Transition from the Second Sunday of Advent to Gaudete Sunday Through Bodhi Day and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

This year, the Second Week of Advent proves to be quite loaded, spiritually speaking. It is particularly so, if you also appreciate the Buddhist tradition, along with the Catholicism. 

The Second Sunday of Advent this year – December 8 – coincided with the feast of Immaculate Conception and Bodhi Day.  In fact, Bodhi Day is a Buddhist holiday, not a Catholic feast. But, it is an important holiday to me, as a Japanese Catholic, who values Buddhism as a means to deepen my appreciation of Catholicism in East Asian cultural context, which is predominantly influenced by Buddhism. 

Because of the coincidence of the Second Sunday of Advent and the feast of Immaculate Conception, the celebration of the Immaculate Conception was moved to the following Monday, December 9, which is the feast day of San Juan Diego.  And, on this Thursday, December 12, the feast of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe) was celebrated. 

So, this week, the second week of Advent Year A, has offered a lot to reflect as we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. 

As we have transitioned from the Second Week of Advent into the Third Week of Advent, I would like to reflect on meaning of Second Sunday of Advent, Bodhi Day, and Immaculate Conception, in order to deepen our appreciation of the Third Sunday of Advent, which is also known as Gaudete Sunday (rejoice Sunday).

Penance Through Conversion/Metanoia - Theme of the Second Sunday of Advent Year A

A main message of the Second Sunday of Advent Year A is metanoia through repentance, as preached by John the Baptist, in the Gospel reading (Matthew 3:1-12).  Metanoia is often translated as “conversion“ in English. But, in a Greek-English dictionary, it is often translated as “repentance”  and “change of mind or heart” in English.  In order to understand better, it is important to really know some etymological background of” metanoia “and “conversion” in terms of “repentance” as a form of “changing of mind or heart”.

In Matthew 3:2, John the Baptist shouts out, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.  In the original Greek text of the Bible, the verb “repent” is μετανοέω  (metanoeo).  The noun form of this word μετάνοια (metanoia) is also used by John the Baptist, stating,”Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance” (Matthew 3:8).  Here, “repentance” is  μετάνοια (metanoia).  This important Greek word is composed of μετά (meta)  and νοέω (noeo).   “Meta”( μετά) can mean after, afterward, and reverse.  Noeo (νοέω) indicates mind, cognition, perception, and thinking. 

Though the Matthew’s Gospel in English translation does not use the word,  the world , “conversion”, in the Biblical and Christian theological context, “conversion” rather  means “changing or mind or heart” as a form of penance.   As with the Greek word, “metanoia”, it helps to look into etymology of this English word, “conversion”. 

The English word “conversion” came from the Latin word, “convertere”(turn around, transform).  “Convertere” is composed of “com”(together) and “vertere”(to turn, or to return).  A good image for the biblical concept of “metanoia” in light of  “repentance”, “chanting of mind or heart”, and “conversion”  is to turn from sin and back to God, whom we, the humans, were originally with in the Garden of Eden, the original Paradise (Genesis 2:4-25). 

The English word “conversion” came from the Latin word, “convertere”(turn around, transform).  “Convertere” is composed of “com”(together) and “vertere”(to turn, or to return).  The Latin word, “vertere” (to turn or to return) echoes the Greek word, “meta”, which can mean “reverse”.  

By turning from sin, returning to God, reversing the way we have been, we can practice “metanoia” as “repentance” and “conversion”. 

Now, by bringing the Latin-derivative word, “conversion” in association with “metanoia”, I can point to another very important Catholic theological point here.

The word, “conversion” literally means “turning together”, etymologically speaking. We now understand that it means to turn from sin to and back to God, in the biblical context.  But, who are we making our turns with?  The word, “conversion” as “metanoia” indicates that we repent and turn our hearts and minds from sin back to God not by ourselves but with someone else because of  the “com”  Latin prefix in “conversion”. 

Obviously,  we do need someone to practice “metanoia” through penance.  And, as John the Baptist indicates in the Gospel reading (Matthew 3:1-12),  “metanoia” is to prepare ourselves not only for preparing the way for the Messiah (Matthew 3:3, Isaiah 40:3) but also for salvation, which is found in the Kingdom of heaven (Matthew 3:2).  And, John the Baptist sure prophesizes that the judgement will precede the coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom in the Gospel reading.  

Japanese Shin Buddhism Insight for Christian Conversion/Metanoia Toward Bodhi (enlightenement)

So, who can save themselves? Who do you think believing in “self-salvation” or “D.I.Y. S”(Do-It-by-Yourself-Salvation)?  In the culture where individualism and individual autonomy are more valued than interpersonal harmony, “D.I.Y”(do it yourself) is a highly valued virtue.  But, it is not in the authentic Catholic theology, as well as Shin Japanese Buddhism. 

More than teachings of Protestant theologies, the Catholic theology emphasizes the importance of togetherness – interpersonal harmony to reflect the God-human harmonious relationship. As I understand and appreciate the teaching of Jesus, as described in the New Testament, Jesus has never taught us to excel ourselves over others and to be proud of our autonomy.  In this regard, in my opinion, Jesus is far from John Calvin’s individualistic theology. 

In fact, Jesus was never alone in his saving works, as he was always with the Father, who sent him (i.e. John 10:30).  This truth is also reflected in the Nicean Creed cited at Mass, “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father" in our Christological profession,  though the old form used to say  "one in Being with the Father”.  Because of this Jesus’ consubstantial union with the Father, he always acknowledged that all his saving works were not done solely by his power but by the Father’s power.  Jesus never took credits of his saving works for himself alone. 

This is a very important reminder for us – to remind ourselves of the truth that we cannot save ourselves alone. This is similar to the Japanese Shin Buddhist teaching that we cannot save ourselves without the eternal mercy of Amida (Amitabha) Buddha, as summed in the mantra prayer, “Numuamidabutsu/ 南無阿弥陀仏”(I put all my trust in you, Lord Amitabha Buddha) in expressing our desire and need to be saved.  The first part, “namu/南無” also means turning to or returning to, besides putting all our trust.  Thus, “Namuamidabutsu” can be understood as a Japanese Buddhist’s sincere expression of the desire of “metanoia” and “conversion” to , namely, to return to Amitabha Buddha.  Thus, this is similar to how humble Christians express sincere desires to return to God.  And, we have this kind of expression because we always desire to be with God (or Amitabha Buddha for Buddhists) to be saved, instinctively and subconsciously aware that we really cannot save ourselves alone. 

For this truth, similar to the Japanese Shin Buiddhist teaching of “Tariki Hongan/他力本願 ” (salvation through the benevolence of Amitabha Buddha), we not only need God (Amitabha Buddha for Buddhists) but also a community – ekklesia for Christians and sangha for Buddhists.  In Christian tradition, ekklesia is where ordinally faithful sinners, willing to convert, are with priests and bishops, who are on God’s commission. Likewise, in Buddhist tradition, sangha is where bompu /凡夫(ordinally people with kleshas/煩悩) are with priests (僧).

As a prototype of the Church, the Ekklesia, John the Baptist was bringing people after people to the Jordan River, baptizing them one after another, to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah through repentance. The baptism by the water in the Jordan River symbolically meant repentance, washing away whatever get in the way of returning to God.  None of these people who repented at that time did it all alone.  They did it through John the Baptist’s ministry.

Of course, this baptism by John the Baptist has evolved into the Sacrament of Baptism, which is the very first Sacrament of Initiation in the Catholic theology. Though still suing water, the Sacrament of Baptism is to baptize a person not simply with water but, most importantly, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (i.e. Matthew 28:19), as John the Baptist said, "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”(Matthew 3:11).   And, there we need priests to facilitate this sacramental act of the Holy Spirit, the Sacrament of Baptism, also as a witness of this sacramental initiation. 

Just as we cannot baptize ourselves by ourselves, in the Catholic theology, all the seven Sacraments  are administered by ordained priests – though baptism can be administered by non-clerical ministers in extraordinally situations, as permitted by the Code of Canon Law.  This our need of another person in our salvation – a person commissioned by God -  is certainly applied to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which is the Sacrament for conversion , metanoia, returning to God from sin, as the Prodigal Son return from his sinful life to his father’s love (Luke 15:11-32).

In order for us to repent and convert ourselves from sin to God, as John the Baptist teaches in the Gospel reading, we must first become enlightened and humbly acknowledge that we are sinners. This acknowledgement is indispensable for a successful conversion and penance.

Some people misunderstand that realizing our own sinfulness is fault-finding. The truth is, it is not.

If your faith is mature enough, you understand that acknowledging our own sins and sinfulness is not about becoming self-critical about what is wrong with ourselves but rather to become enlightened about our own shortcoming and things to improve. And, for this, we humbly come to God and ask for His mercy, because we cannot overcome our sinfulness – our shortcomings without it. If you think that we could all by ourselves, then, you must be narcissistic and far from enlightenment, due to immature faith.

Thinking about our need for enlightenment to our own sinfulness and our own shortcomings as a prerequisite for effective conversion and penance, I want to celebrate the Bodhi Day of Buddhism, remembering how Gautama (Shakamuni) struggled himself with misconception s and misunderstanding about attaining a higher life. For him, this misunderstanding in the past was to live solely strict ascetic life for a higher life.  To put this in the Christian context, Gautama’s “sinfulness” was this misunderstanding and abusing his own body for meaningless asceticism.  But, his enlightenment made him realize how nonsense – how “sinful” to put it in the Christian context – it had been for him to engage in such meaningless activities.  On December 8, Buddhists throughout the world celebrate this enlightenment of their saintly teacher, Gautama (Shakamuni).  In Buddhism, this enlightenment is called Bodhi, considered as a necessary step toward attaining the Buddhahood , which means “awakening”. 

So, for Christians, our “bodhi” or enlightenment is to realize our own sinfulness and shortcomings – things about ourselves to improve, without confusingly becoming self-critical or self-defeating. Such confusion and misunderstanding is just as “sinful” as Gautama (Shakamuni) abusing his own body for a meaningless ascetic practice before attaining his “bodhi”.

Immaculate Conception - Full of Grace

Now, why Mary? 

About 500 years from Gautama’s enlightenment (Bodhi) in Northern India,  Anna , the wife of Joachim, conceived their daughter, Mary, after many years of infertility, through tireless prayers, in Jerusalem.  The Catholic Church celebrate this day, the day Mary was conceived, as  the Immaculate Conception, meaning that Mary was conceived immaculately – without any influence of sin. 

Though both the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church validate the virgin birth of Jesus in their doctrines , the immaculate conception of Mary one of the doctorinal disagreements between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, as the Orthodox Church does not believe that Mary was conceived by Anna immaculately, while the Catholic Church does.

Because Mary is the only immaculate, which means totally free from any stain of sin,  full human being, we, as humans, see her as our model to strive for in our efforts of imitating Christ.  This view on Mary is not shared by Protestant Christians and Orthodox Christians – though Orthodox Christians venerate Mary, while most Protestant Christians do not. 

Though the  Orthodox Christians venerate Mary similar to the Catholics, the Orthodox do not believe the concept of Immaculate Conception. Only the Catholics do.  Protestant denominations, whose sources of theology are solely in the Bible do not believe the Immaculate Conception simply because it is not written in the Bible. 

Full of Grace -  κεχαριτωμένη vs. πλήρης χάριτος

It is true that there nothing written implicitly that Mary was conceived immaculately. But, the Catholic biblical interpretation goes beyond the letters of the Bible and finds biblical authenticity of the Immaculate Conception in Luke 1:28, which says, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you” (NAB), in Angel Gabriel’s greetings to Mary at the time of the annunciation.  By the letters of this biblical phrase, it says nothing about the Immaculate Conception.  But, if we go deeper than English translation, getting into the original Greek text, we can see something missing in an English translation. 

According to Ives Congar, in “The Meaning of Tradition”, as explained by Fr. Tommy Lane, the part, “Hail, favored one!” can be understood as “Hail Mary! Full of grace”, as the original text in Greek is written as written by Luke  is “κεχαριτωμένη”( kecharitomene )to suggest Mary as full of grace. Another use of “full of grace” by Luke is found in Acts 6:8, describing the state of Stephen as “πλήρης χάριτος”.  The Greek text shows that Luke tells that Mary’s “full of grace” was since the beginning of her life, her conception, while Stephen’s “full of grace” was at the time of his martyrdom. 

Congar further offers another set of biblical sources – Exodus 25:16 and 1 Chronicle 15:14 – to show that Mary had been sinless since her conception because she is the new Ark of the Covenant.  1 Chronicle 15:14 tells that those who were entrusted to carry the Ark of the Covenant were free from sin and consecrated. Only ones who are free from sin, in the state of full of grace, could carry it.  According to Exodus 25:16, the Ark of the Covenant contained the word of God – the Commandments of God.  And, as indicated in 1 Chronicle 15:14, the Ark cannot be touched by sin. 

Mary carried Jesus in her womb for 9 months after the annunciation, and Jesus is the word of God in human flesh, as indicated in John 1:1-14, especially v. 14. Thus, Mary the new Ark, which carried Jesus, the word of God in flesh, was carried forth into this world free from sin. This is a very powerful biblical justification of the Catholic theological doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.

So, in December 1854, Pope Pius IX declared the theological doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in “Infabilis Deus”, Apostolic Constitution:

We declare , pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful".

Immaculate Conception and St. Bernadette of Lourdes 

Besides the aforementioned biblical justification of the Immaculate Conception, by Congar, the very convincing fact is that Mary identified herself as Immaculate Conception in her apparition to St. Bernadette of Lourdes, France, in 1858.

Sources of our theology are not limited to the scriptures but includes spiritual traditions and human  experience of encountering the divine. In fact, it was Mary herself, who identified herself as “Immaculate Conception” to St. Bernadette of Lourdes, France, in 1858. When Bernadette Soubirous was 14, a beautiful lady appeared to her in bright light. 

Everyone who found out about Bernadette’s experience doubted and some even punished her as they thought she was lying. Being doubtful about Bernadette’s experience of seeing a beautiful lady in a bright light, her priest asked her what the lady’s name was. So, Bernadette asked her what her name is, when she saw her again. And, the lady said, “Que soy era Immaculada Conceptiou”, meaning, “I am the Immaculate Conception”.  When she told the priest that the lady sad she is the Immaculate Conception,  the priest was in shock, asking her if she understand the meaning of “Immaculate Conception”. 

Coming from a poor family with no formal education, Bernadette at that time could not read and write. Of course, she did not understand the meaning of what she heard from the lady. She did not even know that the lady she saw was really the Blessed Virgin Mary, though the priest had suspected.

To Bernadette, whether she really understood who the lady was does not seem to matter, as much as it does to the priest. She simply followed what the lady in apparition told her.  And, she told Bernadette to dig a hole for water.  Though no water was appearing in spite of her digging, she faithfully kept digging – even though people who had though a miracle would happen because of the lady must be the Blessed Virgin. And, the water finally flew. The water has become known as healing water, as many sick people have found to be healed by the water springing from where Bernadette dug as instructed by the “Immacuate Conception lady” in apparition – though it is not considered as holy water by the Church.  

In fact, when Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., was a still medical student at the Universidad de Madrid, he came to Lourdes to investigate healing effects of the water, along with his atheist professor.  Perhaps, young medical student Perdo Arrrupe was somewhat skeptical about the water. But, once he witnessed people were actually being healed, as in an image of Isaiah 35:5-7, young medical student Pedro decided to become a priest and joined the Jesuits, impressed by the divine healing power as he himself witnessed. 

So, the Immaculate Conception is also associated with the healing water of Lourdes, which prompted young medical student, Pedro Arrupe, to become Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. 

Water of Lourdes for Restoration and  Divine Restoration with the Coming of the Messiah at Hand

Though sin and sickness not necessarily in a cause-and-effect relation in the Christian theology, there is a parallel between reconciliation through penance and healing from illness.   Theologically,  reconciliation through penance and removal of sins (absolution) is an attempt to restore the original harmonious relationship between God and the humans, as it was before the Original Sin. Likewise, healing from sickness is a process to restore health.  So, whether reconciliation or healing, the bottom line is restoration. 

What St. John the Baptist was preaching shortly before the arrival of Jesus on the bank of the Jordan River, almost 2,000 years ago, was to promote the restoration of our damaged relationship with God by repenting and removing sins.  And, the water of the Jordan was used symbolically to wash away our sins. 

The water that came out in Lourdes, through St. Bernadette’s faithful commitment to the Immaculate Conception’s instruction, has been washing away whatever inflicting suffering. It has been a life-restoring water. 

To me, the water of Lourdes that Immaculate Mary helped St. Bernadette find is to open our spiritual eyes from the darkness of a sinful life style to the light of God’s vision, which is a beautiful restoration of what has been lost ever since the Original Sin. And, the coming of the Messiah will bring this restoration of the Paradise, as symbolically prophesized in Isaiah 35:1-10 and Ezekiel 47: 1-12, and also envisioned in Revelation 22:1-4. 

Moving from the Second Week of Advent into the Third Sunday of Advent, which is Gaudete Sunday,  our anticipation of the Messiah’s coming – the coming of the Kingdom, the Paradise, becomes more intensified. Our anxiety and hope become heightened as we come to realize that the coming of the Messiah is at hand (James 5:8). 

As we are reminded of the nearness of the Messiah’s coming on the Gaudete Sunday to rejoice, let us make sure that we experience our Bodhi, spiritual enlightenment to the truth, so that we can effectively remove our sins in our penance, which is an emphasis on the Second Sunday of Advent. This is to restore our relationship with God, which has been damaged by our sins. 

For the Catholics, one important truth to be enlightened to is the truth of the Immaculate Conception.  Mary’s state full of grace (πλήρης χάριτος) ever since her conception is a worthy truth that we open our eyes to because, as Ives Congar noted, Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant, carrying the new word of God, who has become the human flesh, in her immaculate being.  Experiencing our bodhi – enlightenment to this truth shall liberate us from unnecessary anxieties about salvation because this awareness makes it clear that our efforts of penance are worth our struggles because we desire to attain the state full of grace (πλήρης χάριτος) , which can be symbolized with the washed lobe, as envisioned in Revelation 22:14 – though we, the sinners, did not start our life with immaculate conception. 

As the rejoicing tone of this Gaudete Sunday reminds us, the Messiah is near, and the Kingdom (Paradise) is at hand.  This sense of nearness certainly arouses joy. But, we cannot just get “intoxicated” in this joy as the nearness of the Lord’s coming also means that we may not have much time to complete our purification before the judgement.  That is why John the Baptist’s message for penance must be heeded and followed as we first become bodhi  (being enlightened) in light of God’s commandments, as prophesized by prophets in the Old Testament, as preached by John the Baptist, and as taught by Jesus.

Let us become bodhi  (being enlightened) to the truth of God, the teaching of the prophets, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Church, so that we can make a better turn from sin to God, practicing conversion as our metanoia (changing our hearts for repentance) , washing our sins away, in order to attain full of grace (πλήρης χάριτος) inspired by the Immaculate Conception, by keeping our hopeful and joyful vision of restoration in the Kingdom (Paradise).