this perfect photo for all of a minute before I realized - as I'm sure you already have - that I needed to use the zucchini to make the muffins, thus destroying my perfect photo.  Boo!  And yet, you see the photo above!  No, I did not go back to my mother-in-law and ask for another ginormous zucchini just so I could take a picture (although I thought about it).  What this photo doesn't show you is the chunk (2 cups worth, to be exact) that I took out of the back of the zucchini to make my muffins - all the while leaving the majority intact for the photo op.  I was quite proud of my problem solving skills :)

I had forgotten how good these muffins are - I don't remember the last time I had them.  But they are way too good to just have them for breakfast.  In fact, they're practically dessert.  The half batch I made last night (only one egg in the fridge - sad day!) is already gone (Michael and I shared the last one for a treat after lunch).  On the agenda for today: go to the store and get more eggs, then bake more muffins tonight.  (Of course, that depends on the cooperation of a certain little boy who absolutely refused to take a nap this morning - despite being ridiculously tired.  To be more precise, he was perfectly happy to fall asleep in my arms, but refused to stay asleep or go back to sleep once I put him down in his crib.  The jury is still out on where exactly he gets his stubbornness ;))  After shredding the entire zucchini (by hand - new on my wishlist: a food processor) I ended up with enough for six more batches of muffins - hip hip hooray!  This plethora of shredded zucchini goodness is now safely in my freezer in two cup portions (the measurement for one batch of muffins) to be pulled out whenever we need a quick muffin fix.

So, for your culinary edification and delight, here's the recipe (courtesy of my mom, with the disclaimer that she says she probably got it from someone else, but doesn't remember from whom):

2 c unpeeled, shredded zucchini
2 eggs
1/2 c oil
1 t vanilla
1 c sugar
2 c flour (white or wheat - I do half and half)
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves
1/2 t soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 c oatmeal


Beat eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar.  Mix flour, spices, soda and baking powder together in a separate bowl.  Blend zucchini into egg mixture alternately with flour mixture.  Do not over blend.  Fold in oatmeal.  Spoon into muffin pans lined with baking cups.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until slightly brown.  Makes approximately 2 dozen muffins.


Enjoy!  They go particularly well with a glass of iced chai or a cup of Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Sunset tea (decaf, for the sake of the little insomniac and the sanity of his parents)  :)