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Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary-
Homilies |
"Stay
Awake"
Homily for the 1st
Sunday of Advent
Fr. Jonathan L. Reardon
28 November 2010
Year A
Some people may find this hard to believe but I can be a bit
particular about things. For instance, in my closet I have all
my clothes lined up in such a way that they in a certain order
and my shoes are lined up in a similar fashion. I will
frequently fiddle with the sheets on my bed so that when it’s
made everything lines up all the way around. My family always
makes fun of me and constantly reminds me that there is
medication for these types of issues! One might find interesting
to know then, that when it comes to cooking – and yes I love to
cook – that I am not so methodical. I have my recipes; they
serve as the basic information needed for the perfect dish. But
I often will simply look at the recipe, see what I need to make
a delicious meal and then I proceed. I make sure that I have all
the ingredients I need and prepare them accordingly. But, in the
process of cooking I will often add something to give it that
extra flavor. Yet, the recipe still remains very important – if
I don’t follow the essential directives then I will not get the
outcome that I desire. Thus, if I want to make something that
tastes good, I have to follow the rules.
A similar logic could be applied to the Advent Season. The word
‘advent’ comes from the Latin ‘adventum’ which means: ‘to come
to’ or ‘to draw toward.’ This season is not unlike the Season of
Lent where we prepare ourselves for an upcoming feast with
fasting, prayer and reconciliation. These three directives of
Advent provide us with the basic ingredients of the season. They
are designed to help us draw near to Christ during this short
four-week period.
In order to ring in this new liturgical year and to kickoff the
Season of Advent, the first thing we hear from Our Lord is a
stern warning. “Stay awake!” Be prepared, he warns. The
impervious people in the days of Noah were unprepared for the
flood. They were too distracted by their “eating and drinking” –
too caught up in themselves – that they missed the divine
happenings that were going on right in their midst. The day of
the Lord came upon them like a thief in the night. This question
of when the Messiah will come has pervaded Jewish literature for
centuries. They were obsessed with His coming. Even in the Book
of Daniel we find actual calculations that seemingly predict the
coming of the Messiah. Jesus appeals to this infatuation in the
Gospel but does not give them any indication as to when He is
coming – He doesn’t have to because He is already in their
midst. They too were so caught up in themselves they missed the
fact the Messiah was walking among them. The point He was trying
to make is that since the day and hour are unknown; preparation
is key.
Like the Jewish people in the time of Christ, we too do not know
the day nor the hour when the Messiah will come again in His
glorious return at the end of time. Nor are we aware of when He
will call us home to heaven. Our preparation for this day is
also strictly important. On the other hand, in the Advent Season
we prepare ourselves for yet another coming of Christ – the
coming of the Messiah in our own hearts. At Christmas we do not
simply celebrate the birth of Christ in time but also His
rebirth in our hearts. Drawing nearer to Christ during the
Advent Season consists in paying closer attention to how we can
grow deeper in our faith in Him. It is a time for us to
relinquish the selfish “I” and focus on the living image of
Christ found in each and every one of us. It is easy to get
caught up in the consumer driven society that is concerned
mostly with buying gifts, throwing parties, and cooking meals
that could make Thanksgiving Day look like a bag lunch! If we
focus too much on these things and our ourselves and pay no
attention to the recipe of Advent, then we too could miss the
divine happenings that are going on around us. Yet, we will
remain steady if we are attentive to the ingredients – personal
prayer, fasting, making a good confession. They help us to avoid
lukewarmness and the dwindling desire for sanctity. We will
constantly be awake if we do not let little acts of penance slip
through the cracks. We will remain attentive by making a
thorough examination of conscience, which reveals to us the
areas of our lives that have become a hindrance from growing
closer to Christ.
In his Encyclical Letter Spe Salvi (Saved in Hope), Pope
Benedict wrote: “Human life is a journey. Towards what
destination? How do we find the way? Life is like a voyage on
the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we
watch for the stars that indicate the route. The true stars of
our life are the people who have lived good lives. They are
lights of hope. Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light, the
sun that has risen above all the shadows of history” (Spe Salvi,
#49).
Christ is our light and His light radiates from the cave in
Bethlehem. The journey of Advent consists in keeping our eyes
fixed on this light and drawing closer and closer to it.
As we embark upon this journey of Advent, perhaps we could ask
ourselves the following questions: what do we want to get out of
this season? What is the outcome that we desire? What will we
add to these ingredients so that we can truly draw nearer to
Christ? As the opening prayer of the Mass suggests, so we make
it our own prayer throughout the Advent Season: All-Powerful
God, increase our strength of will for doing good that Christ
may find an eager welcome at His coming and call us to His side
in the Kingdom of Heaven, where He lives and reigns with You and
the Holy Spirit, one God forever and forever, Amen.
Rev. Jonathan L. Reardon
is a priest for the diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts.
He serves at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in West Springfield,
MA
