{"id":2451,"date":"2022-12-24T06:49:28","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T06:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/?p=2451"},"modified":"2022-12-24T06:49:28","modified_gmt":"2022-12-24T06:49:28","slug":"a-path-through-advent-with-st-benedict-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/?p=2451","title":{"rendered":"A Path Through Advent with St Benedict (28)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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adli-wahid, Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

CHRISTMAS EVE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a,16<\/strong>
Luke 1:67-79<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this last day of Advent the Church lays before us a pivotal text in the Old Testament, 2 Sam 7. Walter Brueggemann describes it as \u2018the taproot of the Messianic idea in Israel\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After successfully bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and putting it in a tent, David now wonders if he should build something much grander. There\u2019s a wordplay at work here. The word for \u2018house\u2019 can also mean \u2018dynasty.\u2019 The prophet Nathan tells David; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The Lord will make you great; and the Lord will make you a House.\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roles are now reversed as David will no longer need to build God a \u2018house\u2019 as God intends to build David a \u2018dynasty\u2019. God makes a ground-breaking promise that in the lineage of David his faithful love will be made manifest. Up until this point God\u2019s promises have been conditional, but now the dynasty is guaranteed in perpetuity. None of this is David\u2019s doing. David is to be bound in relationship to the Lord: \u2018I will be a father to him and he a son to me.\u2019 The tender language of father and son always strikes me. God\u2019s covenant is not a legal contract, but a relationship of love. As the story of salvation unfolds there are many falls from grace along the way. God\u2019s promise remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our final Gospel text in Advent brings us to the threshold of the fulfilment of all of God\u2019s promises. In the Benedictus Zechariah sings of rescue, salvation and the promise proclaimed by the prophets. His son, John, will prepare the way for the Saviour. All of this is possible \u2018by the tender mercy of our God\u2019. Through the desert and exile, through the poor and the easily forgotten, our Advent journey has taken us to the very heart of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may feel your Advent journey hasn\u2019t quite ended and you are not really ready for Christmas to begin. Perhaps your plans have been radically changed and you are left disappointed. Into every situation of your life God is waiting to pour his tender mercy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that tender mercy is the heartbeat of monastic living. The opening words of the Rule set the tone for all that is to follow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advice from a father who loves you; welcome it and faithfully put it into practice. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although there can be some limitations to the father\/son metaphor, overall it is a solid basis for monastic living. I see it primarily as a metaphor for boundary setting and consistency. From the outside it might look like very strong control. But any superior will tell you that you can’t force a person to do something or be a particular way. All you can do is to try to model a middle way of mercy and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the Rule there are pointers to the role that mercy plays in community living. Every body, not just the superior, is tasked with making sure that others are considered. It’s not a competition where the strongest and toughest win. Rather it is an environment where ‘the strong have something to yearn for and the weak nothing to run from.’ Whether it is your job to provide clothing and footwear for the community or prepare food, all is to be done with mercy and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am firmly convinced that there is a loving and merciful way to do just about everything that happens in a monastery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where is God calling you to show tender mercy this Christmas? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHRISTMAS EVE 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a,16Luke 1:67-79 On this last day of Advent the Church lays before us a pivotal text in the Old Testament, 2 Sam 7. Walter Brueggemann describes it as \u2018the taproot of the Messianic idea in Israel\u2019. After successfully bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and putting it … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “A Path Through Advent with St Benedict (28)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-monastic","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2451"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2458,"href":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451\/revisions\/2458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/turveyabbey.org.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}