Sunday, November 27, 2011

First Sunday of Advent, cycle B

MARK 13:33-37
     RECENTLY WE HAD TOM MONAGHAN AS A SPEAKER AT OUR SAINT JOSEPH SOCIETY BREAKFAST. AS THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE THERE KNOW, HE FOUNDED THE DOMINO'S PIZZA CHAIN, OWNED THE DETROIT TIGERS BASEBALL TEAM FOR A WHILE, FOUNDED THE AVE MARIA SCHOOL OF LAW, FOUNDED THE LEGATUS SOCIETY FOR CATHOLIC BUSINESSMEN, AND HIS MOST RECENT PROJECT IS THE CREATION OF THE AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY IN FLORIDA, TOGETHER WITH A PLANNED COMMUNITY AROUND IT. IT IMPRESSED ME THAT WHEN HE WAS IN HIS EARLY TWENTY'S, HE SET HIMSELF FIVE GOALS. THE FIFTH WAS FINANCIAL; HE WANTED TO MAKE MONEY BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT THAT GAVE HIM FREEDOM TO ACHIEVE HIS DREAMS. THE FOURTH WAS PHYSICAL FITNESS; HE WANTED TO BE AS HEALTHY AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT YOU CAN'T DO MUCH IF YOU ARE SICK; THE THIRD WAS MENTAL DEVELOPMENT; HE WANTED TO USE THE MIND GOD HAD GIVEN HIM TO THE FULLEST, WHICH MEANT READING AND STUDYING; THE SECOND WAS THAT HE WANTED TO BE A GOOD PERSON – TO PRACTICE THE GOLDEN RULE, TO BE A CONSCIENTIOUS HUSBAND AND FATHER AND EMPLOYER AND FRIEND. MR. MONAGHAN KNEW THAT SETTING THESE GOALS WAS NOT ENOUGH; YOU HAVE TO PULL THEM OUT ONCE IN A WHILE AND SEE WHETHER YOU ARE GETTING THERE. IN HIS BIOGRAPHY, HE DESCRIBES THIS PROCESS – NEVER EASY! BUT HE'S NOW 74 YEARS OLD, DOES ABOUT 200 PUSH-UPS AND A SIX MILE RUN FOUR DAYS A WEEK; IS ALWAYS WORKING HIS WAY THROUGH SOME BOOK OR ANOTHER; AND OF COURSE HE'S SUCCESSFUL, AND HE'S GIVING BACK TO THE WORLD MORE THAN HE'S TAKEN OUT OF IT, I GUESS. AND HE IS THE FIRST TO ADMIT THAT HE HASN'T ACHIEVED ALL HIS GOALS; SOME HE'S GOTTEN CLOSER TO THAN OTHERS.
      IF YOU'VE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION, YOU MAY NOTICE THAT I DIDN'T GET TO THE FIRST GOAL. MR. MONAGHAN MAKES NO SECRET OF THAT, EITHER IN HIS BIOGRAPHY OR IN HIS REMARKS TO US AT THE ST JOSEPH SOCIETY BREAKFAST. GOAL NUMBER ONE IS TO GET TO HEAVEN. TODAY JESUS REMINDS US THAT TIME IS RUNNING OUT. WILL YOU BE HERE TOMORROW? WILL I? WHEN YOU HEAR THE NEWS, MOST OF IT BAD; WHEN YOU READ THAT GLOBAL WARMING IS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT AND THAT OUR FINANCIAL SITUATION AS A COUNTRY IS PRACTICALLY UNFIXABLE; WHEN YOU READ THAT THE MUSLIM WORLD IS FALLING APART AND BREEDING EVEN MORE TERRORISTS, OR THAT THE COUNTRY OF CHINA HOLDS THE SECOND LARGEST AMOUNT OF OUR DEBT – AND YOU REALLY THINK ABOUT IT, IT ISN'T JUST THAT OUR LIVES ARE FRAGILE, OUR WAY OF LIFE IS FRAGILE AS WELL. AS WE ALL LEARNED A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, THINGS CAN CHANGE IN A HEARTBEAT, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN WE DON'T HAVE HOT WATER OR LIGHT OR HEAT, AND IN OUR CASE, NO PHONES.
     SO JESUS, AT THE BEGINNING OF ADVENT, WARNS US TO BE PREPARED. I THINK ATTENTION TO TOM MONAGHAN'S FIVE GOALS IS A REALLY GOOD WAY TO FOLLOW JESUS' ADVICE, ESPECIALLY GOAL NUMBER 1. MR. MONAGHAN ASKED US IF WE KNEW WHAT WE NEEDED TO DO TO GET TO HEAVEN. WE MUMBLED A FEW ANSWERS, MOST OF WHICH HAD TO DO WITH BEING A GOOD PERSON. BUT HE POINTED OUT TO US THAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS A VERY SPECIFIC ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION, AND IT ISN'T BEING A GOOD PERSON, OR GOING TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY, OR TAKING CARE OF THE SICK AND THE POOR. THE CHURCH TELLS US THAT TO GET INTO HEAVEN YOU HAVE TO DIE IN THE STATE OF SANCTIFYING GRACE. HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN THAT STATE?
     MARTIN LUTHER SEPARATED HIMSELF FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, AND MOST OF THE TIME HE PROBABLY BELIEVED HE WAS DOING THE RIGHT THING. BUT IN THE LATER PART OF HIS LIFE, HE WOULD CALL SOME OF HIS SUBORDINATES IN TO SPEAK TO HIM AND ASSURE HIM THAT HE WAS GOING TO HEAVEN. EVEN IN HIS OLD AGE, DOUBTS AROSE, AND COMFORTING WORDS NEEDED TO BE SAID TO REMOVE THE DOUBT, FOR A WHILE.
     AND AMONG THE FOLLOWERS OF CALVIN, THE DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION WAS ELABORATED. THIS MEANT THAT EVERYONE DESERVED TO GO TO HELL, BUT GOD, FOR REASONS WHICH ONLY GOD KNOWS, DECIDED TO SAVE SOME. AND YOU AND I CAN'T DO A THING ABOUT IT. THAT MAY SOUND VERY HARSH TO OUR EARS, BUT IT IS QUITE LIBERATING AS WELL, BECAUSE IT BASICALLY SAYS THAT WE CAN'T DO A THING ABOUT OUR FUTURE EXISTENCE. BUT IT BECAME WIDELY BELIEVED THAT IF GOD SMILED ON YOU IN THE NEXT LIFE, HE DID SO IN THIS LIFE AS WELL, AND THE MORE PROSPEROUS YOU WERE, THE MORE LIKELY YOU WERE DESTINED FOR HEAVEN.
     BUT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS ALWAYS HELD THAT NOT ONLY CAN WE BE ASSURED OF OUR ETERNAL DESTINY – WE NEED TO BE IN THE STATE OF SANCTIFYING GRACE – BUT WE CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. ALL WE NEED TO DO IS MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION TO A PRIEST AND RECEIVE ABSOLUTION, AND WE ARE IN THE STATE OF GRACE, AT LEAST TILL THE NEXT TIME WE COMMIT A SERIOUS SIN. SOUNDS SIMPLE, DOESN'T IT? OF COURSE IT'S NOT THAT SIMPLE. WHEN WE SIN, IT'S LIKE CATCHING A VIRUS THAT WORKS ON OUR MINDS AND PERSUADES US THAT WE DON'T NEED TO GO TO CONFESSION. AFTER ALL, DOESN'T GOD FORGIVE US PRIVATELY IF WE ASK? AFTER ALL, CAN A PRIEST, WHO IS A SINNER HIMSELF, REALLY STAND IN FOR JESUS? AFTER ALL, MY MOST SERIOUS UNCONFESSED SINS HAPPENED A LONG TIME AGO, AND AREN'T REALLY IMPORTANT ANYMORE. ALL THESE EXCUSES POP UP BECAUSE OF THE INFECTION OF SIN; THE ONLY ANTIBIOTIC IS THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE.
     BUT TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION ISN'T SOME KIND OF MAGICAL RITE; IT ISN'T ENOUGH TO JUST GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS; WE REALLY HAVE TO KNOW OUR SINS, WE REALLY HAVE TO REGRET HAVING COMMITTED THEM, AND WE REALLY HAVE TO LEAVE THAT CONFESSIONAL WITH THE INTENTION OF AVOIDING THOSE SINS AND EVEN THE OCCASIONS OF THOSE SINS IN THE FUTURE, AS FAR AS WE ARE ABLE. OUR CONFESSOR IS OBJECTIVE, AND CAN HELP US WITH THIS. THAT'S WHY HE'S THERE, BECAUSE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT JESUS DID WHEN HE FORGAVE SINNERS. AS HE TOLD THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY, “GO AND DO THIS SIN NO MORE.” MAKING A GOOD CONFESSION IS NOT A MOMENTARY EVENT, IT STRETCHES OUT FROM ONE CONFESSION TO THE NEXT, AND EACH TIME WE RECEIVE GOD'S HELP TO CHIP AWAY AT OUR STONY HEARTS UNTIL THEY BEGIN TO RESEMBLE THE HEART OF JESUS.
     ARE YOU READY? DO THE WORDS OF JESUS TODAY MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU AND I? F THEY DO, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE YOUR NEXT CONFESSION? TIME IS RUNNING OUT, AND A TIME WILL COME WHEN THERE WON'T BE ANOTHER CHANCE. IF YOU DIE IN THE STATE OF GRACE, YOU WILL GO TO HEAVEN. IF YOU DON'T, YOU WON'T.