The Voice is John, the Word is Christ (St. Augustine)

Advent: December 15th

 

Third Sunday of Advent - Year A

From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop

(Sermo 293,3: PI, 1328-1329)

The Voice is John, the Word is Christ

John is the voice, but the Lord is the Word who was in the beginning. John is the voice that lasts for a time; from the beginning Christ is the Word who lives for ever.

Take away the word, the meaning, and what is the voice? Where there is no understanding, there is only a meaningless sound. The voice without the word strikes the ear but does not build up the heart.

However, let us observe what happens when we first seek to build up our hearts. When I think about what I am going to say, the word or message is already in my heart. When I want to speak to you, I look for a way to share with your heart what is already in mine.

In my search for a way to let this message reach you, so that the word already in my heart may find a place also in  yours, I use my voice to speak to you. The sound of my voice brings the meaning of the word to you and then passes away. The word which the sound has brought to you is now in your heart, and yet it is still also in mine.

When the word has been conveyed to you, does not the sound seem to say: The word ought to grow, and I should diminish? The sound of the voice has made itself heard in the service of the word, and has gone away, as though it were saying: My joy is complete. Let us hold on to the word; we must not lose the word conceived inwardly in our hearts.

Do you need proof that the voice passes away but the divine Word remains? Where is John’s baptism today? It served its purpose, and it went away. Now it is Christ’s baptism that we celebrate. It is in Christ that we all believe; we hope for salvation in him. This is the message the voice cried out.

Because it is hard to distinguish word from voice, even John himself was thought to be the Christ. The voice was thought to be the word. But the voice acknowledged what it was, anxious not to give offense to the word. I am not the Christ, he said, nor Elijah, nor the prophet. And the question came: Who are you, then? He replied: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness is the voice of one breaking the silence. Prepare the way for the Lord, he says, as though he were saying: “I speak out in order to lead him into your hearts, but he does not choose to come where I lead him unless you prepare the way for him.”

To prepare the way means to pray well; it means thinking humbly of oneself. We should take our lesson from John the Baptist. He is thought to be the Christ; he declares he is not what they think. He does not take advantage of their mistake to further his own glory.

If he had said, “I am the Christ,” you can imagine how readily he would have been believed, since they believed he was the Christ even before he spoke. But he did not say it; he acknowledged what he was. He pointed out clearly who he was; he humbled himself.

He saw where his salvation lay. He understood that he was a lamp, and his fear was that it might be blown out by the wind of pride.

 iBreviary com

Advent Wreath 3

JONAH  December 15 Symbols: Whale And Jonah began to enter into the city after one day's journey: and he cried and said: Yet forty days and Ninive shall be destroyed. And the men of Ninive believed in God: and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least. As Jonah remained in the whale three days, so Christ remained three days in the earth after His death. Recommended Readings: Jonah 1:11-15

   
http://dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM&module=commentary&localdate=20131215&id=3164
Commentary of the day :  

Saint Gertrude of Helfta (1256-1301), Benedictine nun. 

The Exercises, no.3 ; SC 127 (trans. ©Cistercian publications Inc., 1989) 

  

« Be strong! Fear not! Here is your God...: he comes to save you » (Is 35,4)

 The voice of the soul offering itself to God: “I am an orphan without a mother, needy and poor. Except for Jesus, I have no consolation. Only he himself can quench my soul's thirst. He himself is the one chosen above all and the only friend of my heart. He himself is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rv 19,16)... He has my body and soul in his hand. He himself may do with me whatever seems right to his loving-kindness. Oh, who will grant me to become a human being after his own heart so that he might have his desire in me equally with his best gracious purpose? This alone could gladden and console me. 

“Ah Jesus, the one and only cherished of my heart..., cherished above all that has ever been cherished. For you, 0 flowering spring day filled with life, the amorous desire of my heart sighs and languishes. Oh, if only it happened to me to become more closely united with you to the end that then the flowers and fruit of my spiritual growth might sprout under you, the true sun. 'Expectantly, I have waited, waited for you' (Ps 40[39],2)... Ah friend, friend, friend, fulfill your desire and mine effectively.” 

Christ's voice: “I will espouse you in my Holy Spirit; I will draw you close in inseparable union with me. You will be my guest, and I will shut you up in my lively cherishing-love. I will make you a robe of the noble purple of my precious blood. I will crown you with the choice gold of my bitter death. I will fill up your desire with myself and thus I will bring gladness to you forever.”

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