{"id":12432,"date":"2011-11-29T08:12:59","date_gmt":"2011-11-29T14:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=12432"},"modified":"2011-11-29T20:45:04","modified_gmt":"2011-11-30T02:45:04","slug":"thoughts-on-this-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on This Sunday: Advent II"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a semi-regular feature, <\/em>Pray Tell will be running \u201cThoughts on This Sunday,\u201d which will be some rather informal remarks on the readings for the upcoming Sunday. These are not complete homilies or even comprehensive notes on the readings, but simply some ideas or texts to get the homiletic juices flowing.<\/em><\/p>\n

We modern Westerners don\u2019t go in for apocalyptic much these days, perhaps because we are pretty comfortable with the way things are and are not particularly anxious for their overturning. But both the first and second readings present eschatological hope in terms of dramatic, cosmic transformation: mountains being made low, rugged land being made plains, the heavens passing away with a might roar, and the element being dissolved by fire.<\/p>\n

The Second Letter of Peter goes on to pose this interesting question: \u201cSince everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be?\u201d (I\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0help but notice that the American lectionary omits the question mark in this sentence). Peter provides something of an answer as well: we should be \u201cwaiting for and hastening the coming day of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

With regard to God\u2019s consummation of history, we both \u201cwait\u201d and \u201chasten.\u201d Here is the paradox of all of us who live between the times. We are not in charge of history\u2019s consummation. God is. And so our stance within history is one of waiting. But somehow, in ways that are often hidden, our anxious waiting is the means by which we hasten the kingdom. Our waiting is active, not passive. As the book of Revelation says, both the Spirit and the Bride say \u201cCome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps John the Baptist, who appears in today\u2019s Gospel, is the model of this waiting that hastens. John is hardly passive \u2013 crying out, calling people to repentance \u2013 yet his stance is entirely one of anticipation. \u00a0His hope is not grounded in his own efforts, but in \u201cone mightier than I.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parents \u2013 particularly parents of teenagers \u2013 often have the seemingly conflicting desire that their children both be patient with themselves and not try to rush adulthood, and at the same time take charge of their lives and do<\/em> something. Growing into adulthood takes time, but it also doesn\u2019t happen unless we actively seek to become adults. Otherwise, we remain arrested adolescents. This is perhaps a shadowing image of God\u2019s desires for us: both that we wait patiently for the fulfillment of the Kingdom and at the same time actively work to hasten it.<\/p>\n

The new translation of the Missal is perhaps a good occasion for us to exercise the waiting that hastens. We certainly need to try to learn the new responses, to proclaim well the new texts, and \u2013 most importantly \u2013 to pray<\/em> in these new words. But we must also be patient; these things take time. The waiting that hastens is not a comfortable place to be, but it is where we live as Christians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a semi-regular feature, Pray Tell<\/I> will be running \u201cThoughts on This Sunday,\u201d which will be some rather informal remarks on the readings for the upcoming Sunday. These are not complete homilies or even comprehensive notes on the readings, but simply some ideas or texts to get the homiletic juices flowing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,84,91],"tags":[1703,1704,1702],"class_list":["post-12432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homiletics","category-lectionary-liturgy-of-word","category-liturgical-year","tag-2-peter","tag-john-the-baptist","tag-second-sunday-of-advent-b"],"yoast_head":"\nThoughts on This Sunday: Advent II - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thoughts on This Sunday: Advent II - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a semi-regular feature, Pray Tell will be running \u201cThoughts on This Sunday,\u201d which will be some rather informal remarks on the readings for the upcoming Sunday. These are not complete homilies or even comprehensive notes on the readings, but simply some ideas or texts to get the homiletic juices flowing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-29T14:12:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-11-30T02:45:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/pt.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"411\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"90\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fritz Bauerschmidt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fritz Bauerschmidt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/29\\\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/29\\\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fritz Bauerschmidt\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6680b6b6c538e041206e13ba3c1a24d9\"},\"headline\":\"Thoughts on This Sunday: Advent II\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-29T14:12:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-30T02:45:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/29\\\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":499,\"commentCount\":17,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"2 Peter\",\"John the Baptist\",\"Second Sunday of Advent B\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Homiletics\",\"Lectionary \\\/ Liturgy of Word\",\"Liturgical year\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/29\\\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/29\\\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/29\\\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\\\/\",\"name\":\"Thoughts on This Sunday: Advent II - Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-29T14:12:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-30T02:45:04+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/29\\\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/29\\\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/29\\\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thoughts on This Sunday: Advent II\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"description\":\"Worship, Wit & Wisdom\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"width\":1340,\"height\":209,\"caption\":\"Home\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6680b6b6c538e041206e13ba3c1a24d9\",\"name\":\"Fritz Bauerschmidt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/38.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/38.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/38.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Fritz Bauerschmidt\"},\"description\":\"I am a professor of Theology at Loyola University Maryland and a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, assigned to the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/homileticdiakonia.blogspot.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/fbauerschmidt\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thoughts on This Sunday: Advent II - Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thoughts on This Sunday: Advent II - Home","og_description":"As a semi-regular feature, Pray Tell will be running \u201cThoughts on This Sunday,\u201d which will be some rather informal remarks on the readings for the upcoming Sunday. These are not complete homilies or even comprehensive notes on the readings, but simply some ideas or texts to get the homiletic juices flowing.","og_url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/","og_site_name":"Home","article_published_time":"2011-11-29T14:12:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-11-30T02:45:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":411,"height":90,"url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/pt.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fritz Bauerschmidt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fritz Bauerschmidt","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/"},"author":{"name":"Fritz Bauerschmidt","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6680b6b6c538e041206e13ba3c1a24d9"},"headline":"Thoughts on This Sunday: Advent II","datePublished":"2011-11-29T14:12:59+00:00","dateModified":"2011-11-30T02:45:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/"},"wordCount":499,"commentCount":17,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["2 Peter","John the Baptist","Second Sunday of Advent B"],"articleSection":["Homiletics","Lectionary \/ Liturgy of Word","Liturgical year"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/","name":"Thoughts on This Sunday: Advent II - Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-11-29T14:12:59+00:00","dateModified":"2011-11-30T02:45:04+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/29\/thoughts-on-this-sunday\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thoughts on This Sunday: Advent II"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","name":"Home","description":"Worship, Wit & Wisdom","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization","name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","width":1340,"height":209,"caption":"Home"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6680b6b6c538e041206e13ba3c1a24d9","name":"Fritz Bauerschmidt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/38.jpg","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/38.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/38.jpg","caption":"Fritz Bauerschmidt"},"description":"I am a professor of Theology at Loyola University Maryland and a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, assigned to the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.","sameAs":["http:\/\/homileticdiakonia.blogspot.com"],"url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/author\/fbauerschmidt\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12432"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12446,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12432\/revisions\/12446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}