+ Second Week of Advent +
Fr. Alfred Delp, German Martyr
Let us view these writings through the lens of our own times. All quotes below pertain to the Second Sunday of Advent…
Opening of the Tridentine Mass (the Mass Fr. Delp would have celebrated):
“People of Sion, behold the Lord shall come to save the nations: and the Lord shall make the glory of His voice to be heard, in the joy of your heart. Give ear, O Thou that rulest Israel: Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep.”
Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1941:
“ To this message about being deeply shaken, the Second Sunday of Advent adds a new word, a message about man’s authenticity. Someone who encounters the Ultimate, who knows about the end, must let go of every compromise. In the presence of the Ultimate the only thing that survives is what is authentic. All compromise shatters there. All cheap negotiating shatters there. All half-truths, and all double-meanings, and all masks, and all poses shatter there. The only thing that stands the test is what is authentic.”
Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1942:
“A variety of responsibilities will be imposed from this time forth…it is our responsibility to make a disturbance in the world that is strong enough in itself to tear this chaos out of its cycle and to lead the world back to its source. Christians bear the responsibility to generate an authentic unrest within creation, through our existence, our word, and our work…We are obliged to be concerned about the destiny of the world. Moreover, we must know that we gamble away our own individual salvation if we don’t play, or, to word it better, if we don’t fight, for salvation and order in the world…May we stand in this world, not as people in hiding, but as those who help prepare the way of the only-begotten Son of God.”
From Tegel Prison, Berlin:
“The great historical and personal hours of grace will always mean some form of awakening and return to a true order of reality. This is also the meaning of Advent: not only promise, but rather conversion and transformation. Plato would say, ‘orientation to a capability for truth.’ John the Baptist put it more simply, ‘Repent.’ The prayers and message of Advent push man out beyond every surface and bring him to a consciousness of the full sculptural dimensions and drama of his situation…A person filled with confidence in God will profit from this time and stand up to the test…May God break open the narrowness that confines us within ourselves, and make us capable of Him, and capable of His mission.”
SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT FR. DELP PDF PRINTABLE
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