Dear Friends,
Paul, in our second reading this Sunday, tells us that everything written in scripture in the past was written for our instruction, that by endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May St. Paul encourage you this Advent to remember the old stories, becoming more familiar with the Scriptures – both the New Testament and the Old. Knowing the old stories will help you see your story in better light.
For example, do you remember the story of Jacob? How as a young man he had to run away from his screwy family because he had cheated his brother out of his birthright while his father lay dying. He fled for his life fearful that his brother would kill him and so left at his mother’s advice with just the clothes on his back. He hid out at his uncle’s place and got involved with some foreign women there.
One night on a journey he lay down to sleep on the hard ground and found a nice rock to use as a pillow. The rock was still warm from the sun when Jacob placed his cheek against it and fell asleep. Then he had a dream. A ladder set up on the earth, with the top of it reaching to heaven and the angels of God ascending and descending on it. Then all of a sudden, God was there speaking to him about safety, children, land and a promise. God said to him, “Remember, I am with you. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised.”
Jacob woke with the place still spinning with God’s presence. Although he saw nothing extraordinary about the world around him, it was still the same wilderness, the same rocks, the same sand, and the same shrubs Jacob could not see the place the same any longer. He said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, though I did not know it.” He went on to say, “How awesome is this place! This is nothing but the dwelling place of God! This is the gate of heaven!” Then he took the stone he had used as a pillow and covered it with oil and called the place Bethel, the House of God.
It was one of those dreams he could have made up. It was one of those dreams that was more real than what is real. One of those dreams that never lets you see the world in the same way again. Having been woken to the presence of God all around him, he could never see God the same way again. God was now his constant companion.
We might think that such things could never happen to us. Yet, when we know Jacob’s story, we know that he was no saint. He was a sinner and sometimes scoundrel just like you and me. The important thing is that God chose him and he was willing to let God reveal the closeness of God to him. God comes to us in the midst of our wilderness. God comes to us when everyday seems like a pillow made of rock. God chooses us even when we struggle with those we should love the most and sends his angels to reveal to us that it is precisely with us that God creates a place where heaven and earth touch. The ladder comes down to you.
This week of Advent, remember your story with God. Remember those moments when you felt God’s love for you even though you did not deserve it. Celebrate the fact that God has chosen you, as unworthy as you are. And, if you feel the need to say “I am sorry” to God, then join us for our Reconciliation Service on Tuesday evening at 7 pm. There God embraces his messy children and loves them in the midst of the mess, as God always has. That is why it is important to know the old stories…
Peace,
Fr. Damian