the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers....
Periodically, I must refer back to a statement of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschl in his book, Man is not alone, a philosophy of religion:
Not the individual man nor a single generation by its own power can erect the bridge that leads to God. Faith is the achievement of ages, an effort accumulated over centuries. Many of its ideas are as the light of a star that left its source centuries ago. Many songs, unfathomable today, are the resonance of voices of bygone times. There is a collective memory of God in the human spirit, and it is this memory of which we partake in our faith. (page 161)
As we enter this deeper, more sacred eight days of Advent, we should feel the presence of millions of longing souls. We should hear the resonance of voices of bygone times..
As a Franciscan novice in 1966, entering religious life, I was immediately drawn to the Liturgy of the Hours and the daily recitation of the psalms. I belonged in that company. We were given transitional breviaries with Latin and English texts, and we alternated the two languages throughout the week. I had taken four years of Latin in the minor seminary but could only pronounce the words with my Louisville accent. The English was more familiar but in neither language were they my words.
These psalms, canticles, and readings were the prayers of the whole Church through many past and future centuries. The breviary at the time was a one-volume text to be carried by peripatetic friars who should never ride a horse or carriage. That handheld codex was as close to a home as they should know, and all the saints lived within its pages.
The liturgical prayer of the whole church became my words as I became one of them. I could never abandon my American citizenship or my family membership but I was joining a company -- a companionship -- that accumulated over the centuries.
My Franciscan identity, our Catholic religion, and our Christian faith are God's gift to each of us in particular, and to the world as a whole. Religion is a faith received from ancient times. As Rabbi Heschl says, no single person or generation can build a bridge to God. No one can pick and choose from our religion what they want to believe. The Church is not a cafeteria or smorgasbord of beliefs.
While different people are initially drawn to different facets of this wonderful treasure, in joining the Church they accept everyone who belongs to the Church -- past, present, and future -- along with our doctrines, history, achievements, sins, and atonement.
Jesus's prayer that all be one cannot be frustrated. It must come to perfection in its time and it must draw each of us into him as he gives himself to the Father.
Entering these most sacred days of Advent we lay aside that treacly specialness that sets me apart from them. We join the procession to Bethlehem to worship the Child with his Mother, and all the saints, and all the sinners, and every animate and inanimate creature.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.