{"id":1426,"date":"2016-12-18T05:00:48","date_gmt":"2016-12-18T10:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjcmetheology.wpengine.com\/?p=1426"},"modified":"2016-12-18T05:00:48","modified_gmt":"2016-12-18T10:00:48","slug":"thomas-merton-reflections-on-the-meaning-of-advent-and-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/thomas-merton-reflections-on-the-meaning-of-advent-and-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Merton: Reflections on the Meaning of Advent and Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Advent, a season of special grace, is a time set aside to prepare to receive Jesus more fully at Christmas.\u00a0 Advent is about readying one\u2019s heart to cradle the One who will be born anew when the Nativity feast is celebrated once again.\u00a0 Advent is a time of hopeful expectation that Jesus will heed one\u2019s ardent longing that He abide more completely within oneself.\u00a0 If one\u2019s desire for Jesus is great, one\u2019s whole being will become centered in the joy that will accompany His renewed birthing in one\u2019s life.\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Merton reflects: \u201cWhat joy is ours when we find Jesus, the sunshine of the universe.\u00a0 Heaven and earth kiss in Jesus.\u00a0 Jesus is God\u2019s smile on the earth.\u201d[i]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Merton\"<\/a>According to Merton, Advent is a graced period of time when a person can choose to begin to end all that is not Christ-like in his or her life.\u00a0 Contemplating Advent as a season of seeking greater wholeness of living in Christ, Merton writes:<\/p>\n

I begin to live in Christ when I come to the \u2018end\u2019 or to the \u2018limit\u2019 of what divides me
\nfrom my fellow man; when I am willing to step beyond this end, cross the frontier,
\nbecome a stranger, enter into the wilderness which is not \u2018myself,\u2019 where I do not
\nbreathe the air or hear the familiar, comforting racket of my own city, where I am
\nalone and defenseless in the desert of God. [ii]<\/a><\/p>\n

In his writings, Merton considers Jesus\u2019 three advents as discussed by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, the founder of Cistercian monasticism.\u00a0 In the first Advent, the Logos became incarnated in this world ad homines<\/em>, that is, in order to redeem humankind.\u00a0 Merton notes that, according to Saint Bernard, the virgin Mary\u2019s role in the incarnation is central, since in and through her humanity God chose to enter into our world.<\/p>\n

For Saint Bernard, the second Advent is in homines<\/em>, which means that, through grace, God takes up residence within a person.\u00a0 Regarding this, Merton comments: \u201cChrist comes to us, really gives Himself to us, so that we already possess our heaven in hope.\u201d[iii]<\/a>\u00a0 During this Advent time, one creates a sanctuary in one\u2019s heart for the Word of God; one grows in humility and makes every effort to use one\u2019s energies to do God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n

In his writings, Merton explores Saint Bernard\u2019s third Advent as Christ\u2019s final coming contra homines<\/em> when He will return to Earth to judge the living and the deceased.\u00a0 According to Saint Bernard, this Advent will occasion Christ making manifest negative judgment on those persons who rejected His saving grace during their earthly lives and positive judgment on those who, in life, were receptive to His salvific grace.<\/p>\n

In his work entitled The Nativity Kergyma, <\/em>Merton provides an exquisite meditation on the meaning of Jesus\u2019 birth.\u00a0 Merton reflects that the Savior\u2019s nativity proclaims His initial historical presence but also His continued epiphany in the now moment. Each Christmas, Christ is born in new ways to be Light and Life in believers\u2019 lives.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 ardent desire is that His light shine in and through His followers\u2019 works of love of others.\u00a0 In this way, He is able to advent continually in the lives of multitudes of people.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the reality that long ago God chose to empty Godself to be born as a child in the village of Bethlehem, Merton writes:<\/p>\n

The Child that lies in the manger, helpless and abandoned to the love
\nof His creatures, dependent entirely upon them to be fed, clothed, and
\nsustained, remains the Creator and Ruler of the universe. \u2026 He wills to
\nbe helpless that we may take Him into our care. He has embraced our
\npoverty \u2026 in order to give us his riches.\u201d[iv]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Nativity Child, the God of earth and sky, paradoxically was born in a lowly stable.\u00a0 The poverty that surrounded Jesus\u2019 birth marked the rest of His life wherein He experienced humiliation, insult, opposition, and, finally, rejection that led to His being executed by means of a horrific crucifixion.<\/p>\n

For Merton, the message of the Nativity is gaudete<\/em>: Rejoice for the Lord who suffered death is risen and is truly near!\u00a0 It was John the Baptist who heralded the advent of Jesus\u2019 salvific ministry. \u00a0\u00a0Today, Christ\u2019s followers are called to carry forward the Baptist\u2019s mission and to trust that Christ\u2019s continued saving advents in time will eventually give way to an everlasting Christmas when those gathered around the resurrected Christ will feast at the banquet table of eternal blessing.<\/p>\n

Sr. Marilyn Sunderman, R.S.M.<\/strong>, teaches theology at Saint Joseph\u2019s College<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[i]<\/a>Thomas Merton, Unpublished: \u201cAdvent Reflections, 1st<\/sup> Sunday of Advent,\u201d 4. Accessed in the Saint Joseph\u2019s College Merton Collection.<\/p>\n

[ii]<\/a> Thomas Merton, Seasons of Celebration <\/em>(New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1965), 95.<\/p>\n

[iii]<\/a> Merton, Seasons of Celebration, <\/em>77.<\/p>\n

[iv]<\/a> Merton, Seasons of Celebration, <\/em>109.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Advent, a season of special grace, is a time set aside to prepare to receive Jesus more fully at Christmas.\u00a0 Advent is about readying one\u2019s heart to cradle the One who will be born anew when the Nativity feast is … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}