Photo Credit: HuffPost
In a few very short days, we will celebrate Christmas. Our readings and our liturgical practices have provided meaningful reflection for our personal, spiritual preparation for the festivities. One of the prophets the Church uses frequently in Advent is Isaiah who reminds us to give “comfort to my people,” and to remember, “I have called you by name; you are mine.” (43:1) Another phrase referred to often during Advent is: “Repairer of the breach, restorer of ruined homesteads,” indicating that the role the Messiah will play when he comes is to restore all that is broken in the lives of the poor and oppressed.
The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; ‘Repairer of the breach, they shall call you ‘Restorer of ruined homesteads.’ (Is. 58: 12)
But I see another reason for the appropriateness of this quote at this time.
In 1984, I had the opportunity of being in Paris during Holy Week and experiencing the Easter Vigil Mass in Notre Dame Cathedral. Like many citizens of the world, I was pained when the great cathedral fell substantially to flames in April 2019. Last week, however, the Government of France invited many dignitaries from across the world to celebrate the renovated cathedral just five years after the devastation. Most of the restoration is complete except for the rear outside parts which will be completed in a few more years. It is the history and literature and faith of the French nation, but it is beloved and revered by all other faiths and nations.
Construction began in 1163 and lasted more than 180 years. It was disfigured during the French Revolution but restored by Napoleon in 1804. It hosted a special Mass in 1944 to celebrate France’s liberation from the Nazis. It remains free to the public and attracts about 14 million visitors annually.
Restoration called for 1,000 oak trees donated from public and private forests, 45,000 cubic feet of stone from quarries to rebuild vaults, gables, new sculptures, 1,000 crafts workers and architects, and workshops around the country to provide artists and carpenters, 250 businesses – some well known, some just local people with talent and passion for the work. There were carpenters who hand-hewed beams using 60 long handled axes and broadaxes that were forged manually in the Alsace region. One group of ten ax-makers slept and ate at the home of one of the forge owners while they worked welding steel and puddled iron together at roughly 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Every description I have read about the restoration highlights the passion, work ethic, skill, and love for the work the craftspeople exhibited these past five years. Surely, there will be books written on the process.
It seems to me these good people were repairing the breach: the wound, the hurt, the destruction of their prized icon of faith and art. Some put their careers on hold; some took losses at their shops and businesses just to join in the work of restoration. Last week, at the Grand Re-Dedication, all the workers sang as a choir for the Mass. Some brought a tool; some sang with hardhats on. They laid their gifts down in praise of the Messiah. They had restored the breach.
Reflection
Where are the breaches in your life? Is there a separation between you and a loved one? Could you use the graces of Advent to repair that breach, even if you are rebuffed in the effort? The definition of a breach is a hole or opening that separates from what held it together like a wall, or levy, or hillside. A breach is never good. It widens, it floods the area, it weakens the structure that held it. In the human heart, it hurts. And it weakens.
Within a community of faith, a parish or a congregation, a missing person is like the one missing in a family. It creates a hole. A breach. Even if others do not know you are missing, you know it. You don’t allow your presence to add to the worship; you don’t allow God to restore your personal breach and add joy and comfort to your life, let alone the congregation.
The birth of Christ has one purpose: To repair the breaches. To help the brokenhearted. To depose the powerful. And to do this, Jesus, the Savior, needs us. We are to be the repairer of breaches, the restorer of faith, joy, and wholeness. For these few remaining days of Advent, why don’t we reflect on how we might personally repair the breaches in our own lives? If we start there, we will be doing something for the world that can bring about peace for others and ourselves. Read and meditate on Isaiah in the Hebrew Scriptures and take seriously the beautiful encouragement God extends to the poor and those who help them. May we all be part of that generous giving.
I wish each of you my readers and Anonymous Angels a very Merry Christmas and a promising, blessed and Happy New Year!
In All Things Charity 
Mary Ann, I loved your reflection on the “repairer of the breach.” I get chills every time I read or see programs about the restoration of this magnificent cathedral. I especially liked your words that this restoration “highlights the passion, work ethic, skill, and love” the craftspeople exhibited throughout the process. My prayer for all of us is this: May we, the disciples of that babe in the feeding trough, exhibit these same qualities in our daily living of the Gospel.” Thank you for your weekly blog. I love it! Melannie
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Thank you Melanie. Yes, the people who worked on ti were ordinary people but craftsman extraordinaire–their work was a prayer, I believe. And the people of France can give us a masterpiece of architecture and faith for all people to appreciate.
Thanks for reading the blog, too. You are my fellow blogger!! I never miss yours…It always inspires me. MAF
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like St. Francis of Assisi, I think God calls us to repair the breach in the people not buildings. Where were the poor, the needy, the immigrants at the Mass celebrating the rebuilt church? Was an equal amount of money given to those in need?
I went to Mass at Notre Dame when we visited Paris. There were at most 20 people in attendance. But there were hundreds of tourists walking around. So, for whom was it rebuilt?
I don’t doubt the passion of those doing the rebuilding. It is a marvelous structure and I’m sure they were well compensated. Hopefully, they will now be part of the community it’s worshipping there.
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Thank you Pat. I didn’t tell the story that while I was attending the Easter Vigil Mass some 40 years ago, the cathedral was packed and next to me was an obviously poor, elderly couple. I don’t think she could read-either because of eyesight failure or illiteracy, but he would slide his finger under the words being prayed in the booklet he shared with her. She was watching as his finger went along and he voiced the words so she could pray. It was a moment I will never forget. I do not know how they got to the cathedral because they were very poorly dressed and probably unable to get public transportation. When I looked around me there were many other similar people, poor and yet mixing with others to celebrate.
I do think the staff at the cathedral make every effort to invite the poor and make arrangements to accommodate them. Over the centuries, even the poor were proudly boasting of this cathedral. Yes, still much must be done to show that Notre Dame, Our Lady, is the mother of all of us…Happy new year, my friend. MAF
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