In the lord’s advent which we are celebrating, If i fix my gaze on the person of the one who is coming, i will fail to grasp the wondrousness of his majesty. If i fix my attention on those to whom he comes, i am overwhelmed by the magnitude of his condescension. Surely the angels are astonished by the strange situation – seeing below themselves the One whom above them they ever adore and now manifestly both ascending and descending to the Son of Man. (John 1:51)
Once a year the universal Church celebrates a solemn remembrance of the coming of such majesty, such humility, such godly love and indeed such a glorification of ourselves. Would that this be done always as it is done this once ! How much more fitting that would be. What madness for people to desire or to dare to occupy themselves with any other business after the coming of so great a King ! should they not leave all else aside and free themselves entirely for worshiping him, and in his presence be mindful of nothing else ?
Virtues not possessions are the true riches. These conscience carries with itself that it may be rich forever. When our Savior comes, he will transform the body of our humiliation, conforming it to the body of his glory only if our heart has first been transformed and conformed to the humiliation of his heart. That is why he told us, Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart. Consider well these words for humility is twofold: one of thinking the other of feeling – here called the heart. By the former we realize that we are nothing and this we learn from ourselves and from our weakness. By the later we spurn worldly glory and this we learn from Him who emptied himself taking the form of a servant. When they sought him for a kingdom he fled. When they sought him for the great test and shameful suffering of the cross, he willingly offered himself.
All our virtue is far from true virtue as it is from the appearance and all our wings are good for nothing if they are not covered with silver. Great is the wing of poverty by which we fly so swiftly to the kingdom of heaven ! But in the case of the virtues that follow the use of the future tense indicates a promise; poverty is not promised as given ( Mat 5:3 ) . So we are told in the present tense that theirs is the kingdom of heaven while in other cases they will inherit, they shall be comforted and so on.
Let us cover our wings with silver then, in our way of life in Christ just as the holy martyrs washed their robes in his passion. As much as we can, let us imitate him who so loved poverty that although the ends of the earth were in his hand, he had yet no place to lay his head.
From the Sermons of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot
