Let Truth come that falsehood may be laid bare; that I may know the Truth; and the Truth will set me free.
Who is it that is coming?
"He is, according to the testimony of Gabriel (Lk. i. 32), the Son of the Most High, and accordingly, coequal with Him [God, the Father]."
"There came forth a rod, and thence a flower shall rise up, upon which the seven fold Spirit of the Lord shall rest. (Is. xi. I) For He whom he first refers to as a flower, the same he here calls Emmanuel; and that which he before calls a rod, (virga) he here speaks of as the Virgin. A Flower accordingly is the Son of the Virgin; a flower white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands (Cant. v. 10); a Flower upon which the angels desire to look (I Pet. i. 12); a Flower whose fragrance restores the dead to life; and as He himself has said, a Flower of the field, and not of the garden. For the field flowers without human help, it is by no man sown, unbroken to the spade, nor made rich with soil. So truly has flowered the Womb of the Virgin; so has the inviolate, the unstained, the pure flesh and blood of Mary, as a field brought forth this Flower of eternal beauty."
Why does the Son come and not the Father nor the Holy Ghost?
"Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning (Is. xiv. 12) aspired in his mind to be like the Most High, and thought it to be but a matter of violence to be equal to God, which is the prerogative of the Son. [...] For he was a liar when he said: I will be like the Most High (Is. xiv. 14), and [...] he injected into man also the poisoned seeds of falsehood, saying: You shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil (Gen. iii. 5). [...] Adam and Eve, the well spring of our race, were in truth disobedient, and the associates of thieves; who attempted through the seduction of the serpent, or rather, of the devil, using the instrument of a serpent, to take what belonged to the Son of God."
From where does He come?
"He comes from the heart of God the Father. [...] He comes from the sublimity of heaven." His going out is from the end of Heaven, and his circuit even to the end thereof. (Ps. xviii. 6) Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from afar. (Is. xxx. 27)
To where does He go?
"...into the womb of the Virgin Mary [...] to the lower parts of the earth." Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Mt. i. 23)
"For though He came once visibly in the Flesh upon this earth, to work our redemption, He still comes daily, in the spirit, and invisibly, to redeem individual souls. [...] There is no need for thee, O Man, to travel over the seas; it is not necessary to pierce the clouds, to cross the high Alps; no great way, I repeat, lies before thee. Hasten to meet Thy God within Thy very self. The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. (Rom. x. 8)"
How does He come?
"Behold He cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills." So while all things were in silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, Thy Almighty Word leaped down from heaven. (Wisd. xviii. 14)
For what purpose does He come?
"His Words and His Works proclaim the reason of His Coming: to find the hundredth sheep, that had strayed, He has hastened down from the mountains; and that the mercies of the Lord, might, more clearly, give glory to Him; and His wonderful works to the children of men (Ps. cvi.8). He came for our sakes."
When does He come?
"...not in the beginning of time, nor yet in the centre, but at its end. [...] when we were most in need He would bring us aid; being mindful of the children of Adam, though they were prone to ingratitude. Truly was it then towards the evening, and the day now far spent; the sun of justice was low, and its splendour and warmth had almost vanished from the earth. And the light of knowledge of divine things was low, and, iniquity abounding, the fervour of charity had grown cold." But when the fulness of time was come, God sent His Son. (Gal. iv. 4) Then said I, behold I come. (Ps. xxxix. 8)
CALL TO ACTION: Reflect on St. Bernard's words, "For the fulness and abundance of things temporal had induced forgetfulness and scarcity of things eternal." In light of this, is not the world preparing the way for His second Advent without mercy and in all justice?
Source: Content from "The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers" (St. Bernard's Sermon for the 1st Sunday of Advent), Volume I, pages 21-26; Henry Regnery Company (copyright 1955); Imprimatur: Cornelius Ep. Corcagiensis; Nihil Obstat: Jacobus Canonicus Bastible, Censor Deputatus
Photo by Alda Gonzalez