The 22nd Tuesday in Ordinary Time
(1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11, Luke 4: 31-37)
“You are children of the light and children of the day” (1 Thes. 5:5). As children of the day, we must keep vigil and await the rising of the morning star (CF. Rev. 22: 16). Recall the Easter Vigil as we stood in the light of the Paschal Candle. “We pray you that this candle, hallowed to the honor of your name, may persevere undimmed, to overcome the darkness of this night… May this flame be found still burning by the Morning Star:.. Christ your Son, who, coming back from death’s domain, has shed his peaceful light on humanity” (Exsultet). Like dutiful servants, we must be vigilant, as we await the Mater’s return. Like the wise virgins, we must maintain a sufficient supply of oil to keep our lamps burning.
Because Christ is truly risen from the dead, we are people of hope. For those who keep watch by night, the rising of the morning star heralds the dawning of a new day. We are called to be attentive and alert so that we can join our voices with those of the angelic choirs who proclaim the rising of Christ the Moring Star, who is the ray of hope for the people who have dwelt in darkness and the valley of death. St. Benedict exhorts us: “Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die” (RB 4.47). In his second letter, Saint Peter wrote: “I know that I will soon be setting aside this tent” (2 Pet. 1:14). Building on the theme, Saint Paul wrote, “As long as we are burdened with this tent, we groan., waiting for the day when it will be taken down and folded away and our mortal bodies will be swallowed up by immortality” (2 Cor. 5:4). On that day we will find our resting place close to the heart of the Lord of Life.
God so loved the world that he sent us his only begotten Son (CF. Jn. 3:16). “The Word became flesh and pitched his meeting tent among us” (Jn. 1:14). If we go out to meet him, we will see the radiant glory of the Father shining on the face of the Son. In Christ, God pitched his tent with us so that when we fold up our tents, we will have an eternal dwelling place. Our Lord Jesus Christ offers himself as our resting place, our shelter, our rock of refuge. He who makes his dwelling in us invites us to make our dwelling in him (CF. Jn. 15:4). Our openness to God’s presence in our life enables us to cooperate in God’s work of salvation.
Along with all the watchers in the night, we await the rising of the Morning Star. We know that with the dawning of the new day, the Son of Justice will rise with healing in his wings. When the morning star rises in our hearts, we will be changed from within. By the working of the Holy Spirit, we will be transformed to be like Christ who made the Father’s love visible and tangible. Consequently, the Father will see and love in us what he sees and loves in his beloved Son. At the dawn of the first creation, the morning stars sang and rejoiced. At the rising of the bright Morning Star, all creation will rejoice. The groaning of creation will be replaced with rejoicing because all its longings will be fulfilled, and all will be made new.
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