1 Thessalonians, 5, 1-8, 23, 24
About time spans and right moments, dear brothers,
I have no need to write to you. You know very well yourselves that the Breaking
of the Day of Christ comes like a thief in the night. When people say, ‘Now
peace reigns, and all stands secure, then suddenly catastrophe breaks upon
them, like the birth pangs of a woman with child, and there will be no escape
for them.
You, however, dear brothers, are not to remain in
darkness, so that the breaking of day will not surprise you like a thief. For
you are sons of light and sons of the day. Our being is not filled with night
and darkness. So let us not sleep like the others, but rather cultivate an
alert and sober state of mind. Those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who
are drunk are likewise of nightly nature. But since we belong to the brightness
of day, let us be sober, clothed with the breastplate of faith and love, our
head armed [protected] with the hope of healing….May God himself, however, the
source of all Peace, hallow and heal your whole being. May your complete and
undivided being,
Spirit
Soul, and
Body
remain pure and unclouded at the coming in the
spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord. You may trust in him who calls you. He it is
who also lets you reach the goal.
3rd Advent Sunday
December 11, 2011
1 Thessalonians 5:1-8
and 23, 24
The Sun’s radiance moves across the sky over the course of
the year.
The Advent seasonal prayer speaks of the sun’s chariot. This
phrase is not only a lovely metaphor for a ball of gas millions of miles away.
For the sun that we see in the sky is indeed a chariot, a chariot for higher
angelic beings. Through the constant and continual sacrificing of their
substance, they keep the sun and the world alive. They sacrifice their wisdom,
their movement and their power to keep us and the earth, the body of Christ,
alive. They pour out the substance of their being as a continuous song of
praise.
The poet Goethe has the archangel Raphael, the angel of
healing sing:
The sun-orb sings, in emulation,
Mid brother spheres, in his ancient
round:
His path predestined through
Creation
He ends with step of thunder-sound.
The angels from his visage splendid
Draw power, whose measure none can
say;
The lofty worlds, uncomprehended,
Are bright as on the earliest day.[1]
The gospel reading reminds us that we are sons and daughters
of the light, of the day. We are protected from darkness and lack of
consciousness by our alertness, by our hope of healing, by our trust. For the
great Sun-God is once again drawing near.
