An Initial Thought on the Threshold of Advent

REFLECTION

What comes to mind when you hear the word Advent? Perhaps the phrase “coming to” or “preparation” recalls homilies or lessons from the past. Perhaps Advent triggers a word of frustration: Ugh - because Christmas is close and there is much to do in a short period of time. Seemingly, we blink and Advent is over; that is if we even entered into it with the Christmas crush. With Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, we have an opportunity for a full-four week celebration of Advent and an opportunity to experience Advent not just as a Liturgical Season but as a way of life.

In the prayer following the Lord’s Prayer at every Mass, the Church prays: “Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of Your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” 1. Deliverance from every evil. 2. Peace in our days. 3. Freedom from sin. 4. Safe[ty] from all distress. Might any of these four be a dream that you nurture deep within, wondering if any or all 4 will ever become a reality in your life? The world repeats and old message: there will always be evil in the world, peace will never come, we will always sin and we will have to find ways to medicate and to cope with distress in our lives. The repetitive and old message of pessimism and despair is real in the sense that anyone of us can give into its life-robbing power. The irony is that in the Face of Jesus Christ, these realities have no power; but WE give them power when we acknowledge their repetitive and old existence. Discovering the singular, unique newness Who is Jesus the Christ destroys evil, provides peace, gives freedom from sin and safety from distress.

Thus we come to the “work” of Advent. Yes, Advent as a way of life is a work, a work of responding to the new creation in our midst that is Jesus. Centuries ago, Saint Irenaeus wrote: “You must realize that He Who was promised has brought something totally new by giving us Himself.” Advent is a way of living life that proclaims boldly Jesus makes all things new (Revelation 21:5) and consequently there is no room for a repetitive, old message of evil, unrest, sin and distress. Allowing oneself to be found by Jesus Christ (in other words, not seeking after as if “I” must find Him) unleashes power that floods life with deliverance, peace, no sin and no distress. It begins by pondering, “how is Jesus new in my life?”

A specific reflection on God’s Word for the First Sunday of Advent has been posted.

Sunday, the Thirty-third

ANTIPHON

The Lord says: My plans for you are peace and not disaster; when you call to Me, I will listen to you, and I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you (Jeremiah 29:11, 12, 14).

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Blessed are those who fear the Lord. (Psalm 128).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

“Jesus told his disciples this parable: “A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted (παρέδωκεν, paredoken) his possessions (ὑπάρχοντα, huparchonta) to them. To one he gave (ἔδωκεν, edoken) five talents (τάλαντα, talanta); to another, two; to a third, one – to each according to his ability. Then he went away.” (Matthew 25:14-5).”

REFLECTION

What exactly is a talent especially in the context of this Sunday’s Parable? It is a good question, along with a few other questions, to pose given the introduction to the Parable. Initially, we learn about “a man going on a journey” who later is known as the “master of those servants (Matthew 25:19).” The Greek for “master” is ὁ κύριος (ho kyrios, the Lord), which is the title of the Resurrected Jesus: triumphant Lord over sin and death. Then, prior to departure, “the man … handed-on (the translation of the Greek παρέδωκεν, paredoken) his possessions” yet “gave … talents … to each according to his ability.” Is there a difference between possessions and talents? If there is a difference between these two in the context of the Parable, is there a difference then between “entrusted [handed-on]” and “gave”? The reader might think that this is an over splitting of hairs, but I think it is part of a larger question dealing with why the two servants immediately invested the talanta while one buried the talanta. Unfortunately, many have been quick to reduce the difference to a matter of initiative versus laziness and thus appeal to the Parable to justify a Pelagian approach to the mystery and gift of Salvation. In other words, the Parable becomes the Christian way of saying, “Be all you can be” because “God helps those who help themselves.” (an often cited quip that is not found in the Scriptures nor does it have any standing in sound theology).

There certainly are elements of the Parable that reflect the sitz im Leben of Jesus’ Public Ministry as well as the Evangelist. Scholars note the custom of “entrusting” goods and lands to servants as a test for trustworthiness. But the practice also afforded a landowner the ability to travel from place to place to survey the holdings as well as the possibility for further acquisitions. In this case, servants acted as custodians or guards of the master’s goods while absent. Burying money or good, another action in the Parable, was a common form of protecting one’s (or another's) wealth and valuable possessions especially during a time of war.

On the other hand, there are elements of the Parable, particularly the talents, which do seem strange against the background of first-century life. Various scholars note that while we cannot know for certain the ‘exchange rate’ for a talent and contemporary currency, it was a surprisingly large amount of money and people of that era knew it. This would account for the element of “strangeness” or “vividness” that is characteristic of Jesus’ Parables. He uses many elements of ordinary day-to-day living in the Parables and invariably hyper-exaggerates one or two of the elements intending to ‘hook’ His listeners’ imagination and draw them into the mystery of Kingdom living that is at the heart of all the Parables.

Whether it is the case of 1, 2 or 5 talents (and the 5 talents also has a ring of “5” from last week’s Patristic insight on the 5 senses), talents do differ from possessions. In the Greco-Roman world, possessions (ὑπάρχοντα, huparchonta) were clearly ‘existing things.’ As such, depending on size, these ‘existing things’ had a connection to and from the hand. The image here is one having ‘a hand on the goods.’ Having a hand on the goods was seen as a type of control (in a good way), care-taking and safeguarding. In the case of “a man going on a journey,” he “handed on” or puts-into-the-hands of his servants the ‘existing things,’ the possessions presumably for their protection and safeguarding. But when it comes to the talanta, notice the action: gave (ἔδωκεν, edoken, from the Greek didomi, to give). “A man going on a journey … gave … talents.” In the Gospels, didomi (to give) often conveys an action of gift-giving. There is something magnanimous (in varying degrees of intensity) done on the part of one who gives. But it is clear that the initiative for the action lies with the giver, not the receiver. No matter what the receiver did, does, or will do the “hand” of the giver cannot be forced. It is even more interesting when one digs a bit deeper into the meaning of talanta. Talanta, in time, became a word synonymous with “coinage” or money. It was derived from a related Greek word meaning “to balance.” The balancing resulted from using weights to balance a purchase: an appropriate balance between an item’s worth and the willingness to purchase. The important aspect here is the balancing action.

In the Parable, 3 were given (in the context of gift) varying number of talents. A “talent” in its most root form is not necessarily a thing to be possessed in the hand, but an action (balancing) that requires continuous attentiveness and diligence. A talent, because it is an action and an action given as a gift, cannot be safeguarded by burying it because a talent technically is not an it, ‘it’ is an action that must be used. True, concerns of initiative, laziness, the return of the master (Jesus at the end of the ages) are all valid and worthy concerns. Yet even these concerns require the primal requisite recognition of what to do with a unique action given as gift.

OPENING PRAYER

Father in heaven,
ever-living source of all that is good,
from the beginning of time You promised man salvation
through the future coming of Your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Help us to drink of His truth
and expand our hearts with the joy of His promises,
so that we may serve You in faith and in love
and know for ever the joy of Your presence.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sunday the Thirty-second

ANTIPHON

Let my prayer come before You, Lord; listen and answer me (Psalm 87:3).

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God. (Psalm 63).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

“Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish (μωραὶ, morai) and five were wise (φρόνιμοι, phronimoi). The foolish ones (μωραὶ, morai), when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise (φρόνιμοι, phronimoi) brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy (ἐνύσταξαν, enustazan) and fell asleep (ἐκάθευδον, ekatheudon). (Matthew 25:1-5).”

REFLECTION

Last Sunday evening as I checked the readings for this Sunday a thought quickly came to mind (not necessarily to heart) regarding the tension between wisdom and foolishness. Some random thoughts about the Greek ideal of wisdom (σοφία, sophia) started to gel with Wisdom as one of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. In this vein, Wisdom (σοφία, sophia) is an antidote for choices that are, at the bottom line, simply stupid. ‘Ah, thought enough for a day,’ I thought to myself last Sunday evening: ‘I have ‘something’ to ponder for the week in preparation for Sunday’s homily. Eventually in the course of the week, I opened the Greek New Testament ‘just to check’ (after all, I had ‘my’ thought and was comfortable running with it for Sunday). I was a bit perplexed as I perused the text. ‘Where’s sophia?’ It was nowhere to be found in Sunday’s Gospel text. Sure, the English translation presents the ‘wise’ virgins, but they were not ‘sophia’ virgins they were ‘phronimoi’ virgins. The Sacred Scriptures once again taught me a lesson that I drive home to undergraduates, deacon candidates and seminarians: the Text, the Text, the Text! Never presume, as I did last Sunday evening, anything about the Sacred Text without digging deeply.

Once again, the sitz im Leben for Jesus’ Parable is first-century Ancient Near East wedding practices (“Sitz im Leben” is a worthwhile phrase to know. It is a German phrase that means “situation in life.” It was a term coined by German biblical scholars towards the end of the nineteenth century in an effort to accentuate the importance of the historical, cultural, societal, etc. background influencing episodes, events and teachings in the Sacred Scriptures. By anchoring a person, place, thing or event in its historical context it helps as ONE of the tools in getting to the saving message that God intended the human agents to record). Check the blog entry from a few weeks ago that examined wedding practices in the first century. In summary for purposes of this Sunday’s Text it is important to recall that big differences exist between how we celebrate weddings today and how they were celebrated in the world and time of Jesus. Important for this week’s proclamation is the fact that the wedding ceremony in Jesus’ day was determined by the completion of all preparations on the groom’s part (and to varying degrees, assistance from his father). Some historical evidence suggests that it was the groom’s father who gave the ‘OK’ that all was ready for the wedding to commence. Our practice is to ‘set the date’ and work towards that set time for the wedding celebration. In our day, Bride, Groom, attendants, family, friends and all kinds of invited guests show up (hopefully on time!) at the appointed time at the designated place. In Jesus’ day, one did not ‘show up’ at a wedding; you waited to hear the voice of the bridegroom announcing that all was ready for the celebration. One and all lived in expectation of the groom’s voice, especially the bride and her close friends and attendants. Here is where the Greek word ‘phronimoi’ is important in this week’s biblical proclamation.

φρόνιμος (phronimos) in the Greek world centered on intellectual activities, particularly “thinking” and “reasoning.” Thinking and reasoning, as activities of the mind, were directed towards understanding or grasping the workings of one’s world. For Aristotle, this type of thinking and reasoning informed one’s actions and was the beginning or foundation of a life of virtue. Knowing and understanding what was expected of oneself as a citizen came not only from what was taught (from without), but also from one’s capacity for thought and reason (from within). Phronimos in this context was ordered towards a more practical side of knowledge. Phronimos did not dabble so much in the ‘what ifs’ of life but more so in an exploration of knowledge that immediately impacted living life now with its pressing demands. As such, it might be better to translate “phronimos” as “smart,” “clever” or even “future/forward thinking.” This is not to say that “wisdom” per se is incorrect in the translation. The fact is, however, that the Greek word often associated with the Holy Spirit’s Gift, namely “Wisdom (σοφία, sophia)” is not used in this parable.

An even stronger case can be made for viewing phronimos in the context of knowledge ordered to acting in the here-and-now. A handful of patristic era writers take up the question as to why there are 10 maidens in the Parable. While some make allegoric references to the 10 Commandments, Saint Augustine takes a different approach, albeit allegoric as well. In Sermon 93, the saintly Bishop of Hippo notes that there are 5 senses of the body for doing good and 5 senses of the body for doing wrong. Hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching can be used ‘in a smart way’ that promotes virtuous living. These same 5 senses can be used ‘in a foolish way’ that promotes aimless or dissolute living. Phronimos is the ‘smart’ or ‘future thinking’ that knows an action done or not done in the present will have a consequence, virtuous or foolish, in the future. In the Parable with the translation many of us will here this Sunday, what makes the “wise” virgins “wise”? It is their ‘smart’ or ‘forward thinking’ that enables them to have enough oil for their torches when the groom arrives. Scholars note that in Jesus’ day that while people thought this would be the day or that would be the day for the wedding, all knew there could be some difficulties with the father of the groom and bride working out details. Sometimes there was a snag in the arrangements that caused a delay in the start of the wedding festivities (think of the limousine breaking down while transporting the bride to Church!). The smart thing to do is to know these things can happen and to plan and be prepared for consequences that delays pose.

In terms of Christian living, there is certainly a meaning of the Parable that points to Jesus’ arrival at the end of time. As all in the town know that the groom will eventually arrive, the Christian must come to terms in her or his life the REALITY of Jesus’ Return - not only His definitive Return at the end of the ages, but also His Return to each of us when each is called to give an accounting for how we have used our 5 senses to become more like Him. Each of us can ask, have I heard His Word and responded accordingly? Have I seen Jesus, particularly in the poor, and acted towards that person as if I were acting towards Jesus? Have I been moved by the fragrance of the Spirit’s anointing in Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders to witness and to serve as Jesus teaches? Have I tasted Jesus often in the Holy Eucharist and allowed that taste to move me to remedy the hungers of the human family? Have I touched another with the healing hand of Jesus or with a manipulative fist of oppressive power? Being smart (phronimos) in the Lord involves ‘forward thinking’ because His Return is a fact. His Return is not a fearful premise for smart behavior but a recognition of the Gift He wishes us to have on His Return ... a thought to explore next week after digging deeply into that Text.

OPENING PRAYER

Almighty Father,
strong is Your justice and great is Your mercy.
Protect us n the burdens and challenges of life.
Shield our minds from the distortion of pride
and enfold our desire with the beauty of Truth.
Help us to become more aware of Your loving designate
so that we may more willingly give
our lives in service to all.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.