Saturday of the Third Week of Advent

Lectionary: 197

Here he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattices.
My lover speaks; he says to me,
“Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come!
“For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.




We celebrate Christmas in the dead of winter, in proximity of the winter solstice, which is today. From now until June we will watch the Light of the World slowly, majestically return to its high throne in the sky. Perhaps this is why we hear today a reading from the Song of Songs, celebrating Spring. 

Christmas could be a vernal celebration. Saint Luke tells us the shepherds were keeping watch over their sheep in the fields when the angelic choir appeared to them. I understand they were out there, rather than in the village corrals, because the ewes give birth in the spring of the year. The corral, perhaps, was too crowded and chaotic for the ewes in their peril. Jesus is the Lamb of God; his birth in the spring would also be apt. 

Our first reading today from the Song of Songs celebrates the coming of God in the springtime, and the song of the lover, 

The winter has passed, the rains are over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!

We also find the springtime theme of rejuvenation and new life in last Sunday's first reading, from Isaiah 35:

The wilderness and the parched land will exult; the Arabah will rejoice and bloom; Like the crocus it shall bloom abundantly, and rejoice with joyful song. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Strengthen hands that are feeble, make firm knees that are weak, Say to the fearful of heart: Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; With divine recompense he comes to save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall see, and the ears of the deaf be opened; Then the lame shall leap like a stag, and the mute tongue sing for joy. For waters will burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the Arabah. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water; The abode where jackals crouch will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus.

I often read this passage to the Veterans in the hospital as I administer the Sacrament of the Sick, especially during the Christmas Season. Isaiah's promise of restored vitality includes healing for human beings. We are part of God's creation and when God blesses us he blesses the land as well. There is no separating us from our earth. 

On the Winter Solstice the Church encourages us to hope in new, spring-like vitality for our land, our bodies and our spirits. We will feel not simply better, as if we might be willing to live another day. The coming of the Lord will restore the spring in our step, the sap in our veins and the zest of our love life.