Watch and Pray, Eat and Heal
Rev. Magnolia Nova V. Mendoza
Texts: Isa. 25.6-9 (Contemporary English Version)
On this mountain the Lord All-Powerful will prepare for
all nations a feast of the finest foods. Choice wines and the best meats will
be served.
Here the Lord will strip
away the burial clothes that cover the nations.
The Lord All-Powerful
will destroy the power of death and wipe away all tears.
No longer will his people be insulted everywhere.
The Lord has spoken! At
that time, people will say,
“The Lord has saved us!
Let’s celebrate. We waited and hoped—
now our God is here.” Cf: Isa. 35.
3-8
Mark
13.33 (Aramaic Bible in Plain
English)
Take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know
when that time is.
Introduction
Greetings
to all of you – DS Koinonia, our Alumni and Friends! Kumusta po kayo? It’s the
first day of December! Feel n’yo ba na Christmas na? O dahil excited much eh 1st
day of September pa lang Paskong pasko na sa inyong balay? J Aminin!
It was last year during the 1st
Week of Advent when I delivered a sermon here with this same red ribbon in our
worship center. This is in solidarity with all UN member states and all those
suffering with AIDS in observance of the World AIDS Day, which is today Dec. 1st.
Their theme for this year is “End inequalities. End AIDS. End pandemics”. We
also remember in this worship service the people who are differently abled as
Dec 3rd is the UN-declared International Day for Persons with
Disabilities. According to latest statistics (Nov. 2021), there are over 1B PWD
or 15 percent of the 7.9 billion of the world’s population. I am sure that
still many are not included in the numbers for a lot are unidentified or undiagnosed.
The UN Convention on the Rights of PWD states that:
Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term
physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with
various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society
on an equal basis with others. (UN
Convention on the Rights of PWD 2009 in https://www.ncda.gov.ph/international-conventions-and-commitments/united-nations-conventions-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/united-nations-conventions-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/)
This year the IDPWD theme is
“Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive,
accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world.”
Let me add that our Jewish
sisters and brothers are also celebrating Hannukah or the Festival of Lights from
November 28th till December 6th. With the mentioned
observances all over we are at a significant time of the year.
I.
Watch and
Pray: Preparing for the Second Coming
The
underlying theme of the UN AIDS and the IDPWD for this year both speaks of a
call to meaningful existence for people with disabilities by making them and
their other gifts matter and to end inequalities due to AIDS and disabilities.
Their themes reverberate hope. Like what I said last year:
. . . it is
significantly appropriate that the observance of two of the world’s human and
health concerns are . . . thoughtfully placed at the start of the celebration
of Advent and in the global calendar. By incorporating those living with
HIV/AIDS and those living with disabilities in the Christian liturgical
celebrations, the Church takes up and affirms her call as a welcoming and
compassionate body of Christ. By remembering them in our worship service,
especially this advent season, we are acknowledging the reality that, like
them, we hold deep in our hearts that immeasurable sense of expectation for the
coming of something wonderful. (My Sermon, Dec. 2, 2020)
For people suffering with HIV/AIDS,
something wonderful would be where their community affords them fair and just
treatment. Their theme is essentially in the same vein with the IDPWD theme,
which is on inclusivity. Like us, they too are living in fear at this
time of Covid-19 plus the distress of being discriminated against, being marginalized
and rejected because of their condition. Their prayer, like yours and mine, is for
their existence to be purposeful and consequential. Swiss philosopher Emil
Brunner once said that “What oxygen is to the
lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life.” So may I ask you a personal
question. What is something wonderful for you that you expect to happen or to
have? What are you fervently praying for? (pause)
Now
that we are in Advent – at this precious time of waiting – we keep alive the
memory of the events before Jesus’ birthday. At the same time, we look forward
to His coming again. We read in Mark’s Gospel the necessity for watchfulness. In
(Mark) chapter 13. 32-37 since we do not know the day or hour when the master
of the house will come, it is basic that we are watchful. Meantime, what do we
do while keeping watch? I’ve looked into Advent practices by other Christian
traditions and I learned that
the Roman Catholic and the Eastern
Tradition fast during Advent season. For the Catholics “Advent has been
called a "little Lent,"
because it traditionally has included a period of increased prayer, fasting,
and good works.” For them it is fast before feast. (Scott
Richert,“The Season of Advent in the Catholic Church” in Learn Religions available
from https://www.learnreligions.com/season-of-advent-catholic-church-542458) The Eastern
Church calls this season Nativity Fast. “Observers often abstain from eating red meat, poultry, dairy
products, fish, and oil and wine, except for certain feast days and breaks in
the fast.” Fasting begins on November 15th till December 24th and
it is an important discipline that one must fulfill for their salvation. (Advent and Nativity
Fast in Vanderbuilt University available from https://www.vanderbilt.edu/diversity/advent-and-nativity-fast/) Orthodox
Christians participate in 3 things: fasting, prayers and almsgiving; and family
members are encouraged do these things “to make [Advent] season fruitful”. (“Advent Guide for Families” in Ascetic
Life of Motherhood available from https://www.asceticlifeofmotherhood.com/blog/Adventguideforfamilies#:~:text=(5)%20Participating%20in%20the%20Fast,a%20means%20for%20our%20salvation)
We may not be inclined to
practice fasting on certain foods especially this season when hamon, lechon, morcon,
paella, puto bumbong, bibingka, leche flan, fruit cake and a lot more are on
the table. Good for those who can afford and those who have the appetite.
But we can fast on other
areas too. St. John Chrysostom, an Early Church Father, provides us guidance on
this. He said:
Let the hands fast, by being
free of avarice.
Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin.
Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful.
Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and gossip.
Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism.
For what good is it if we
abstain from birds and fishes,
but bite and devour our
brothers?
More over, let this time be
for us a teaching season for our family members especially for the children who
will grow up hearing more and more about (online shops) and getting their
gadgets and things from there with just one click. Let this be a time for each
family to increase in the awareness of the significance of this waiting period
and to decrease in our desire for mundane things. As this time is also our
preparation for the second coming of the Lord Jesus, let us be focused on doing
the best preparation during the season. Let it be a “little Lent” and so fast
from the things that distract and weigh us down, and from things that makes us
angry that causes us to sin. And like a “little Lent”, cleansing must be a part
of our preparation. Let this also be a season of sharing and of good works. And
yes, we may well remember the parable in Luke 18.1-8. There Jesus hinted at the
necessity of praying without fail. For the more we pray, the more we put our hopes
up, the more our faith is strengthened. As we do this, we must further remember
the lesson on the parable, pray and “do not lose heart” (Lk. 18.1) so that when
the Son of Man comes, He will find us faithful.
II.
Eat and Heal: At the Lord’s Table
Isaiah’s vision of the Feast: we eat and heal
In my
first point I cited fasting as a religious practice and in this next point, as it
was read earlier, our scripture lesson talks about feasting. Isaiah’s vision in
chapter 25 was a celebration of salvation. Ten chapters after, (ch. 35) the
Prophet gives some more details about that most awaited day. It is written: “…Then the eyes of the blind shall be
opened, and the ears
of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a
deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,. . .” so on and so forth. What a hopeful, exciting vision! This
is good news for the PWD community!
The feast,
grand as it was described, with finest foods and well-aged wine, is a powerful symbol
of God’s utter love and faithfulness to God’s people. This feast as Isaiah
envisioned says exactly that. As the main part of the celebration, a banquet
will be prepared by none other by the Lord of host. And mourning, death, tears
and disgrace will be no more from the face of the earth. Isn’t that a
description of healing? The meal prepared and offered by the Lord of Hosts will
fill their hunger and they will have the pleasure of satisfaction. Isn’t this
what God would like his people to feel and experience? Isaiah’s vision is filled
with much rejoicing /for the Lord whom they have waited for/ has come and saved
them. (v.9)
The Lord’s Supper : we eat and heal
Today
again, we will partake of the Lord’s Supper in commemoration of the death and
resurrection of Jesus; a celebration of God’s love and grace. This is as well a
celebration in anticipation of the banquet in the Kindom when He comes again. These
things we already know like we know that eating is necessary for our existence.
Our physical bodies are designed to absorb nutrients from what we take in order
for us to function well. When we eat the right food, the right amount at the
right time, we will heal if our system is deficient of certain nutrients.
However this meal before us today, symbolic of Christ’s sacrifice of his body
and blood, may not impact our deficiencies nor fill our hunger. You and I know
that this meal is more for the healing of our spiritual nature, the healing of
our relationship with our Maker. For the word salvation means “preservation or
deliverance from harm, ruin or loss”. (New Oxford American Dictionary)
It is also beneficial to understand salvation from a medicinal concept.
Salvation is with “the same Latin root, salus
(health), with salve, a healing ointment.” (Susan
K. Wood, “The Paschal Mystery: The Intersection of Ecclesiology and Sacramental
Theology in the Care of the Sick,” in Bruce T. Morill, Divine Worship and Human Healing: Liturgical Theology at the Margins of
Life and Death. (Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2009, p.5) Jesus was that healing ointment. He was the
Liberator who unshackled the sick from the bondage of illness. He was the
Divine and Great Healer, who did not merely open the eyes of the blind or make
the lame walk or cast out demons, but the Redeemer, the Hope-giver and the
Restorer of people’s relationship with God. (My unpublished
MTh Thesis, 2012) So today, in humility and in unity as members of Christ’s
body we will eat together, and with hope we shall heal together in the Supper
of our Lord.
Conclusion
Finally, the call for us in our observance of Advent and
beyond is to keep building our hope in the living of these days. Life is hard
especially with the Covid-19 still producing new variants. It is our faith and
our hope that will get us through and make us strive to see meaning in our life
and work. Our challenge at this intervening time is to truly keep watch and convey
what God has taught us through Christ Jesus. In preparation for the second
coming, we are called to continue nurturing our faith in prayer and doing compassionate
work and sincere service pleasing God above all. That is the best birthday
present that we can offer our Lord Jesus. So let us keep awake so that when the
time is ripe, we will be found with faith and all shall sit at the table of our
Lord where fat things, finest foods and choice wines are set before us. Surely
it is something to look forward to! So be it!
(Message delivered for 1st week of Advent & Communion Service, World AIDS Day and Int’l. Day of PWD (Dec. 3) last December 1, 2021, 10 o’clock AM via ZOOM and Facebook Live.
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