Solemn Chapter of the Nativity
Sr. Kendra’s Solemn Chapter Sermon:
There is a rather Advent-y praise and worship song that has been stuck in my head the last few weeks called Even So Come. The lyrics don’t expound much on my point, so don’t bother looking them up for clarity, but the title often sticks with me. It is admitting that God is here, and we fully expect Him to come over and over again and remain with us forever, but even so, we ask Him to come. This dynamic permeates the liturgy throughout Advent and prayer in general, as we stand in front of God and ask Him to come, and state with full confidence that He will come, and still ask Him to. We say, yes Lord, you are here in the Eucharist now, even so, come. Yes, I am speaking directly to You, God, and do so consistently throughout the day, even so, come. You are with me always, and if you removed your presence from me for an instant, I would cease to exist. Yes. Even so, come.
And this concept isn’t just in the liturgy during Advent or in specific “religious” moments. Our asking God to come more and wondering where He is seems ever present in how we approach the world around us in our daily lives year round. We are constantly searching for more God. Part of that comes with our life mission. We have a bulletin board filled with bad things that we read so that we can bring them to God and ask Him to come in to the situation. Outside of that, as we seem to be reminded constantly, we face a pandemic which has killed many people and has brought isolation and fear to even more. In that, we ask God to come. If only that were the only thing we had to worry about. But additionally, we look at the present situation of society and politics, and we ask God to do something. To show up. We see the nativity scene in the Vatican, and we ask God to come. In a year like this past one, the begging perhaps multiplies and becomes more urgent.
But I can’t help wondering, what exactly we are waiting for, and if we would recognize it when we saw it. Yes, I understand the theology behind Advent and our year-round entreaties. I know that we are waiting for the final coming, commemorating His first coming, and looking for more of that middle coming of His presence in our daily lives. And, having just finished the class, I know that desire is crucially integral to lectio, prayer, and study. I know that without this yearning for more, both prayer and our relationship with God becomes stagnant. Additionally, we are often reminded that we have a role to play in bearing Christ in the world. But in the midst of this yearning and need for being better, it is also good to keep in mind that God did come. He came as a human baby 2000 years ago. Thus Christmas. And it changed everything.
As we begin to celebrate Christmas, the liturgy does change, and it gives many great, sentimental, theological reasons why we should celebrate the coming of our savior with great joy. So instead of enumerating those reasons, I’m going to get very concrete. Because God came, there is a Church, and there is a Dominican Order and a monastery in Summit. Otherwise our lives would look very different. Because there is a Church, there may be very real pain in family or friends being away from it, but at least we have something solid and hopeful to offer them. Because there is a Church, there is much of what is good in civilization, like the concept of equal dignity of all persons, and democracy instead of tyranny. You could argue that it is because God came that we have any expectation of voting and having a say in elections at all. Because God came there is hope of a better world here and eternal happiness in the life to come. Praise God for all of these tangible effects of the incarnation.
And there are also very real implications to the fact that God came specifically as a real human who was born. Because Jesus was born, He is an approachable God, and He showed Himself to be intensely interested and concerned about the minute details of humanity. So when we shake our fist at Him or even just our head and say “Where were you?” He does not smite us for our impertinence but can rather say “I was weeping right next to you.” God came as a baby in rather poor circumstances so that we can have hope in His supreme power of coming into the worst situations and making them better. Because He was born and grew, we can accept that His entire mission of salvation for the earth will similarly grow as a process rather than showing up all at once. And we can see what is not yet perfect in the world today as simply evidence of a job yet undone. Which gives our life purpose (which is nice). Finally, though, coming as a baby, growing up amongst us, God made Himself mistakable. A great double edged sword. Because it enhances our free will. But it also makes it possible for Him to simply be “one among [us] whom [we] do not recognize”, as John the Baptist stated in the Gospel a few weeks ago.
So this Christmas, let’s intentionally look. Let’s search not for where He will or should come, but for how our daily life is as it is because He has come. At least for a short while. May the reality of Jesus’ coming infiltrate our conversations. May it shape the lens through which we read the news. May it inspire our efforts of evangelization, and may it give life to our daily existence, during free time, work time, and every other part of our day. May the reality of Jesus’ coming cause joy, peace, and abundant gratitude to flood every part of our being. Because God was born, and that changed everything. Let us, this Christmas, find how, and respond accordingly.
