by Fr. Edward Foley, Capuchin<\/em><\/p>\n Eugene Lowry is a favorite homilist, Lowry has argued that the problem with most preachers The remedy, according to Lowry, After what he calls this \u201coops\u201d move, I\u2019d like to move Lowry\u2019s strategy one step further It is common for Christians to believe that Advent is the season Ironically, one way through this dilemma Every one of the 3 cycles of the lectionary But then, in a kind of liturgical time warp, And then the fourth Sunday moves us even earlier Ironically, this backward design of the season Or, as Marshall McLuhan once wisely said: Now it might sound at least counter-intuitive, On the other hand, backward planning The basic premise is to start from a desirable future Actually one of the most famous technological achievements In some ways, today\u2019s gospel gives us an image of Paul\u2019s instruction to the Thessalonians outlines Our believing backward into that future This backward reading reveals Reading today\u2019s lectionary texts forward, especially that gospel text Or do we have to learn to read these texts, There is actually a form of poetry known as \u201creverse poetry.\u201d But if you read the poem backward, Recently a 10-year-old girl student Christ Church school in England<\/a> As you know, dyslexia is a learning disability When you read her poem, aptly named \u201cDyslexia,\u201d It reads:<\/p>\n I am stupid Sounds pretty depressing \u2026 but listen to it when happens I can make it in life What a reversal. What an affirmation. But that is the task of Advent It is a challenging journey, to be sure It is difficult to see it from here, I cannot account for how,
\nespecially celebrated for his
\nsomewhat subversive approach to preaching. [1]<\/p>\n
\nis that they give away the plot too early in the homily,
\nakin to Shakespeare walking to the apron of the stage
\nbefore the premiere of Romeo and Juliet
\nand explaining that in this tragedy
\nabout two star crossed lovers
\nboth protagonists would eventually commit suicide
\nbefore their broken-hearted families are reconciled.<\/p>\n
\nis for the preacher first to problematize the readings,
\nalmost pulling the rug out from under
\nthe assembly\u2019s established expectations
\nthat they know where readings and homily are headed.<\/p>\n
\nhe advises homilists to let the plot of the preaching unfold
\nin all of its surprise and unpredictability.<\/p>\n
\nas we launch into this first Sunday of Advent
\nand problematize not only a single set of readings
\nbut actually an entire liturgical season
\nsince, in my opinion, Advent is always a bit of a puzzlement.<\/p>\n
\nthat prepares us to celebrate the birth of the Lord.
\nBut how do you prepare for an event that is long past?
\nWhat is the sense in a season that primes us for ancient history?
\nThat galvanizes passion for what is completed
\nwithout devolving into a season reduced
\nto historical commemorations or ritualized remembering?<\/p>\n
\nis by recognizing what could be characterized
\nas the completely backward design of this season,
\nand the inverted logic of Advent
\nas explicitly exposed in the readings proclaimed
\nover its four Sundays.<\/p>\n
\nhas the 1st Sunday of Advent opening with a futuristic gospel,
\nan apocalyptic vision of Jesus\u2019 second coming
\nwith not too subtle warnings
\nabout the distress that lies ahead.
\nIt is certainly what we get today in Luke.<\/p>\n
\nthe second and third Sundays of Advent
\npropel us thousands of years backward,
\ntransporting us to the world of John the Baptist
\nthe adult cousin of Jesus
\nas he wrestles with the truth about his younger relative.<\/p>\n
\ninto salvation history
\nand immediate preparations for the Lord\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n
\ndemands a kind of backward thinking,
\nmaybe even backward believing,
\nin order to savor the center of this season
\nand live in the presence of the mysteries it nurtures.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe look at the present through a rear-view mirror.
\nWe march backwards into the future.\u201d [2]<\/p>\n
\nif not counterproductive,
\nto think or even believe backward.<\/p>\n
\nor what is sometimes called backcasting,
\nis a proven and highly effective technique
\nin business, urban development, and even the sciences.<\/p>\n
\nand then look back to the present to identify
\nthe most strategic steps or actions
\nnecessary for achieving that goal. [3]<\/p>\n
\nof the 20th century
\n– landing astronauts on the moon in 1969 –
\nwas precisely achieved through backward planning.<\/p>\n
\nthe perfect future that we long for:
\nthe coming of Jesus in power and glory,
\na power and glory that might bring about God\u2019s reign
\nof justice, tolerance for all, and the disenfranchisement of none.<\/p>\n
\nsome of the strategic steps we need to take
\nfor the fulfillment of God\u2019s reign:
\noverflowing with love for one another,
\nnurturing strong hearts,
\nand learning to be blameless – even holy – before God.<\/p>\n
\ntakes us to the end and the goal of Advent,
\nthe mystery of incarnation
\noccurring not only once in history,
\nbut incarnation as the enduring mystery
\nof God\u2019s unending love affair with humanity –
\nall of humanity.<\/p>\n
\nthat the ongoing work of incarnation
\nis the fundamental strategy
\nfor enacting God\u2019s holy reign,
\nmaking way for Christ\u2019s enduring presence in the world.<\/p>\n
\ncan sound scary, threatening, or maybe even prophetic,
\nnaming the chaos of the present moment
\nwith migrants freezing on the border with Poland,
\ndancing Grannies killed by some lunatic in Waukesha\u2019s Christmas parade,
\nand Christian missionaries still held for ransom in Haiti.
\nIs that a fulfillment of Luke\u2019s foreboding
\nthat the day will close in on us like a trap?<\/p>\n
\nand even the events of our lives,
\nand this crazy world
\nbackward first so we can move forward –
\nbackward into incarnation
\nso we can move forward into God\u2019s reign.<\/p>\n
\nIt is poetry that can be read from front to back
\nor from back to front.
\nWhen it is read in the ordinary sequence
\nfrom top to bottom
\nit often can sound quite depressing
\nlike reading the lectionary
\nfrom Jeremiah to Paul to Luke.
\nIt sounds promising in the beginning
\nlike Jeremiah\u2019s vision of the emergence of God\u2019s justice,
\nbut then it gets a little scary when we hear from Paul,
\nthat we have to be blameless
\nin light of the Lord Jesus\u2019 second coming
\nwhich turns to downright terror
\nwhen Luke walks us to the brink of the eschaton,
\nthe final moments,
\nmarked by anguish, distress, and fright.<\/p>\n
\nlike reading the lectionary texts
\nand even the whole of Advent backward,
\na more life-giving and affirming scenario emerges.<\/p>\n
\nwrote a reverse poem about dyslexia<\/a>
\neven though she herself does not suffer from that challenge.<\/p>\n
\nthat inhibits fluent reading,
\nbut also reading comprehension,
\nspelling,
\nwriting,
\nand even math skills.<\/p>\n
\nfrom top to bottom, it paints a disheartening picture of distress:<\/p>\n
\nNobody would ever say
\nI have a talent for words
\nI was meant to be great
\nThat is wrong
\nI am a failure
\nNobody could ever convince me to think that
\nI can make it in life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nwhen we read it backward:<\/p>\n
\nNobody could ever convince me to think that
\nI am a failure
\nThat is wrong
\nI was meant to be great
\nI have a talent for words
\nNobody would ever say
\nI am stupid.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nWhat a resurrection. What a budding poet!
\nWhat an inspiration to develop a spirituality
\nthat the world might consider dyslexic.<\/p>\n
\nworking backward from the promised reign of God
\nthrough the sacred strategy of incarnation
\nfor birthing that reign of justice and dignity in our own time.<\/p>\n
\nand one that begs for mercy and graces and blessings.
\nAnd so we invoke the poet\u2019s blessing as we pray:<\/a><\/p>\n
\nI know,
\nbut trust me when I say
\nthis blessing is inscribed
\non the horizon.
\nIs written on
\nthat far point
\nyou can hardly see.
\nIs etched into
\na landscape
\nwhose contours you cannot know
\nfrom here.
\nAll you know
\nis that it calls you,
\ndraws you,
\npulls you toward
\nwhat you have perceived
\nonly in pieces,
\nin fragments that came to you
\nin dreaming
\nor in prayer.<\/p>\n
\nas you draw near,
\nthe blessing embedded in the horizon
\nbegins to blossom
\nupon the soles of your feet,
\nshimmers in your two hands.
\nIt is one of the mysteries
\nof the road,
\nhow the blessing
\nyou have traveled toward,
\nwaited for,
\nached for
\nsuddenly appears
\nas if it had been with you
\nall this time,
\nas if it simply
\nneeded to know
\nhow far you were willing
\nto walk
\nto find the lines
\nthat were traced upon you
\nbefore the day
\nthat you were born.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n