NOTE: Throughout the Advent season, we’ll post a reflection on the readings for the upcoming Sunday in Advent just a few days before so individuals and groups can reflect in anticipation or incorporate it into their meetings, homilies, etc. The reflection will be available on our homepage through the weekend and then archived on our Advent 2023 webpage.
The reflection below is written by Martha Hennessy from the 2020 Advent reflection booklet. This year’s booklet is still available for purchase at this link as an immediate download for your tablet or e-reader for $2.50.
By Martha Hennessy
Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 | 2 Peter 3:8-14 | Mark 1:1-18
Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight God’s paths. (Mark 1:3)
We rejoice that God sends us a messenger when life becomes so difficult and confusing. The figure of John the Baptist, in his leather-belted camel hair tunic, standing in the River Jordan, “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins”, brings us hope and joy. But we must come to the river, willingly, and ready to receive mercy, and then go out into the world to give mercy to the multitude in great need and distress. The works of mercy direct us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned. In these times of lack, of shortages of basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter, our Christian duty is to respond with loving care of our neighbor.
Due to the pandemic we now have countless numbers of unemployed workers, families without homes, children without food. The Catholic Worker was birthed at a time of great crisis in the 1930s. We are in such times now. What is the “way of the Lord” but to care for one another?
We have accepted an economic and political system that fails all but the super elite. At Maryhouse in New York City, the luxury and overconsumption of material goods provides crumbs that fall from the table into our donations of food and clothing. Our role is to redistribute these donations to the most needy in the city as the numbers of people in dire straits continues to increase. We wait for and work to create a new world in which the dignity of every person born is cherished and respected. Peter Maurin envisioned the concept of mutual aid, where credit unions, cooperatives of all sorts, Christ rooms in every parish, and small, local communities thrive in a model of sharing for the common good. There is enough for each of us if we learn to bridle our greed and share the resources.
God has given us plenty if we learn to take no more than we need. This season and the daily readings point the way for us to follow the path of our God; let us repent of our sins and rejoice in God’s care of creation.
FOR REFLECTION:
- Where does our current secular, cultural path lead us, and how do we resist?
>> For more Advent resources and reflections, click here.
Martha Hennessey’s citation of the Catholic Worker is very welcome to me, who discovered it in newsprint decades ago in a reputedly elite university. It is a shining example of how lay folk can (and still) do the corporal works of mercy. As Peter Maurin eloquently said, “Feed the hungry.”
“There is enough for each of us if we learn to bridle our greed and share the resources.”
Here is a suggestion for the Church in order to move in this direction:
A “preferential option for the poor” should be maintained in our Catholic Schools. If we find that we cannot afford to keep our schools open to the poor, the schools should be closed in those countries where the state provides for general education and the resources used for something else which can be kept open to the poor. We cannot allow our Church to become a church primarily for the upper classes while throwing a bone to the poor. The priority should be given to the poor even if we have to let the middle-class and rich fend for themselves. Practically speaking, the Catholic Schools must close here in the USA and the resources used for “Confraternity of Christian Doctrine” and other programs which can be kept open to the poor. Remember, the Church managed without Catholic Schools for centuries. We can get along without them today. The essential factor is to cultivate enough Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition, namely, THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The rich and middle-class are welcome too. But the poor come first.
:
I like this reflection, especially the references to the Catholic Worker and Peter Mourin.
What I do not appreciate is the phrasing of the reflection question. We should not resist secularism; we should embrace it and help guide it toward improved mortality without the need for a god to ambiguously instruct us on being moral. Secularists are very often more moral than religious people, studies show. In fact, I’ll bet the Dorothy Days and Peter Mourins of the world today would choose to be secular.
The reflection question would be better asked focusing on capitalism and consumerism, for example; “Prosperity Theology (LOL)”.
Thank you, Guy. for that comment. When is the Catholic Church going to recognize Dorothy Day for canonization. Not that she would have cared. But her work with the Catholic Worker lives on.
Thanks to Martha for this timely and touching Advent reflection. Martha highlighted the call to “redistribution.” Dorothy was eloquent in teaching and promoting this radical system of DISTRIBUTISM. This economic system was championed by G.K. Chesterson and Hillaire Belloc. Our C.W. house in WI is committed to following her leadership as we distribute to the needy.
Dear Martha, my mom Pat Miller sent me this wonderful reflection, giving us inspiration to act on our desire to repent. It’s especially meaningful coming from a distant cousin Godspeed to you and yours.