Reflections on An Advent Dialogue with the Sick

This weekend I had the joy of beginning Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Emeritus XVI's short book The Blessing of Christmas.  The first part of this book is An Advent Dialogue with the Sick.  There is such a great wisdom and love in his words that just lifted my heart, so I wanted to share some of it with you.

First, though Benedict XVI is speaking to those who are sick, I found myself thinking of all the ways we can be isolated during this time- those who, like my husband and myself, are far from their families, those who are new to the area and have not built up a community of friends, who are in group homes or care facilities, those who work long or odd hours or solitary work, or who struggle with seasonal depression to name a few.  All of these things can prevent people from being able to share in the joy others feel at this time of the year.  In fact, in one way or another, I would imagine this is something we can all relate to, and he presents Advent as "a medicine for the soul that makes it easier to bear the enforced inaction and the pain of your illness. Advent can help us discover the unobtrusive grace that can lie in the very fact of being sick." [or isolated]

The word "Advent" (adventus in Latin) can actually be translated as "presence" or "arrival" (cf Ratzinger).  Typically that is not the first thing we think of: we think first of the waiting, or anticipation of the arrival.  This lends to a different focus- the word is intended to show in a very real way God's presence and closeness, his love- and the blessing he brings in his presence.  Benedict tells us, "in general terms, when they used this word, they intended to say God is here. He has not withdrawn from the world. He has not left us alone. Although we cannot see him and take hold of him as we do with objects in this world, nevertheless he is here, and he comes to us in many ways."

 

Roger van der Weyden The Visitation



When we are sick, isolated or lonely, we are taken out of the rush and routine of typical daily life, where there is little time- and frankly often little encouragement to reflect and make conscious and intentional choices in our external activity and inner life.  Benedict tells us "When I am sick I am obliged to be still.  I am obliged to wait.  I am obliged to reflect on myself; I am obliged to bear being alone.  I am obliged to bear pain, and I am obliged to accept the burden of my own self. All this is hard."  Yet, this is where the time of Advent can be especially full of blessing and meaning, especially for those who are sick, or who are feeling lonely or isolated for any reason.  Essentially what we are talking about is a visit- a visit from one who knows us and loves us more deeply than we can imagine, and who desires to come to us personally. 

 

In this sense, this time, difficult as it really is, can be seen as an opportunity, and Benedict challenges us to see it this way: "The Lord has interrupted my activity for a time in order to let me be still."  He proposes that it is in the stillness that God is waiting for us, and not only that but USING it.  He says, "we rebel against it, this is not only because it is painful or because it is hard to be still and alone: we rebel against it because there are so many important things we ought to be doing and because illness seems meaningless. But it is not in the least meaningless! In the structure of human life as a whole, it is profoundly meaningful. It can be a moment in our life that belongs to God, a time when we are open to him and thus learn to rediscover our own selves."  [my emphasis]

Myself, I begin to imagine the possibilities for someone who has a long-term illness, or who perhaps has more solitary work, or who has yet to build a community.  I have been inspired by the examples of the saints, and the stories of those who strive still, such as that of Kara Tippets (check out her blog at http://mundanefaithfulness.com/).  Benedict poses this question... "If I learn to accept myself in these days of stillness, if I accept the pain, because the Lord is using it to purify me- does this not make me richer than if I had earned a lot of money? Has not something happened to me that is more durable and fruitful than all those things that can be counted and calculated?  I hope I can remind myself of this when I'm fretting because I'm home by myself for a few hours on a Saturday morning because my husband is proctoring a test, or when I wake up at 2:45 am with back pain.  It is a moment, an opportunity I have been given, and He is there, waiting. 

I won't say this is true in every case, but often I have noticed that when a person is chronically ill, or feeling lonely and isolated, small gains, good days, little gestures of genuine friendship, become a beacon of light, and a moment to celebrate.  These memories also remain, and they have the ability to sustain us in the hard days when we are not feeling consolation.  They remind us of the truth that we are loved, that we are not really alone, and that there is good.   

 

Benedict ends with a great challenge, and a reminder:
"Perhaps we should try an experiment.  Let us understand the individual events of the day as little signs God sends us.  Let us not take note only of the annoying and unpleasant things; we should endeavor to see how often God lets us feel something of his love.  To keep a kind of inner diary of good things would be a beautiful and healing task. 
The Lord is here.  This Christian certainty is meant to help us look at the world with new eyes and to understand the "visitation" as a visit, as one way in which he can come to us and be close to us."

**If you are interested in reading the book yourself, here is a link: http://www.amazon.com/Blessing-Christmas-Joseph-Cardinal-Ratzinger-ebook/dp/B003UNLARG


Advent: A Sensory Heaven

I love this time of year... there is such an air of anticipation, light, music, decoration; it is just a feast for the senses!  This makes it a particularly good and easy time to share the story, and point out some ways to use things many of us are already using and doing to share the experience with those who have special needs...

 

The Wreath:

  There is SO much teaching you can do with your Advent wreath! Starting with the colors of the candles, purple for Jesus's kingship, and repentance for our sins, and rose for joy. Some like to focus on a theme for each week: though none are required, typically you will see themes of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. With the shape and if it is made of evergreens- you've got a nice little reminder of the eternal life we hope for.

 

 Creche:

  There is not a much more visual (and tactile) way to keep our hearts in the reason for this season, tell the story of the Incarnation, and also teach about the preparation and anticipation that by using a beautiful creche.  There are a couple of ways you can do this, I have seen people put pieces out one by one, over the course of the month, or have it all out, but wait until Christmas to place baby Jesus in the manger with a prayer.  Some have their Wise Men travel around the room, arriving at the creche on the Epiphany- which is also a good way to emphasize not only our own journey to Jesus, but also that Christmas is a season, and not just a single day :-)  If you are able, it is worth investing in a creche that can be safely manipulated, but does not look like a toy.  You will be amazed at the story telling and arranging you see. 

 

 

Advent Calendar:

There are many different kinds of Advent calendar, which is wonderful because you can find one that best suits your needs.  There are some calendars like this that are more visually based: each compartment contains a magnetic figure to add to the scene in the middle, which allows you to introduce and talk about each person, animal or object one at a time.  Then, throughout the month we slowly see the picture emerge, which again, is an opportunity to talk about preparing and

anticipation. 

A calendar like this one could almost act as a simplified Jesse Tree, but requires a little more reading and focus than the one above.  For each day there is a small booklet, which can then be hung on a tree as an ornament.  In each booklet is a bible story, a song, or a prayer which can be read, sung or prayed together.  The stories are simply, but well written, and so are very easy to follow and read aloud.  I will say this, having used this calender in a classroom setting: this one can be difficult to use in a large group, if they are one that needs or will push to see the pictures right away, only because the booklets are very small.  I can also attest to the fact that it is durable! :-)   

 

 

Of course you do not have to buy an Advent Calendar... a perennial favorite is the Advent Chain- this was made clear by the absolute joy my religious ed class had this past weekend creating a chain to help decorate the children's activity area for our festival! One really nice thing about this is how personal it is, plus you can also make action oriented, and colored according to the weeks of Advent, Christmas colors, or many colors if you choose! One neat tradition I have seen with this chain is to include some some small action for each day, it could be service oriented, spiritually/prayer oriented, and also include a few things for enjoyment (like make hot chocolate and read a book with someone or take a walk to look at Christmas lights.)

 

Music:

Music has power to evoke emotion and tell a story, with or without words.  That said, does it sometimes seem like "O Come O Come Emmanuel" (beautiful and rich as it truly is) is about the only Advent song in existence?  This is one album that brought some beautiful, different and surprising songs to my attention.  I highly recommend supporting the Sisters and purchasing the CD, but if you just need one song, or want to listen first, pretty much the whole album is on YouTube.  These songs convey a quiet beauty, stillness and longing that complements any Advent prayer time or lesson.   

 

Also, especially considering some of the feast days we celebrate in December, you can never go wrong with a Marian hymn or song- have you heard this one?

You can even find some surprises on what seems to be a secular Christmas album! (Gotta put a plug in for this one too- but won't spoil it, check it out on YouTube, and I am guessing if you don't know Pink Martini it might take a little getting used to, but will quickly become part of your Christmas-time repertoire)

OK, OK, no more song videos... on to the final part I'll mention today: a Jesse Tree.
The Jesse Tree is named as you probably guessed, for King David's father.  It is basically a way to trace salvation history (and the lineage of Jesus) visually and scripturally, and beginning on December 17th, with the O Antiphons, the anticipation intensifies, and we examine some attributes of Jesus (i.e wisdom of God, key of David...).  Again, this is a wonderfully visual way to explore salvation history- it is scripturally rooted, but naturally breaks the story into "bite sized pieces".  Each day a (usually pretty short) Scripture passage is read, and the ornament with the corresponding symbol is hung on a bare tree (branch).  You can take as much or as little time as you have to explore the symbols, but it is pretty much guaranteed the ones you do this with will remember the story :-)  There are many ways to make these ornaments, this is the pattern I followed:  http://healthy-family.org/free-jesse-tree-advent-patterns/ but if you are feeling crafty, this will at least tell you the symbols to include, and scripture passages :-)
 

Next week we'll talk about some good books to share during this time!