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Meditation #8  December 21, 2009

Advent Reflections: Reconciliation, Restoration, and Joy…

“Then I witnessed in Heaven an event of great significance… It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ.” (Revelation 12:1-10)

“Don’t be afraid…I bring you Good News that will bring Great Joy to all people. The Savior—Yes the Messiah, the Lord has been born today.” (Luke 2:10-11)

Reconciliation is here… Restoration beckons us to come. What was broken does not have to remain broken any longer. Reconciliation and restoration are here; the timeless Lord, and Savior of men, King Jesus is here. Salvation has come. How can we ignore or take for granted such a great and significant event? John the Revelator exclaimed; “I witnessed in Heaven an event of great significance… It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ.” Hallelujah! The threshold of reconciliation has been breached! We have life-giving relationship restored with Creator God! This is the Good News! This is the great Joy of the hallelujah chorus sung by the angels of Heaven’s armies.

Let us meditate on the following prayer compiled from an ancient Christian prayer, Psalm 80:1-7, and writings from the book Living the Christian Year.

O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display Your radiant glory. Show us Your mighty power come to rescue us! Turn us again to Yourself, O God. Make Your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.

We praise You, Father, invisible, Giver of immortality. You are the Source of Life and Light, the Source of all Grace and Truth; You love us all, and You love the poor, You seek reconciliation with all and draw them all to You by sending Your dear Son to visit them, who now lives and reigns with You, Father, and Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever.

Therefore, we ask You; turn us again to Yourself, O God of heaven’s armies. Make Your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.

O Mighty One, You have done great things and Holy is Your Name; Your mercy is for those who fear You from generation to generation. May my heart and my life be that as the blessed virgin…here I am, O Lord, Your servant; let it be with me according to Your word. Come Holy Spirit enlarge Your presence in me this day, that I may bring into the world more of Your life and more of Your love. Amen

Reconciliation is here…Restoration beckons us to come – “it has come at last!!!—Salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ.” (Revelation 12:10)

Joan Chittister writes in her book, The Liturgical Year: the Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life; “We come to Christmas looking for the signs of Jesus’ presence manifested in our own life and age, in us and in the world around us. Christmas is not about a baby, not about sentimental piety, not about Christian fantasy. Christ is a very adult feast. It stretches us far beyond a manger in Bethlehem. It brings us to recognize who ti is that we, like the people of Jesus’ own time, will, in everything we do in life this year, either accept or reject.”

Reconciliation is here…Restoration beckons us to come – “Don’t be afraid…I bring you Good News that will bring Great Joy to all people. The Savior—Yes the Messiah—The Lord has been born today.” (Luke 2:10-11)

On the day that God became flesh in the child named Jesus, Eternity was healed…time became no more. The rip in Creator God’s cosmic tapestry caused by the sin of one man was sewn together through the act of humble submission and eternal love by one man—the God-man—Jesus.

“Then I witnessed in Heaven an event of Great Significance…” Reconciliation is here…Restoration beckons us to come

Christmas is not merely a day like every other day. It is a day made holy and special by a sacred mystery. It is not merely another day in the weary round of time. Today, eternity enters into time and time, sanctified, is caught up into Eternity.

—Thomas Merton

Good News, Great Joy, Reconciliation, and Restoration — an event of Great Significance indeed. Praise You, Lord Jesus. Maranatha — even so, come now, Lord Jesus, come.

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