IC 2:4; 2nd Sunday in Advent B,
“Comfort, give comfort to my
people, says your God.” - First reading, from Isaiah
To our modern ears, so well
attuned to a materialist gospel, Isaiah’s prophecy of comfort may too easily
conjure up images of what we used to call–only quaintly now–“creature comforts”:
the easy chair, the sauna, the tranquillizers, and all the softness that life
in the technological age can offer. Indeed, it’s difficult for us to get any
idea of comfort in an increasingly loveless and graceless world other than sensory
stimulation. And, of course, we know from experience that it ‘works’. The
quelling of pain, sadness and restlessness are achieved through pleasures, and,
we must admit honestly: everyone needs some measure of pleasure to live. That
there are good pleasures and illicit ones is, of
course, taken for granted here. But, reliance on happy feelings from the body’s
senses has a serious drawback. The experience of sensual pleasure gives birth
to an even greater desire, and we quickly become accustomed to the old level of
sensation and are led to seek another one: stronger and more frequent. And so,
little by little–unless there be imposed some restraint of discipline–desire
will increase and more and more make its demands for satisfaction. The outcome
in that case is an ever greater dependancy on the sources of pleasure and a
gradual loss of internal liberty. This result is anything but ‘comforting’.
Thus one becomes entrapped in vice. It’s an old story. It’s a way of life for
many unfortunate people who suffer through indulgence in the very attempt to
escape suffering and the unpleasant things of life.
The comfort that religion
brings is of a different sort, from another source, and with a
completely different effect. Saint Peter alluded to it in the Scripture
today when he wrote of “what sort of persons ought you to be, conducting
yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for...the day of God [to come].
Therefore, be eager to be found without spot or blemish...[be]
at peace.” Being ‘at peace’ and ‘feeling good’ are
not quite the same thing. Arousing and appeasing the passions through pleasure
never beget peace. In fact, the opposite is true. But the virtuous man, and,
above this, the devoutly Christian man can know a peace that the world cannot
afford. It is a fruit, not of the senses, but a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Here
the wise counsels of the Imitation of Christ ring true to a mind steeped
in faith:
There are two wings that raise
a man above earthly things—simplicity and purity. Simplicity
in purpose; purity in affection. Simplicity reaches out after God;
purity discovers and enjoys Him. If you are free from uncontrolled
desires, and seek nothing but the Will of God and the good of your neighbor,
you will enjoy inner freedom. If there is any joy to be had in this world, the
pure in heart most surely possess it; and if there is trouble and distress
anywhere, the evil conscience most readily experiences it.
Prepare the way of the
Lord!
This cry from today’s liturgy
is a summons to work: ‘to prepare’ means that one is not idle but active. God
comes only on a prepared way, a prepared road. The Scriptures use many forms of
expression to indicate what preparedness of soul means: it is the conformity of
one’s will to the will of God that requires changing one’s mind about what and
how he is to believe; a renewal of one’s way of thinking and acting; it is an
abstention from indulgence in the senses, a condition that requires self-imposed
limitations on the cravings of the flesh; it is the practice of the presence of
God in one’s own home and workplace and–better–the acknowledgment of God’s
abiding presence in one’s own soul, as long as it is in a state of grace. This,
as I said, is a work, but a work that’s motivated by love. In order to
do work, one has to have a motive, a reason, a necessity. If our own experience
of misery is not a sufficient motivator to seek the devout life, then let love
impel us to labor for God. One who is in love needs no other impetus. The one who loves more, accomplishes more. I quote
the Imitation again: “When iron is plunged into the fire, it loses its
rust and becomes bright and glowing; so that man who turns himself wholly to
God loses his sloth and becomes transformed into a new creature.” The fire of
love for God can so move a man that he becomes able to overcome his selfishness
and advance in the way of God. And then, the labors that once seemed so
burdensome for living a good Christian life seem to be as nothing.
This is the comfort of God
that is apprehended only by the spiritual man. Say it to a man of the
world, a slave of the senses, and he will neither hear nor understand and
certainly never obtain that peace and comfort that come only from possessing
the love of Jesus.