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A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, December 1st, 2024:
First Sunday of Advent

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1 Thessalonians
3.12–4.2

​Brothers and sisters: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God, as, in fact, you are doing, you should do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Candles and Advent are linked in my psyche. As I light my candle, in my mind I see Saint Paul light a candle on his desk and continue the letter he’d been writing to the Thessalonians. 

How many ways can Saint Paul pray the same thing? There is a repetition of the ask for more. Asking God for more. Asking his readers for more. Asking me for more.

• Increase – πλεονάσαι, superabound, more than enough, even too much
• Abound – περισσεύσαι, be over and above, to exceed the ordinary
• Strengthen – στηρίξαι, give support and secure so as to eliminate vacillation, as in a vine trellis
• More and more – περισσεύητε μᾶλλον, over and above, and above; to exceed the ordinary, and then exceed the extraordinary

The first three actions are part of Saint Paul’s prayer, something he’s asking of God. The last one is part of something he’s asking of his readers, of me. Asking might be an understatement.

• Ask – ἐρωτῶμεν, earnestly ask from a place of special relationship
• Urge – παρακαλοῦμεν, close beside call

Coming close alongside, what is Saint Paul urging us to join him in?

• Live – περιπατεῖν, walk all around, full-circle living
• Please – ἀρέσκειν, root word is “fit together,” to fill the hole, satisfy the desire

His readers are already doing this. And there is more. I am already doing this. And there is more.

I feel like I’m facing in the right direction. I have been for a while. When I first turned around and started to walk toward Jesus, even the few steps unevenly taken seemed momentous. I may not have had the muscle tone in my core to maintain a straight line but, toddler that I was, I’d toddle, wobbling my way forward. Over time, little by little, if I kept at it my body would let me stride. I could even occasionally run a leg of the journey. Although sometimes I think I might have just simply sat down by the side of the road for far too long. Rest is good for growth, but in extended inactivity I atrophy. His Spirit would find me there and stir around me, reminding me that I was meant for more. The Wild Wind would play around me – my Alongside Caller, my Paraclete – and up I’d stand, finding that to follow where He wants me to go, I needed strengthening. I need to strengthen my body, strengthen my spirit, strengthen my mind, and strengthen my heart. I move again, adding tone and muscle mass, learning to walk all around, satisfying my Father’s desire. 

And this is just the beginning. This is training in exceeding the ordinary. Awaiting us is training in exceeding the extraordinary. In the breathing in and out of the liturgical year, each Advent calls us to prepare for the coming Infant King, to strengthen our hearts beyond the ordinary so as to be able to bear His small weight. A day will come when we will be ready to begin being strengthened beyond the extraordinary to be able to bear the weight of His Glory unveiled. More indeed. 

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Noreen Smith

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