December 21, 2020

St. Peter Canisius, SJ

Sg 2: 8-14

The voice of my beloved!

   Look, he comes,

leaping upon the mountains,

   bounding over the hills.

My beloved is like a gazelle

   or a young stag.

Look, there he stands

   behind our wall,

gazing in at the windows,

   looking through the lattice.

My beloved speaks and says to me:

‘Arise, my love, my fair one,

   and come away;

for now the winter is past,

   the rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth;

   the time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtle-dove

   is heard in our land.

The fig tree puts forth its figs,

   and the vines are in blossom;

   they give forth fragrance.

Arise, my love, my fair one,

   and come away.

O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,

   in the covert of the cliff,

let me see your face,

   let me hear your voice;

for your voice is sweet,

   and your face is lovely.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Be in joy with God

Popular adult piety characterizes Advent waiting with silent solemnity: we imagine sitting in a small space with a candle to brighten the darkness of the season. Our sitting is subdued as we wait for God to arrive on Christmas. Today’s reading is quite a contrast. This is an exuberant, full-bodied, expectation. This is unbridled joy that notices and relishes every little thing about the lover who is coming. In Between Heaven and Mirth, Fr. James Martin, SJ, reminds us that God wants to be in joy with us. What would it be like if we were to let go and speak our desires to God in this way? To open ourselves to the joy of receiving God like this in our lives? Who could bear sitting still in the darkness when we could be twirling in the arms of God in a joyous dance? Today, let’s be in joy with God.

—Jodie Scordo is the Campus Minister and Coordinator of Student Life at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Milwaukee.

 

Prayer

Lord, you are making your way to us with haste. Open our hearts to unrestrained joy, receiving you with the same delight that you take in us. Amen.

—Jodie Scordo

Please share the Good Word with your friends!