Advent 3: Happy Heat

A friend of mine in a hard relationship approached me, cast down. As he looked up, I saw moist eyes and from them, a small stream (in the Spirit) pouring out that touched me. I experienced Jesus’ healing Presence. When I told him so, he looked incredulous.

‘My fiancé gets scared and starts railing at me, accusing me of dumb stuff I didn’t do. I’m learning not to fight back in anger. I try to see a frightened person who needs me to love her. I respond gently, if I can.’

John the Baptist prophesies the converting power of Jesus: ‘He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire; He will gather up wheat and burn up chaff’ (Lk 3:16-17). Somehow, unseen Jesus intercepts the accusation that hurts then angers us, burns it up, and releases healing from the wound. In that little gap between self-defense and response, Jesus looms radiant and offers Himself to love through us.

Advent demands this converting fire. Joyful expectancy competes with anxiety: some of us anticipate gathering with those we love so much that we are tempted to hate them or to hate ourselves for failing to love well.  

Advent figures are helpful mirrors—kind of. These immaculate witnesses reveal our dirt: how quick we are to prick offenders (especially family members) who can’t or won’t love us well.

Gaudete (Latin: rejoicing) Sunday can guide us. Readings from this third week of Advent insist we love through rose-colored glasses, to see what and who He sees. How? Real Presence, ‘The Lord is near’ (Phil. 4:5). Zephaniah expounds: ‘The Lord your God is among you, a mighty Savior, rejoicing over you with gladness and singing’ (Zeph. 3:17).

So St. Paul commands us: Rejoice! Through grateful ongoing prayer, let God transform your anxiety into a peace strong enough to guard your heart from every anxiety (Phil. 4:4-7). In other words, ‘I am really close, closer than you think, to convert your hurting heart into a stream of healing.’

Of course, we cooperate in fits and starts. Beloved enemies always give us room to grow, be (s)he a lying addict, a child weaponized by ‘queer’ culture, a divided spouse, or an elder who manipulates only too well. Sinfully unaware people make others the bad news. Don’t dance. Become good news. Rejoice that you are.

Take a step back and realize to what you have been entrusted. Jesus is not content for you to go blandly into the night. He has chosen to keep you on the cutting edge of loving others well, or at least better. That isn’t possible when every dream comes true. The dream burns off like the first snow, or the undeniable fact of a really bad Hallmark tale (Euro prince woos burnt out yet brilliant New York exec turned Vermont chocolatier).

Turn it off. Jesus invites you into the real joy of burning up chaff with Holy Fire. He is that Fire. Enjoy (or at least endure) the heat. Release healing.

‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, surpassing all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus’ (Phil. 4:4-7).    

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