An extract from the Letter to Diognetus is in the Office of Readings for December 18.  The letter, perhaps dating from the 3rd century, was written by an unknown educated Christian to a Roman official. Diognetus,  inquiring  about Christianity, 

“No one has ever seen God or known him, but God has revealed himself to us through faith, by which alone it is possible to see him. God, the Lord and maker of all things, who created the world and set it in order, not only loved man but was also patient with him. So he has always been, and is, and will be: kind, good, free from anger, truthful; indeed, he and he alone is good.”

God loves and is patient with humanity, even as human beings were being swept away by their passions and sins.              

The writer does not appeal  to the Jewish prophets or to the Jewish scriptures. Instead he describes a world of his day threatened with death and destruction because of its wickedness. 

Yet, God reveals his patience:“God bore with us , and in compassion took our sins upon himself; he gave his own Son as the price of our redemption, the holy one to redeem the wicked, the sinless one to redeem sinners, the just one to redeem the unjust, the incorruptible one to redeem the corruptible, the immortal one to redeem mortals. For what else could have covered our sins but his sinlessness? Where else could we, wicked and sinful as we were, have found the means of holiness except in the Son of God alone?” 

The Roman world described by the Christian writer to Diognetus seems to be  a world in trouble. Was it a world facing wars, perhaps, with barbarian armies breaking through its borders? Were large numbers of immigrants struggling to find a place to live in the Roman empire? Were Roman political structures breaking down? Was it a critical time?

If that were the world described, isn’t it like our world today? That world was looking for new wisdom and guidance the future. Did Diognetus come to believe in  Jesus Christ?

We pray that the people of our world welcome Jesus Christ.

St. Leo the Great explains the importance of the genealogies of Jesus from the gospels of Matthew and Luke in the Office of Readings for December 17. God could have appeared as he did in the time of the patriarchs, in the guise of strangers who appeared to Abraham, in the mysterious figure who wrestled with Jacob. Instead, God chose to send his Son to be born in time and take on himself a human nature like ours.

“The divine nature and the nature of a servant were to be united in one person so that the Creator of time might be born in time, and he through whom all things were made might be brought forth in their midst.

  For unless the new man, by being made in the likeness of sinful flesh, had taken on himself the nature of our first parents, unless he had stooped to be one in substance with his mother while sharing the Father’s substance and, being alone free from sin, united our nature to his, the whole human race would still be held captive under the dominion of Satan. The Conqueror’s victory would have profited us nothing if the battle had been fought outside our human condition.

But through this wonderful blending the mystery of new birth shone upon us, so that through the same Spirit by whom Christ was conceived and brought forth we too might be born again in a spiritual birth; and in consequence the evangelist declares the faithful to have been born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.“

He dwelt among us. He did not engage us “outside our human condition.”

Our celebration of Advent is more than decorating a Christmas tree, lighting an Advent candle or singing carols. Advent is a time for dealing with belief and unbelief. Our readings for Monday and Tuesday this week from Matthew’s gospel speak of religious unbelief in the chief priests and elders as Jesus enters Jerusalem. (Matthew 21: 22- 32) They are religious leaders and scholars, but they do not recognize God’s plan revealed in him. 

Friday we will read Luke’s account of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. While carrying out his duty of prayer in the temple as a priest, he does not believe in an angel promising that he and his wife will have son. Even as a priest in a holy place, worshipping in God’s temple, he does not recognize God’s plan.

Besides the unbelief of religious people, political unbelief is described repeatedly in our Advent readings. Ahaz, king of Judea, sees the world through the lens of politics, as he turns a deaf ear to God’s word, spoken by the Prophet Isaiah. He will deal with his neighbors as he thinks best. His words and wisdom alone are what counts. 

Mary stands in contrast to an unbelieving world. She represents the “remnant” the prophets speak of. She believes and accepts the angel’s promise, even as she wonders “how can this be?”. 

The Advent season tells us to stand with her.

At the beginning of Advent, Isaiah announced that all nations were called to God’s holy mountain. As this 3rd week of Advent begins, Balaam, a foreigner, “whose eye is true..and who hears what God says” recognizes Israel’s divine mission and indistinctly recognizes a Savior to come. “ I see him, though not now. I behold him, though not near.” Balaam recognizes the presence of God in the tribes of Israel and refuses a handsome payout to curse them; he blesses them instead. Even his donkey gets it right. (Numbers 24:2-17)

Paid to curse the Israelite tribes invading their land of Cana, Balaam is prevented from carrying out the work by his donkey who sees an angel ahead and refuses to go further. He even speaks to Balaam. Is that why a donkey appears in the stable at Bethlehem?

Balaam represents the world beyond Israel hoping for a kingdom. Still, God’s promises can be difficult for all of us to fully grasp, our Advent readings point. The Jewish leaders of his day, questioning Jesus about his authority and his mission, don’t see it.  John, his disciples and the disciples of Jesus have their questions. All of them have a  limited human vision of the plan of God. Our vision is like theirs.

I am the LORD, there is no other; I form the light, and create the darkness,
I make well-being and create woe; I, the LORD, do all these things.
Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above, like gentle rain let the skies drop it down.Let the earth open and salvation bud forth; let justice also spring up!
I, the LORD, have created this. For thus says the LORD, the creator of the heavens,
who is God, the designer and maker of the earth who established it, not creating it to be a waste, but designing it be lived in: I am the LORD, and there is no other. 

We’re slow to grasp God’s power and see a plan for the world evolving in slow gentle rain and emerging buds of spring. In winter times like ours, we’re also slow to believe “God did not create the world to be a waste.”

Wednesday we listen to the genealogy of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew.  We draw nearer to the mystery of the Word made flesh.

Matthew’s gospel read the first few days of 3rd week of Advent brings us to the temple in Jerusalem where Jesus should be recognized, but isn’t. The religious leaders, who represent the blindness of many, reject Jesus and John the Baptist. Jesus Christ will continue to be rejected..(Matthew 21,23-27)

By contrast, the Book of Numbers tells the story of Balaam the prophet, who’s offered a handsome pay for cursing the tribes of Israel. Instead he blessed them, recognizing God’s with them.  Even his donkey gets it right.

December 17th we turn to events preceding the birth of Jesus, reading Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, which begins with Abraham and ends with Joseph, the husband of Mary. (Matthew 1, 1-17)

December 18^th Joseph, “Son of David,” is told of the conception and birth of the Child  He is to name him Jesus, because “he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1,19-25)  In the first reading Jeremiah prophesies a return of God’s people to their own land. (Jeremiah 23,5-9=8)

Luke’s gospel, read  the remaining days of Advent, sets the stage for this world-changing event. Herod the Great rules in Palestine as the Angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah in the temples. The elderly priest is told that he and his wife Elizabeth will have a son who will be “the prophet of the Most High:” Luke 1,5-26 (December 19)

Six months later the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary in the small town of Nazareth that she will bring into the world a holy child, who will be called “the Son of God.” Luke 1,26-38 (December 20)) This happens in the days when Caesar Augustus is emperor of the Roman world, but Someone greater is coming.

Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth to share the Good News. Luke 1,39-45 (December 21) She offers her prayer of thanksgiving to God, her Magnificat: Luke 1,46-56 (December 22)

Other marvelous births are recalled in the Old Testament readings: Samson and Samuel  whose mothers – thought barren–  conceive and bear children. “Nothing is impossible for God.”

All is set for the birth of Jesus Christ.