December, 2002

n.10

Preparing for the Nativity

of Our Lord Jesus Christ

(Part 2)

Preparing for the Nativity of Our Lord

Jesus Christ

(Part 2)

The Office of the Ancestors of Christ

(Advent Readings)

Each set of readings (7 totaled) contains an Old Testament foreshadowing of the Incarnation, a New Testament fulfillment in Christ and a Meditation on the sacred readings. Try to read first the Old Testament reading, secondly the Meditation and finally the New Testament reading. Spend some time either alone, or with your family, to ponder the mystery of how God prepared the world to receive His Son at the moment of the Annunciation to the Theotokos.

First Stasis: The Creation of Adam and Eve:

"Let us make man in our image"

Genesis 1:26-28

Meditation

In the wonders of creation the Lord revealed His great love by creating man in His own image and likeness. By the sin of Adam and Eve, though, that image was disfigured and the likeness was dimmed. All of their children would be marked by their transgression. The goodness of creation was left waiting to be found; the beauty of man was hidden behind his sin. It would not remain so forever because the Father so loved the world that He gave His own Son to be its Saviour. In Christ all that had been lost was restored and even more was given Man who had once lost his friendship with the Lord now in Christ would know the intimacy of God Himself. Even before Adam and Eve were finally banished from the Garden, the Lord was preparing the world to receive the gift of His Son. This is the mystery of the Incarnation - Christ making all things new.

Revelation 21:1-5

Second Stasis: The Covenant Begins:

The Promise of a Son to Abraham and Sarah

Genesis 18:9-11 ; 21:1-3

Meditation

At this time in our history that regards life as more of a burden than a gift, it is difficult to understand the disappointment of a childless couple. The children of friends and relatives are constant reminders of the joy that eludes them as co-creators with God of human life. Abraham and Sarah ask the question: "Who will remember us when we lie in death?" The Lord answers: "There is never a time when I have not heard you or remembered you, if I should forget you even for a moment the universe would cease to be. You will have a son, and his descendants will be as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea." I will always be with you for I am Emmanuel.

Romans 9:1-9

Third Stasis: The Angelic Announcement:

The Barren Become Fertile

Judges 13:2-7, 24

Meditation

Throughout the living of the Covenant, the Lord sought to guide His people to the Messiah. Manoah and his wife reveal that the Messiah can work where the world believes He can not. Even barrenness is not an obstacle to his fertility. The strength of Samson foreshadows the very strength of Christ Himself. Samson ripped apart physical chains and brought down the temple of his captors. Christ destroyed the very chains of death itself and allowed the Temple of His Body to be torn down and then raised up in glory. Our salvation comes only from the Lord and in no force of our own.

Luke 1:5-17

Fourth Stasis: The Destiny of Bethlehem:

The Marriage of Ruth and Boaz

Ruth 4:10-13

Meditation

Small towns can be places where people "watch out" for each other, and small towns can also be places where people "watch" each other, especially the stranger. In this shrinking world, each day the stranger and the marginalized are treated with suspicion, resentment, and contempt. Lives are shattered and broken when minds and hearts refuse to admit that God desires to save people of all races and all nations and all creeds. Bethlehem was a small town that first closed its doors to the stranger Ruth. Centuries later, Bethlehem would close its doors to Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The Lord, though, even uses our sins and weakness to show His mercy and strength. Bethlehem would be called great regardless of its smallness.

Matthew 2:1-6

Fifth Stasis: The Song of Praise:

Hannah and Elkanah before the Lord

I Samuel 1:19-20; 27-2:10

Meditation

Prayer was the first of Hannah and Elkanah's duties. So often it is our last and most neglected. Prayer unites us to God Himself in a communion of mind and heart. Prayer brings a confidence in knowing that all we ask for, the Lord will grant according to His loving plan of Divine Providence. This is the confidence which Christ bestows on us in praying the prayer that He taught us: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done." The Father's will may not always be clear to us but that should not inhibit our praise of His goodness. Prayers of praise constantly flow from the True Believer's soul.

Luke 1:39-56

Sixth Stasis: David's Promise to Bathsheba:

"Your son shall reign after me."

I Kings 1:15-18; 29-31

Meditation

To have another man's wife, David became party to deception, adultery, and murder. In David's sorrow for his misdeeds, the Lord God did not leave him in sinfulness nor does He allow us to be swept away in the flood of our sins. But even the son of David and Bathsheba, Solomon the Wise, could not offer the price of their redemption. The world still needed a "greater-than-Solomon."

Hebrews 2:5-9

Seventh Stasis: The Building of the Ark:

God saves His people

Genesis 6:13-22

Meditation

The Ark of Noah was built to save mankind from the deadly force of the flood. It would deliver his family from death and destruction. The New Ark who is the Theotokos was created not for just one family, but all families! She guides us not through the flood waters of wrath, but the floods of mercy and love, as God becomes man and takes flesh of the virgin.

I Peter 3:13-22

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