[ 2019
December 1st 1st Sunday
Advent. ●● Isaiah 2:1-5 ●● Psalm 122 ●● Romans 13:11-14 ●● Matthew 24:37-44 ●● ]
[__01__] Recently, I heard a priest’s spiritual
reflection using the topic and theme and famous “safety warning”: “Mind the Gap.”
In London, on the Underground train or
“Tube”, we are told incessantly by signs, by announcements to “Mind the Gap.”
The 'gap' is not the retail store famous
known as “GAP” and which now encompasses Banana Republic, Old Navy, et cetera, et cetera.
But, the “gap” is a physical space between the station platform where we wait
for the train and the floor of the train itself.
Those Londoners are in a very imperative mood
every day, ”mind the gap” so you do not trip.
On this side of the oceanic pond, we mind the
gap especially on snowy and rainy days, getting in and out of the car, entering
a building. There is always another gap, space, abyss.
[__02__] Is the gap dangerous only because it is
empty? Only because it has a void, a vacuum of space to which we pay attention?
Other transit systems have similar
spaces: Newark light rail, Bergen-Hudson light rail, the PATH, NYC subway.
And, I am suggesting that – on this
first Sunday of Advent – there is a spiritual space to be minded, to be aware
of.
Yes, there can be danger, but there is
also hope because of the dwelling and presence of the Holy Spirit in the gap as
well.
[_03_] It is
the first Sunday of Advent, December 1st, and in our
worship-calendar, this is a new year and we are crossing the threshold of time.
Mind the gap.
In the Gospel of this Sunday of
Advent, we ready about the end end of time, a caution to be ready:
“for if the master of the house had
known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be
broken into. So you too must be prepared for at an hour you do not expect, the
Son of Man will come.” (Matthew
24:43)
[__04__] The
Catholic writer and teacher, Alan Schreck, observes that sometimes we think of
the force of good and the force of evil as equal and opposing forces, like a
BAD law-breaker who needs to be opposed and stopped by Jesus, the GOOD lawmaker
and peacekeeper.
And, so we might sometimes wonder, as
we say about the police … why is he not around when we need him?
This thought might naturally enter our
minds if we were reading about the recent terrorist attack in London which did
not actually take place on the London underground or on the Tube, but did occur
we might say “in the gap.”
The “gap” was and should have been a
safe space on a bridge for people to gather and walk. Into the gap rushed a man
with evil intention.
Alan Schreck’s point is that God does
not impose his will on any free creature, even those who may choose to disobey
him with evil intention. As followers of
Christ, we have the assurance that God makes all things work together for those
who love him. (Romans 8:28) (Alan
Schreck, The Essential Catholic Catechism,
“Ch. 2, God, His Creation & Man’s
Rebellion”, Ann Arbor: Charis, p. 59)
The Son of Man will come. Mind the
gap. He enters into the gap.
[*** pause ****]
[__05__] We
often become aware of God’s presence at unexpected times, in the gap. It does
not take a highly educated expert to recognize love, providence, goodness.
Several years ago, on the occasion of
a family celebration and my mother’s birthday …for the grandchildren, this was
Grandma’s birthday and they attended. At the end of the joyous celebration, a
granddaughter sat herself next to my mother in the car on the way home and
pronounced: “this is the best day of my entire life.” She was age 7 (seven) years
old at the time. Minding the gap, she was also being very watchful, very aware.
[__06__] Jesus is urging us in the Gospel to be
watchful, to be awake and specifically to be aware that our struggle is not
just a personal struggle for excellence or for a personal moral standard so
that we can produce a good report card for God or a high standardized test
score in heaven.
The struggle – the minding of the gap
– is necessary because there is evil, in places such as London Bridge where it
should be safe. We can only pray we will
not be put to such a test.
[__07__] Pope
Emeritus Benedict XVI (B16) wrote that we should be careful not to simply say
“farewell to the devil” or pretend that he does not exist.
We also do not want to give him too
much credit. Nevertheless, there are
disturbances and examples of brokenness between people and within people that
cannot be explained simply by an individual moral failure. There are times when we do not acknowledge
God, when we have a God-problem…or a God-void or God-vacuum and another spirit
may fill that void or that gap. Mind the gap.
Yes, there are evils that cannot be
explained by purely natural or physical causes. There is something in between
that we cannot completely control. (Josef Ratzinger (Benedict XVI),
Dogma & Preaching, “Farewell
to the Devil,” p. 204)
If we consider the well-known 12-step
programs for those on the journey to sobriety, the 1st step is…”there
is a power greater than myself”. But the power greater than myself is not only
evil, but also good.
Mind the gap. Be aware of the forces
greater than ourselves.
This is a practical reason why, for
example, families and couples try to make the computer and wi-fi enabled
devices not such a secretive and private experience, but keep things out in the
open where everyone can see into the gap.
Now, on the positive side, there
is also the Holy Spirit, the ultimate gap-joiner, and bridge, the connection
between the Father and Son in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit who has all the
powers and virtues of Christ and dwells in our hearts as a Temple, the power to
help us conquer our pride, to know the truth between good and evil, to give us
real courage.
Should we fear the gap? Can we not simply mind the gap? Is
there anything to fear, to be afraid of? (Maybe we fear the “financial
statement’ from The
Gap (store) after Black Friday !)
B16 wrote this about the virtue and
spiritual gift known as fear of the Lord:
“fear of the Lord is something quite
different from a boastful recklessness that is unwilling to see the seriousness
of reality. Part of true bravery [courage] is not concealing the extent of the
danger but, rather, being able to see the reality in its totality …. And, the
clearer the opposite of the Holy One becomes as well: the beautiful masks of
the devil no longer deceive someone who sees from God’s perspective.” (Josef
Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), Dogma
& Preaching, “Farewell to the Devil,” p. 204) Mind
the gap. [__fin__]
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