Today the Church offers two options for today's First Reading. The first is from the Song of Songs, that short but beautiful book right in the middle of the Bible that uses the image of two lovers to paint a picture of the intensity of God's love for us. The passage from today says, "Hark! my lover - here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills...My lover speaks; he says to me, 'Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come!' " This reading captures the spirit of the anticipation with which we continue to wait for the coming of Christ, the lover of our souls, with all the anxious longing of a beloved waiting to be reunited with her lover.
At the same time, the words of the lover who is coming to his beloved also speaks of God's longing and desire for us. "Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come!" Not only do our hearts cry out to God , but His Heart cries out for us too. He sees us as His precious beloved, whom He invites to rise and go with Him. Though Advent and Christmas are fundamentally about God coming to us; they are also about us coming to God. Jesus is the lover who comes springing across the mountains and leaping across the hills to claim us as His own. But He does nothing against our will. He waits with all the patience of a lover who waits for his love to be accepted and embraced by the one he loves.
As Christmas comes ever closer, it is still not too late to prepare your heart for the coming of Christ. I invite you to take time to prayerfully reflect on the great love of the God who moves heaven and earth to come to you. Let your heart yearn for Him, and open wide the doors when He comes on Christmas Day, so that you may know how great is the Love that comes to you on that day.
Pax Vobiscum
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