Advent Meditations: Saturday 4 December

Dec 4, 2021 by

SATURDAY ADVENT I

TODAY ON THE LITURICAL CALENDAR- Feast of St. John of Damascus, Priest and Doctor of the Church, 749

 

ABOUT TODAY ON THE LITURICAL CALENDAR  John of Damascus was a learned theologian who carefully gathered together and transmitted to the West the teachings of the Greek Fathers and is thus one of the most trustworthy teachers of the oriental/eastern tradition of the catholic faith. He also wrote many liturgical hymns still in use today.

 

Sat
Dec 4
am: 96
pm:50:1-4
Exodus 3:5 Ephesians 1:16-20 Luke 12: 32-40

 BIBLICAL MEDITATION In this opening section from Saint Paul and his letter to the community at Ephesus he is making a prayer known that God would give the faithful a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the true knowledge of Him. In some measure that was because there were a number of falsehoods being spread about the faith. It is in the wake of that reality that    that he makes his case as he states clearly that God wants us to know three essentials about our salvation that will give us assurance about our high calling as His people. If we are assured than we will be rooted in the eternal hope that we need to when trials arise for, we will need to persevere. This was not just dramatic license as we see in the life of St. John who is commemorated in both the eastern and western calendars. He believed that humans at times need visual reminders of that higher calling which is ours as we sometimes lose our way and so he defended the use of icons as a way of supplying such reminders to us. They were commonly referred to as “windows to heaven”.

 

St. John of Damascus believed that a piece of artwork could give us a glimpse of the invisible (which is imbedded in the teachings of Christology – the study of the person of Christ) – which focuses on the Incarnation. In the Incarnation begins our eternal promise and so we are reminded that because God took on human flesh, He allows us to see the person of Christ, who is God!

While some folks who see themselves more biblically based in their faith balk at this, they might wish to consider that Icons can be thought of as a natural outgrowth of a sacramental understanding of the world. God uses the created world to reveal Himself to us and to give us grace. Oftentimes in prayer, our imaginations can race in a distracted manner. Icons can help us to overcome distraction. They invite us to focus on an image of the holy that points the way to God. Icons take us beyond words and give us a visual reminder of God’s love for us. It is another way to ponder our faith and who God is. St. John of Damascus fought hard for this truth and given the images our culture offers in this holiday season, we Christians needs to show what the alternatives truly are!  What better time of year to look through these eternal windows?

 

PRAYER: O Lord confirm in our hearts and minds, the mysteries of the true faith,  that we may be inspired by the example of your servant John of Damascus, and so confessing Jesus to be true God and true Man, May we sing the praises of the One whom we await this Adventide aspiring to that  eternal joy;  where with you live and reign with  the Father and the Holy Spirit,  as one God, for ever and ever. Amen

 

ADVENT ACTIVITY – St. John Damascene was a great preserver of Christian art, and is also called the “Doctor of Christian Art.” We should appreciate his contribution to our Church’s heritage. Today would be a great day to use as part of your prayer time a reflection on religious art, especially by some of the greatest artists such as Raphael, or Michelangelo. Another area to study would be religious icons. Icons, are unique and very different from realistic art, carry deep symbolic meanings in every detail. Perhaps a visit to a local orthodox church might help appreciate this type of pathway to worship. Perhaps purchasing one as a gift for a person who loves art but may not yet love Christ!

 

ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: “It is the task of the iconographer to open our eyes to the actual presence of the Kingdom of God in the world, and to remind us that although we see nothing of its splendid liturgy, we are if we believe in Christ the redeemer, in fact living and worshipping as “fellow citizens of the angels and saints, built upon the chief

cornerstone with Christ.”-Fr. Louis (aka Thomas Merton), The Meaning

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