The reason is simple: such extensive stewing is actually hard work. First, more muscles are required to evoke a frown in the face than a smile. Smiles are easier! Second, precious few of us have the leisure necessary to take the time to truly stew. At best, we might have time to do a 10-minute complaining session, and then get on to the next item on the list. Third, humans are social beings, and stewing produces negative emotions which destroy relationships and families. (Sadly, too many families in our country already know this truth first-hand.)
I hope I’m not proved to be Pollyanna. My point is that stewing over the sins of others is a diabolical invention, contrary to our dignity as the image and likeness of God. People who are busy stewing are actively rejecting God’s power to forgive all sins, and they likely are missing out on the huge graces offered to those who lay down their burdens at His feet.
The corollary truth is that we all mess up, often daily. Tempers are indulged, toys are coveted, duties are overlooked, and prayers are forgotten. And those are just the venial sins. If you have ever taught first communicants, you know how intuitively they cotton to the Ten Commandments. They know that there is something radically awry in this world where moms scream at their kids, fights on the playground are a dime a dozen, and far worse situations are described on TV in excruciating detail each night.
Jesus said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” I will be the first to admit that contrition and forgiveness look like hard work.
In fact, forgiveness requires an opening to Love greater than we can muster on our own. It requires true charity, a participation in the Love that exists outside our cold, selfish, calculating little hearts. God uses our opening of our hearts in forgiveness to pour mercy upon our own wounded souls. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Mt 6:12).
Advent is the celebration of Mary’s hard work in bringing forth the Messiah. Receptivity is the name of the game here. The open heart looking to forgive is also the open heart that is fruitful. She said “YES” to the angel Gabriel’s proclamation, and Jesus was conceived. This is the fruitfulness to which we are called as Christians. Jesus wants to dress our wounds and heal our broken souls, but the Divine Physician can only work to the extent that we say “yes” to His mercy.
In fact, the “yes” we breathe is only a continuation of her initial “YES”. You could say that she even says it for us, when we are too hurt to speak it on our own. It is Mary’s continual fruitfulness which is bringing about the redemption of souls. It is the obligation of every Christian to bear Christ into the world, to be the hands, arms and hearts of the Messiah in a broken world.
Insofar as sin is concerned, not much has changed. Sin has beleaguered every generation since Adam and Eve. Recalling God’s constant help in the history of the world, our family puts together a Jesse Tree the last week of Advent. It is called a Jesse Tree because Jesse was the father of King David, and the Old Testament prophets promised that the Messiah would be born into Jesse’s lineage. The ornaments are made up of the stories of the Old Testament, and the “O” Antiphons. (The “O” Antiphons are part of the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours in preparation for Christmas.)
Some families have a separate tree for the Jesse ornaments and add one for each day of Advent. There is no reason you cannot make all the ornaments as a family project in one day, and place them all on the tree at one time. We just put the Jesse tree ornaments among the apples on our Christmas tree. The idea is to recall God’s mercy, and to look for ways of expressing your desire to share in His love, today and always. (The Jesse Tree Kit is available in our store)
The plain tree in our living room first boasted apples, and now a pageant of praise to the coming Savior. We are almost ready for Christmas. It is so close, and we are full of joy in the knowledge that He will be born. This Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, we rejoice in the closeness of our Savior. Come, Lord Jesus! Help us to say, “Yes” with Mary, choosing Your power to forgive and to bear spiritual fruit, every day of our lives.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
(The verses to this hymn correspond to the “O” Antiphons.)
