"Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen 4:9)

From The Magnificat to the Front Page.

The Magnificat Sunday, November 27, 2011

Since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.  Return to me, that I may return to you, says the LORD of hosts.  But you say, “Why should we return?” (MALACHI 3:7) 

Although we know that Christ has not in fact left us since the resurrection, we often experience his absence from a world that has not yet fully owned him and from lives not yet fully free from the hold of sin.  During Advent, we pray for his promised return in the fullness of salvation, as the sun, never absent from the universe, returns at dawn after the long hours on night.

To the front page that begs the question, How powerful are our actions ushering in Advent?

How much crazier can Black Friday get?

Pepper-sprayed customers, smash-and-grab looters and bloody scenes in the shopping aisles. How did Black Friday devolve into this?

As reports of shopping-related violence rolled in this week from Los Angeles to New York, experts say a volatile mix of desperate retailers and cutthroat marketing has hyped the traditional post-Thanksgiving sales to increasingly frenzied levels.

The wave of violence revived memories of the 2008 Black Friday stampede that killed an employee and put a pregnant woman in the hospital at a Walmart on New York's Long Island.

The violence has prompted some analysts to wonder if the sales are worth it, and what solutions might work.

One shopper said, "If I'm going to get shot, at least let me get a good deal."

It seems that we humans wake up only The Day After Trinity unable to recognize the trajectory of our misplaced desires that inevitably leads to violence. What does it take to break the cycle?

Back to the reflection from The Magnificat:

"At a certain point in life, the profound desires and cravings of our heart reach a point of eruption. Yet, at the same time comes the awareness that we cannot bring about what we want - we do not have inside us what is needed to fulfill and satisfy our longings. And so, with our infinite yearnings we turn to the Infinite and cry, "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down." Our experience of helplessness before the fact of our boundless human need moves us to ask for fellowship with God's Son, Jesus Christ the Lord. The nature of our desire assures us as we enter into Advent that we are not lacking in any spiritual gift as we wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. "The Lord of the house is coming." "Be watchful! Be alert!"

Must read the following (and please do yourself a favor and link below on the title and read the entire message):

Waking Up to Ourselves by Father Alfed Delp

The deepest meaning of Advent cannot be understood by anyone who has not first experienced being terrified unto death about himself and his human prospects and likewise what is revealed within himself about the situation and constitution of mankind in general.

This entire message about God’s coming, about the Day of Salvation, about redemption drawing near, will be merely divine game-playing or sentimental lyricism unless it is grounded upon two clear findings of fact.

The first finding: insight into, and alarm over the powerlessness and futility of human life in relation to its ultimate meaning and fulfillment…The second finding: the promise of God to be on our side, to come to meet us.