One of the busiest times of the year is almost upon us: Advent and Christmas. We all know how our culture has veered away from the true meaning of these seasons. At times it can seem we are powerless to resist the pull and even obligation to shop and partake in a wide variety of events we might not normally participate in. There is one simple way we can resist, push back against the commercialism, and veer back onto the path of celebrating the first coming of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Each day the Church gives us scripture readings to ponder by arranging the Liturgy of the Word at Mass to draw us into the feast and seasons of the year. Advent and Christmas are no exception, and their readings offer the perfect escape route from the distracting hustle and bustle the world offers, back to the sublime, pondering way.
Sometimes we read the daily Mass readings but don’t see their connection to the season, or just plain don’t understand them at all. At such times, or when we are seeking a deeper look, or another perspective to relate the holy words to our own lives, there is a beautiful book series to turn to, entitled, The Safe Haven: Scriptural Reflections for the Heart and Home. In it, the author M.C. Holbrook takes the reader through the Church year in a separate volume for each liturgical season. This past spring we looked at Holbrook’s Easter volume and delved into the tradition of reading such meditations and reflections.
In an upcoming volume from the season of Ordinary Time, Holbrook writes:
Why make it sound on the surface as though he means one thing, when really he means another? Because by his brilliant use of hyperbole, Jesus’ intention is to prompt us to PONDER. Jesus certainly could have plainly stated his lesson on what it takes to be blessed, but then we would not have asked ourselves the prayerful question, “What does this mean?” Jesus intends his words to be PRAYED, not simply read, because THIS is how we “hear the word of God and observe it.” Without this kind of prayerful meditation upon his precious words, Scripture would become for us boring and dry at best, unread and unheeded at worst. But by giving us the puzzle pieces and not the full picture, Jesus is encouraging us to become engaged in discovering the answers. He wants us to have a “living and effective” CONVERSATION with him in his holy word, and not simply act as bystanders or spectators (referring to Luke 11:27-28).
Prayerfully spending time with the daily Mass readings and M.C. Holbrook’s reflections can help us to do just what she describes in this excerpt: ponder, pray, meditate, and converse with Our Lord about just what it is that He wishes us to know that day through the great gift of the holy scriptures.
Holbrook’s writings have a distinct gift of helping us see life sub specie aeternitatis, that is, from the perspective of the eternal. Are we getting bogged down in our own, or someone else’s sin? Sub specie aeternitatis. Are we living in fear of the path our wayward child is walking down? Sub specie aeternitatis. Do we believe that if we can just control this or that situation in our family, our community, or our world, we will finally be at peace? Sub specie aeternitatis. As we continually read Holbrook’s simple, relatable wisdom, our perspective changes to one that follows Jesus’ gospel example into a prayerful, pondering conversation with Him, and even more importantly, into greater trust in Him and His ways.
In the foreword to her Advent and Christmas volume, Holbrook writes:
For me, it is truly all about the Savior’s birth. Gone are the days when Mass was the “boring” obligation to get past so I could rush home to presents and food. My favorite part of Christmas Day is the same as my favorite part of every day: my early morning quiet prayer hour, alone with the Lord, immersed in his word.
The pages that follow is the fruit of my time of prayer, alone with Jesus in his word during the season leading up to the feast of his birth and beyond. I do not profess to write as a theologian nor as a Scripture scholar; my reflections are the result of my personal biblical study, combined with prayerful meditation, and, at times, spiritual imagination. May these words be a blessing to you as they have been to me, and may they inspire you to unwrap the gift that is Scripture—all three hundred sixty-five days of the year.
(Hint: Don’t skip the rest of the foreword! In it lies a beautiful story of spiritual growth and true love for scripture and for God.)
Another gift Holbrook shares through her writing is to not allow us to demonize anyone; when tempted to, she urges us to turn our accusing finger inwards. Having done so, she reminds and encourages us to trust and to have great confidence in God’s mercy for us. This gift is demonstrated in the Advent and Christmas volume, reflecting on the readings for Thursday in the 2nd Week of Advent:
For one who sincerely seeks holiness, the suffering of others often elicits compassion in one’s heart and a desire to help. In some cases, that desire to help is almost desperate; one imagines what it would be like to endure such pain, or perhaps one has endured pain like it, having been there oneself. The desire to ease the suffering of another can be all-encompassing. But here’s the thing: we also have people in our lives whose suffering does not elicit in us that same kind of reaction. Perhaps these are people who have wounded us in the past; people for whom we experience a sense of jealousy or resentment; people who simply irritate us, annoy us, or otherwise drive us crazy. It’s not that we have no compassion for them in their pain; it’s just that alongside the compassion we do have … is the compassion that we don’t. In other words, compared to the pity we take upon others in similar situations, the pity that we lack towards the ones we don’t particularly like is glaringly apparent.
“I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and double-edged, to thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff …”
So why has the suffering of those we find difficult to love failed to transform our hearts such that we cannot forget all the past wounds and hurt they caused us — at least not entirely? Why do we — who profess to be devout Christians — still hold onto a temporal “grudge,” when by now we should know better, we should be able to see the bigger picture of Christ’s life-saving merciful love? Why do we not recognize the opportunity the Lord gives us now to prove our love for him by acting with compassion towards the ones we love least?
“Never give up prayer, and should you find dryness and difficulty, persevere in it for this very reason. God often desires to see what love your soul has, and love is not tried by ease and satisfaction.” –St. John of the Cross
If we are mystified and frustrated by the scant compassion we feel towards the ones who need our mercy and love, then we can be confident that the Lord has allowed us our weakness. Though we may be assaulted by the temptation to resent, to criticize, to begrudge, let us realize those temptations are allowed by the God who desires that we overcome them and thereby grow in holiness. He simply “desires to see what love our soul has, and love is not tried by ease and satisfaction.” There is only one way to grow in love, and it is by persevering in that which is difficult, not in that which is easy.”
Give yourself a spiritual gift this Advent. Prepare your heart for the beauty of the celebration of the Incarnation of the Lord with the wisdom of our friend M.C. Holbrook. Her writings will help you turn down the unnecessary noise of the world’s frenetic celebration of all things sparkly and jingly in favor of all things truly bright and beautiful, encompassed in the birth of Our Lord and Savior. You’ll be happy to continue to celebrate straight through to the Baptism of Our Lord, and you will be eagerly looking for the next volume.
Author’s Note: To purchase The Safe Haven: Scriptural Reflections for the Heart and Home, The Liturgical Seasons of Advent and Christmas, visit Amazon, where all other volumes currently in print are also available.
Photo by Grant Whitty on Unsplash
