December, 2011 by mark colville
“I wonder if [human]kind is not really at the point of being divided between those who believe
and those who do not believe in the future of the universe…” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.
(1881-1955)
“I am the voice of one crying in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’…” John the
Baptist
ADVENT (noun): A coming into being, arrival… (The Merriam Webster Dictionary)
ADVENT is this conversation we keep having, about how the WORLD is being saved by
BEAUTY and TRUTH and PEACE. Advent is a BABY crying… for JUSTICE. Advent is
GOD gently whispering in your ear, through MARY… “revolution…” Advent is God calling all
things NEW, and telling you to GO PROVE IT. Advent is God saying how PRECIOUS is Her
CREATION. Advent is a COSMIC EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER.
ADVENT is all those ILLUSIONS about the world that you carry around, as a child of
EMPIRE, getting SHATTERED. Advent is JESUS telling you YES, I can CAST OUT THAT
DEMON in your soul, the one that has you convinced there is NO POWER stronger than
DEATH. Advent is HOPE born, reborn, INDESTRUCTIBLE, unlimited, and asking YOU
for a place to stay for the night.
ADVENT is JOSE Y MARIA Y JESUS showing up in YOUR TOWN just as they did
in BETHLEHEM: homeless, UNDOCUMENTED, immigrants, strangers, a STRAIN on the
economy, OUTCASTS, persons of interest and usual SUSPECTS, potential SECURITY
threats, possible TERRORIST sympathizers… HOLY. FAMILY.
ADVENT is God’s memo to the effect that henceforth, THE PIE is no longer to be
sought in THE SKY. What the people at OCCUPY WALL STREET are doing:
THAT IS CALLED PRACTICING ADVENT.
ADVENT means SUDDENLY getting CALLED out of church to where CHRIST is
showing up in the world- on the MARGINS, on the BORDER, on the STREET, at the
SHELTER, under the BRIDGE, at the FORECLOSURE, on the PICKET LINE, in the TENT
on the green, in the MOVEMENT, in the JAIL, at GUANTANAMO, in the DESERT under
the FENCE, under the RADAR, under the BOMBS your nation is dropping,…
and in the bread that is broken wherever the poor take refuge.
ADVENT is making another PLACE at the table, and another, and ANOTHER, because
your heart knows… He’s GONNA SHOW UP. To find that place, go to your comfort zone,
then take a left, and keep on until dawn. FIND THAT PLACE, it’s called NAZARETH. Use
your spiritual GPS and leave your doubts home.
Nazareth… Can anything good come from Nazareth?…. COME AND SEE!!!
Merry Xmas, Happy Holidays, Love, Peace and all Good, from
The Amistad Catholic Worker.
