Memorial of Saint Ambrose, bishop and doctor of the Church
Advent is a season of preparation for the Lord’s arrival at Christmas. Christmas celebrates Christ’s original coming in Bethlehem and his second coming at the end of time. Thus our preparation takes place on more than one level. Yet the activities in which we find ourselves involved at this time of year are often less than spiritual. While these happenings are important in the material world, the busyness which accompanies them can preclude us from finding rest in Christ. The real trick would be if we can bring our spiritual nature into all these activities.
For St. Ambrose whose feast we celebrate today, integrating the spiritual and secular worlds came easy. Ambrose’s intellectual acuities allowed him to adopt effortlessly pagan philosophers thought in order to teach the spirituality. Ambrose’s whole life pointed toward the one who redeemed him, even in the midst of suffering. Do our sufferings cause us to detour from our focus on the Lord?
The first reading invites us to find our strength in the Lord so that our focus can be on hope and not the burdens of our lives. “They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength…They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.” (Is 40:31) Hope can be hard to find when your burdens seem overwhelming, especially in the darkness of this time of year. Christ comes to be a light in the darkness if we let him. This light can illuminate even the gloomiest of hearts.
Jesus makes this thought even more clear in today’s gospel. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest. These words, unique to Matthew’s gospel, echo the words of Sirach who encourages the people to be students of wisdom. For Sirach, we need to seek instruction in wisdom and yoke ourselves to it by living it. Jesus encourages the crowds, especially those who feel burdened by the law, to yoke themselves to him. When we do this, our burdens become light because we are connected to the one in whom our souls can find rest. Lord, help this be our practice this Advent season.
-Michael Montgomery