LIVING IN THE MIDDLE

 

LIVING IN THE MIDDLE

            You probably are aware that Advent has two themes: the second coming of Christ at the end of time to judge the living and the dead; and the long, anxious, and hope-filled wait by the Jewish people for the coming of the Messiah to Israel, which was promised by the Prophets.  Spiritually, and liturgically, we observe the Second Coming in anticipation and observe the hope for the first coming in remembrance.  Saint Bernard, founder and Abbot of the monastery of Clairvaux in Burgundy, France from 1115 to 1128, was one of the most influential church men of his time and has subsequently been recognized as a doctor of the Church for the insight and inspiration of his writings.  In a sermon in which he considered the first and second comings of Christ, he offered that there was also a third coming.  This one we do not anticipate or memorialize like the first and second comings.  Rather, we live the third coming here and now!  The first coming ended with the Ascension of Jesus into heaven.  He does not remain absent from earth, however, as he waits for his second coming.  Saint Bernard explains:

We know that there are three comings of the Lord. The third lies between the other two. It is invisible, while the other two are visible. In the first coming he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; he himself testifies that they saw him and hated him. In the final coming all flesh will see the salvation of our God, and they will look on him whom they pierced. The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. In his first coming our Lord came in our flesh and in our weakness; in this middle coming he comes in spirit and in power; in the final coming he will be seen in glory and majesty.

 

Because this coming lies between the other two, it is like a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last. In the first, Christ was our redemption; in the last, he will appear as our life; in this middle coming, he is our rest and consolation.

In case someone should think that what we say about this middle coming is sheer invention, listen to what our Lord himself says: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him. There is another passage of Scripture which reads: He who fears God will do good, but something further has been said about the one who loves, that is, that he will keep God’s word. Where is God’s word to be kept? Obviously in the heart, as the prophet says: I have hidden your words in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.

 

Keep God’s word in this way. Let it enter into your very being, let it take possession of your desires and your whole way of life. Feed on goodness, and your soul will delight in its richness. Remember to eat your bread, or your heart will wither away. Fill your soul with richness and strength.

 

If you keep the word of God in this way, it will also keep you. The Son with the Father will come to you. The great Prophet who will build the new Jerusalem will come, the one who makes all things new. This coming will fulfill what is written: As we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, we shall also bear the likeness of the heavenly man. Just as Adam’s sin spread through all mankind and took hold of all, so Christ, who created and redeemed all, will glorify all, once he takes possession of all.

 

We are living in the middle time.  Although we do not see him physically, as some did at his first coming, and as all will at his second coming, we are not disadvantaged.  For he really comes to us today in the Sacraments, in the worship of the Church, in his Word, and in the poor and the outcast.  We therefore have no cause for envy of those who went before or will come after.  For he himself said, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.”