3rd Sunday of Advent—A Reflection by Fr. Leo
“Behold I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.”
(Mt 11:10)
Jesus is the messenger sent by God to lead us into the fullness of God’s Kingdom. Jesus accomplished his task through his own example by living, dying and being raised up in God. Jesus’ example is to be the pattern of our coming into the fullness of God.
Ultimately, what Jesus opens our eyes to, is that, like him, we too are to share in the divine life of the Trinity. Jesus was the Son of God in whom the fullness of the Spirit dwelt. Jesus and the Father were one. As he said, to know him is to know the Father and to know the Father is to know the son. We are to come to a point where we can claim the same, “God and I are one.” ‘I know longer live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”
Jesus Teaching is not a dogma or a concept. It is more the experience of living in relationship with God. Jesus’ words are not logical, but they are full of Wisdom. And to say that we are to be one in God as Christ is, is not logical to us, but there is a Wisdom in the words that rings true.
God’s kingdom is ultimately the shared life of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For us to enter the kingdom is to enter into this relationship and come to see God in all things, including ourselves. Rublev’s icon of the Trinity originally had a mirror glued onto the open space at the table where the Holy Trinity sits in oneness. The viewer was to see him or herself at the table sharing in the fullness of God’s relating. Richard Rohr writes of this, but what he did not mention is that the size of the icon is huge, meaning the mirror was not small and that the viewer could not have helped but see him or her self at the table with God.
Vulnerability is one of the keys to entering the fullness of God’s Trinitarian life. As the Father, Son and Holy Spirit sit at the table in Rublev’s icon, you can see perfect vulnerability. Each “person” at the table receives their identity from the others. There is no, I’m in charge, I’ll go it on my own mentality in God. They are made one through their need for one another.
To know God’s love we too must become vulnerable. We must let our true selves come to the table of life so that we can experience God’s love for us and be made strong through other’s love. We all need to be vulnerable to each other if true love is going to make us one. This is the invitation of Jesus, the messenger. We have the option then of going it alone and moving into isolation, which is sin, or uniting ourselves with God and God’s people which is the experience of the Kingdom to which we are called to be a part.
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