“May
God who began this good work in you bring it to completion.” Many of us in this room have heard these
words spoken directly to us and many will hear them in the future, whether again
or for the first time. They were first spoken
to me by Fr. David Tyson right after I professed first vows. I hope I will hear them for a final time in
April of 2014, moments before the Bishop’s consecratory prayer will make me a
priest. This good work… may God bring it
to completion.
He
will, and He is. Because St. Paul is, we
can be confident of God’s sanctifying action in each of our lives, and equally
in our common life in Holy Cross. That
divine spark that made you contemplate a religious vocation, that led you to go
to church after your parents stopped making you (if they ever did), that drew
your eye to the poor and suffering and moved your heart to act… that will be
completed, that will be made perfect. Spark
will kindle and God’s breath will fan and the fire will light up the
night. Like a reflecting moon we’ll look
and see how beautiful all creation looks in God’s light.
We see
glimmers of that now. We see it when,
like Paul and Philippians, we ardently desire the good of another with the
affection, the passion of Christ. God is
answering Paul’s prayer that our love be increased more and more, but, as our
Constitutions put it, we still “find it within ourselves to hold back.” We see but glimmers. Advent is the time of candles, not bonfires.
This good work can seem to sputter in the cold night’s air. Righteousness can seem stuck in winter, not
yet bearing fruit. Not yet. This good work: wait for it, long for it,
love it – God will bring it to completion.
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