RESTORING ALL THINGS IN CHRIST
The Papal motto of Pope St. Pius X, Instaurare Omnia in Christo (“To restore all things in Christ”) pervades our readings today, yet we find that the understanding of “restoration” is something that our collective human experience grapples with. We struggle to define the origin point from when we should restore “to”. Too often, we would encounter persons that would attempt to define this origin as some point in their youth because our human memory is limited and we are therefore unable to go further beyond our lived memories. This can sometimes lead to misunderstandings and tensions as we would naturally differ widely in our understanding of this origin. What does it mean, then, to try and put Christ as that benchmark?
Our first reading is one of great hope and encouragement. The prophet Baruch speaks of great beauty, and of God’s desire to “show off” Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. In the Bible, Jerusalem is the central place for everything significant – Abraham, King David, the Temple, Jesus’ public ministry. By dusting herself off, donning the “cloak of integrity” and donning a diadem on her head, Baruch prophesised that the children of Jerusalem who left would return to her, that the people of Israel would return to Israel and settle once more instead of wandering and roaming aimlessly. More than that, the prophet promises that God will make the return journey smooth by levelling high mountains and filling valleys so that everyone can walk in the comfortable shade. If we pause for a while and contemplate this image in our minds for a few minutes, we realise how beautiful and crazy one-sided this invitation is. On our part, all we need to do is to walk! God does all the hard work, the heavy lifting to flatten the pathways that we walk upon, and he even provides us shade under fragrant trees! Can we even begin to imagine how much God must really desire for us to return for him to do that for us?
Yet all this flies by. Our experience living in the hustle and bustle of Singapore is that we have no time to stop and ponder, to reflect, to dwell on the movement of God in our lives. We are too busy flitting from one thing to another and have too little time to stop and simply say “thank you, God”. Sometimes, we might even voice the question “what’s there to thank God for? I must work so hard to provide. I studied hard to be where I am and to get what I have.” In busy Singapore, we might even be too busy shopping for presents and preparing our homes to host parties and gatherings that we might lose sight of what’s truly important, the Christ-child that comes to dwell with us. Our psalm invites us to continue to dwell on this theme of gratitude for God’s providence and God’s love in the marvels he has worked for us. Some of us may have experienced that joy of returning after reaping sheaves of the harvest after a season of tearful planting. We must guard against the danger of letting even the daily rituals and routines fly by and blur into a haze of consecutive days. Indeed, the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, famously stated that "the unexamined life is not worth living". Thousands of years before the baby Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem, this wise Greek thinker urged mankind to introspection, to pause to contemplate, to critically question our actions, beliefs, and purpose in life. As Christians, we profess that Christ is our purpose. St. Paul urges us to love each other more and more each day, and to improve our knowledge and deepen our perception so that we can “always recognise what is best”. We are invited to return to study of our faith and to apply it in charity and love of neighbour to prepare ourselves for the Lord’s coming.
If we are convinced that Christ is valuable, is important, is true for us – that Jesus is truly the Way, Truth and Life of our lives – we will naturally want to share this with all others in our lives. We do not need to be like John the Baptist and withdraw to the wilderness to do so, for that radicalism is likely not our calling. Rather, we are called to witness at our homes, workplaces, schools, marketplaces, and everywhere else we are at. We cannot be merely passive recipients of our faith but are called to be alive and active! We are called to proclaim this kingdom of Love and Mercy through our words and actions. St. Irenaeus said, “For the glory of God is the living man, and the life of man is the vision of God.”[i]. We are then called to praise God in the living out of our lives and to receive God’s life by beholding the glory of God in the face of Christ. In this way, then, we are beautified with “the diadem of the glory of the Eternal on (our) head”!
Therefore, this Advent, we are reminded to come away a bit, to slow down, and to intentionally prepare ourselves to celebrate Christmas. We need to re-discover our source and Origin for ourselves, to ground ourselves in Christ Jesus. Even as Christmas songs ring out around us, and when office parties and gatherings happen around us, try to hold back, to spend some time in joyful anticipation and to truly wait for the Christ-child to be born again in our lives. We Catholics have a whole season of Christmas[ii] to truly celebrate, so let us continue to hold back and prepare our hearts for the Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Son of God – Emmanuel – to remain with us and our loved ones this coming Christmas.
[i] Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 4.20.7, trans. Robert M. Grant, Irenaeus of Lyons.
[ii] For Catholics, the liturgical season of Christmas ends with the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, which falls on the Sunday after the Epiphany of the Lord, 12 January 2025.
Article by Daniel Tham, HFC Blog Contributor