“All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him” (Lk 10:22).
God the Father knows God the Son and God the Son knows God the Father. They do not just know about each other, they know each other with a deep intimacy that is far beyond our human comprehension. Contemplating this reality can fill us with hope especially when we come to realize that Jesus is the Son of God who has come into our lives so that we can participate in this trinitarian communion of the Father and the Son and the love shared between them, the Holy Spirit!
Jesus has come as an agent of reconciliation, to restore our relationship with God, to undo the effects of the sin of separation that has so ruptured and wounded our relationship with him, each other, and his creation. Our hope this Advent is that we can come not just to a better understanding of God, but to intimately know and restore our relationship with God through our participation in the life of his Son.
We need to be careful that the Advent season does not get away from us before it even starts because of the material, commercial, and busyness that tempts to distract and divert us. A good practice is to be still and spend some time in the gift of creation, to enter into its natural rhythm, and bask in the wonder and vast expanse of it all.
This past Saturday morning I arose early to meditate and pray before heading off to serve at the 8:00 am Mass. As I sat in my chapel area, I looked out the window and I saw setting in the low western sky, in Lakota, Tayamni Cankahu, the ribs of the animal or the buffalo (more commonly known as the belt of Orion). A site sorely missed, because I have not been spending any time recently looking at the stars.
All of creation echoes the wonder and adoration of the gift that the season of Advent offers: Jesus, who became one with us so we can become one with him, invites us to participate in a deeper walk with his Father, the creator of heaven and earth, the one who knit us together in our mother’s womb, and who knows us better than we know ourselves!
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Photo of buffalo I took while driving in South Dakota in between Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations around 1990 – a moment of quiet wonder, God’s creation on full display as the buffalo appeared to be walking right out of the sun.
Spiritual Stepping Stones