Advent for Creation
Scripture Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (December 18, 2011)
Scripture Readings:
2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
Psalms 89:2-3, 4-5, 27+29
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38
It's only one week until Christmas!
The first three weeks of Advent have been tumultuous and challenging - high unemployment rates, the fluctuation of global markets, and allegations of marital infidelity and child sexual abuse brought against politicians and sports figures. And don't forget the "New Mass!" Barely noticed amid this cacophony, was news that representatives from 194 nations of the world met (November 28 - December 9) in Durban, South Africa to negotiate a binding and enforceable agreement to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions that are the central cause of human induced global warming.
On December 4 Richard Black of BBC News reported, "... the journal Nature Geoscience published a new analysis of factors driving the Earth's warming since 1950. Using information about the Earth's 'energy balance' - the difference between the amount of energy it receives from the sun and radiates back into space - researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich arrived at fresh estimates of the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and other human-induced factors. Their main conclusion is that it is extremely likely that at least 74% of the observed warming since 1950 has been caused by man-made factors."[1]
Such news makes it difficult for anyone to stave off anxiety, stay with the spirit of Advent, and "wait, watch, and reflect" in hope for the One who is to come. Instead, we are tempted to escape into the magical fantasy of even more noise and chaos - Black Friday! Cyber Monday! And shopping, shopping, and more shopping! After all we are told, it is good for the nation's economy to buy, buy, buy! What insights might we gain from today's scripture readings?
In contrast to our situation, the First Reading presents David who seems to have it made. He's king after all, and he's living in a plush palace of cedar! God rewarded his fidelity with peace and prosperity - and to his credit, David now sits back and recounts his blessings. He even realizes: "Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!" (2 Sam 7:2) Then, with laudable intention, he plans to build a suitable house for the Ark. However, through the prophet Nathan - God reminds David that he is not a self-made man, but further, the Divine is not really concerned about dwelling places! Indeed, God has constantly been present everywhere with David, from his youth. God has different plans for David. It will be David's heir (and not David) who will build the temple and firmly establish his kingdom for posterity. We can only imagine how perplexing and painful this was in David's ears! Yet it seems David took his bewilderment to God, he ends up giving God thanks and praise. Today's Gospel then takes us to the humble abode of Mary of Nazareth. The difference is vast - or is it?
The angel first reaffirms Mary's graced and blessed relationship with God - indeed, she is "highly favored." (Lk 1:28). Nonetheless, Mary is taken aback by all of this unusual attention. She intuits the importance of the moment, and she ponders what this might mean. She listens attentively to the angel's message. And then taking up the mantel of full moral agency, she asks, "How can this be...?"(Lk 1:34). She is told that the Holy Spirit will come over her (just like David, I Sam 16:13) and that the Most High will overshadow her and she will become the mother of the Son of God. Throughout the scriptures, to be "overshadowed" was to be drawn ever close to God's saving presence and protection. As a woman of faith she likely knew that "overshadowing" named the presence of God that filled the Ark, when her ancestors sojourned in the desert (Ex 40:34). Having reflected on the angels words - as theologian Dianna Hayes puts it - Mary stands tall and alone and exerts "outrageous authority" expressing faith in herself and in her God, giving her own clear consent to partnering in God's salvific plan.
Each in their own way, Mary and David experienced profound peace and security in the presence of God. Then held by God, each took a risk in faith, and chose to do what was life-changing, in order to cooperate with God's momentous and saving acts. In this final week of Advent, we are called and challenged to change our ways so as to cooperate in God's saving plan. One of the most urgent calls of our time comes through our sisters and brothers in poor nations who are, according to Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, President of Caritas Internationalis, are already suffering from the effects of human-caused global warming. Climate change is a "pro-life issue." He testified: "Our climate is changing, Caritas organizations are responding to increasing unpredictability and extreme weather conditions experienced around the world. ...Urgent action is necessary." Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change added: "Every one of us needs to change our behaviour, business needs to change their investment patterns, everybody..." if we are to preserve God's gift of creation and human life on planet Earth. In this season as we anticipate the coming of the Prince of Peace into our world, let each of us take to heart Pope Benedict XVI's admonition - "If you want peace, protect creation!" What is God asking you to do?
Image: iStock
This reflection has originally been published at www.ctu.edu.
Erica and Harry John Family chair of Catholic Theological Ethics
M.A., Religious Studies - Maryknoll School of Theology; Maryknoll, NY
Ph.D., Religious Studies - Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
Dawn M. Nothwehr holds The Erica and Harry John Family Endowed Chair in Catholic Ethics at Catholic Theological Union. The mandate of the Chair is to promote the Roman Catholic Consistent Ethic of Life, advanced by Cardinal Bernardin. She is a member of the Sisters of St. Francis, Rochester, Minnesota.
Nothwehr’s current research explores issues of ethical normativity – especially how moral wisdom of peoples beyond the North Atlantic regions enriches and informs classical Christian ethics. Her ongoing research engages environmental ethics through the lens of Franciscan theology, particularly the effects of global climate change on the poor. The dialogue between religion and science, as well the ethics of power and racial justice are of equal interest. Her study attends to mutuality as a formal norm within a feminist ethics of power. Additional involvements include: the praxis of empowerment of the poor and vulnerable, moral pluralism, and relations in moral disagreement.
A Board Member of the Catholic Theology Society of America, she also was Convener of the Moral Theology section and Co-Convener of the Women’s Consultation in Constructive Theology. In the Society of Christian Ethics she is Co-Convener of the Environmental Ethics and Theology section. Dr. Nothwehr was listed among the top twenty-five eco-theologians in The Heartland of the U.S. by The National Council of Churches of Christ Ecojustice Programs in 2012.
