News - December 2020

The Christmas trees arrived in the church yesterday, and I will confess that it was bittersweet. On one hand, it’s one of the few times of the year that our beautiful church is even more awe-inspiring.

I have always been a great admirer of the work of N.T. Wright, the British New Testament scholar and former Bishop of Durham. In his recent short book (76 pages), he reflects on the Coronavirus and how Christians should or should not respond to it. Wright argues that we should respond to it with lament and restraint, and not jump to any theological conclusions about its why. He points to some theological voices (mainly Evangelical apocalyptic thinkers) who often see plagues or other abnormal events as signs of the end of the world. But Wright notes that Jesus warned against any view that the kingdom will come with new sudden signs. Jesus’ death and resurrection are the ultimate signs, not worldly catastrophe.

Thanksgiving week I had a few more conversations than usual with one of my dear Jesuit friends. Likely in the first phone call he mentioned that he had a homily to prepare and his working theme was “Advent: Waiting in Joyful Hope.” In subsequent calls, his homily ideas came up, as did his title.

Reflection: The Living Gospel Advent has always been my favorite liturgical season. Maybe because, unlike Lent or other seasons of the liturgy, it only lasts four weeks. It is also a time of waiting, of hope and expectation, not of what has been but of what will be, come the birth of Christ. It is also a season filled with wonderful scriptural passages from Isaiah, and gospel readings about John the Baptist. When I was on the faculty of Loyola Marymount, each year I would spend three days at the house of prayer for priests during Advent to bring myself to the longing, waiting and acceptance of what God would do. The older I get, the more I am in that mood of waiting, longing and, ultimately, gratitude for what has been, alongside openness and gratitude for what will be, even if it entails diminishment of memory and energy because of my age -- 83 years and seven months. I also know that more diminishment, and finally death, will be my plight, but I want to always say: “For all that has been, Thanks, for all that will be, your will be done.”