Sunday, November 29, 2015

First Sunday of Advent, cycle C

LUKE 21:25-28, 34-36
JESUS TELLS HIS DISCIPLES, “BEWARE THAT YOUR HEARTS DO NOT BECOME DROWSY FROM CAROUSING AND DRUNKENNESS AND THE ANXIETIES OF DAILY LIFE, AND THAT THAT DAY CATCH YOU BY SURPRISE LIKE A TRAP. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT ADVENT IS ALL ABOUT. NOW IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU PROBABLY DON'T HAVE TOO MUCH TO WORRY ABOUT WITH CAROUSING OR DRUNKENNESS, BUT THE ANXIETIES OF DAILY LIFE ARE ANOTHER MATTER. YOU KNOW THE FEELING; YOU GET UP IN THE MORNING WITH A PLAN, BUT BEFORE TEN O'CLOCK YOUR PLAN IS ON THE SHELF WHILE YOU COPE WITH THIS OR THAT INTERRUPTION; AND BY THE TIME THE DAY IS OVER, YOU HAVEN'T REALLY DONE WHAT YOU SET OUT TO DO. SOME PEOPLE ARE PERHAPS MORE ORGANIZED OR MORE SINGLE-MINDED AND GET DONE WHAT THEY PLANNED TO DO; BUT EVEN THAT CAN BE A PROBLEM, BECAUSE THEN EACH DAY IS JUST A SERIES OF TASKS, TASKS THAT NEVER SEEM TO HAVE AN END. AND A YEAR GOES BY, AND ALL WE HAVE TO SHOW FOR IT IS THAT WE ARE OLDER. ALL THE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS, THE LOSING WEIGHT, THE STARTING AN EXERCISE PROGRAM, THE PLAN TO SAVE A LITTLE MORE MONEY AGAINST RETIREMENT – IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. AND THE OLDER YOU GET, THE HARDER IT IS TO CHANGE YOUR HABITS.
ADVENT IS PLACED RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH YEAR. IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A TIME WHEN WE ANTICIPATE, WHEN WE LOOK FORWARD TO THAT SINGULAR EVENT WHICH CHANGED ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY. CHRISTMAS CELEBRATES JESUS' BIRTH OF COURSE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT CELEBRATES THE INCARNATION, THE FACT THAT GOD BECAME A HUMAN BEING SO THAT HE COULD SHARE HIS DIVINITY WITH US. SO HOW DO WE CELEBRATE ADVENT?
WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, SOME PEOPLE CALLED ADVENT “LITTLE LENT” AND THAT'S WHAT WE DID – GAVE UP CANDY, USUALLY, JUST LIKE WE DID IN LENT. IT DIDN'T HELP THAT THE PRIEST WORE PURPLE VESTMENTS IN BOTH SEASONS. BUT LENT IS INDEED A TIME OF PENANCE, OF REPENTANCE, OF EXAMINING OUR LIVES AND CONFRONTING OUR SINS. ADVENT IS A TIME WHEN WE “STAND ERECT AND RAISE OUR HEADS BECAUSE OUR REDEMPTION IS AT HAND”.
SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO PICK SOMETHING TO DO EVERY DAY TO REMIND OURSELVES WHAT SEASON WE ARE IN AND THAT WE ARE WAITING FOR GOD TO COME INTO OUR LIVES IN A NEW WAY. AND THE BEST THING TO DO IS TO ADOPT A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE THAT IS DONE EVERY DAY. THIS WILL SERVE TO REMIND YOU OF THE ATTITUDE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE – AN ATTITUDE OF WATCHFULNESS, OF ANTICIPATION, OF BEING PREPARED.
HERE ARE SOME IDEAS: READ THE GOSPEL OF LUKE. IF YOU READ A CHAPTER A DAY THERE ARE 24 CHAPTERS. OF COURSE THE LONGEST ADVENT WOULD CONSIST OF 27 DAYS, BUT IF THERE ARE EXTRA DAYS, YOU WILL PROBABLY NEED TO CATCH UP ON CHRISTMAS SHOPPING OR SOMETHING – OR GO BACK AND READ THE STORY OF THE ANNUNCIATION AND BIRTH OF THE LORD OVER AGAIN.
ANOTHER IDEA: FIND A GOOD BOOK THAT YOU CAN READ A BIT AT A TIME – A BOOK FOR SPIRITUAL READING. DIG OUT THAT BOOK THE PARISH GAVE YOU LAST YEAR THAT YOU MAY NOT HAVE OPENED YET, OR IF YOU'VE READ IT, IT MIGHT BE WORTH READING AGAIN; JUST REMEMBER TO READ A LITTLE AT A TIME, JUST SO YOU READ SOME EVERY DAY.
YOU MIGHT THINK ABOUT THE ROSARY. WE DON'T APPRECIATE THE ROSARY. LOTS OF CATHOLICS ARE ATTRACTED TO MEDITATION, SOMETIMES TO YOGA; BUT THE ROSARY IS A UNIQUELY CATHOLIC EXERCISE. THE TWENTY MYSTERIES WALK US THROUGH THE LIFE OF MARY, JESUS AND THE EARLY CHURCH – THAT IS THE KERYGMA, THE SUBSTANCE OF WHICH HAS BEEN PREACHED FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS OF THE CHURCH. ITS THE SAME THING PAUL WAS TALKING ABOUT, WHEN HE SAID, “AS FOR ME I PREACH CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED.” AS YOU SAY THE HAIL MARY, THE PRAYER STRAIGHT FROM THE BIBLE, CONSISTING OF THE ANGEL'S GREETING TO MARY AND ELIZABETH'S GREETING TO MARY HER COUSIN, AS WELL AS A REMINDER THAT MARY IS INDEED THE MOTHER OF GOD, A TRUTH ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE EARLY CHURCH AGAINST MUCH CONTROVERSY, YOU HOLD THE IMAGE OF THE MYSTERY IN YOUR MIND'S EYE. QUIET YOUR HEART AND LISTEN AND SOMETIMES THE LORD WILL SPEAK. AND IF YOU CAN'T BRING YOURSELF TO DO A WHOLE ROSARY EVERY DAY, TAKING TWELVE TO FIFTEEN MINUTES, THEN DO A MYSTERY AND A DECADE – BUT DO WHATEVER YOU DO EVERY DAY.
DAILY MASS WOULD BE A GREAT EXERCISE. WE ARE SO LUCKY AT SAINT MARY'S. WE HAVE CHOICES. THERE ARE PLACES WERE YOU CAN'T GET TO DAILY MASS; THE PARISH MIGHT HAVE MASS ONLY TWO OR THREE WEEKDAYS. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PARTICIPATING IN THE SUM AND SUMMIT OF CHRISTIAN LIFE MORE OFTEN THAN JUST ON SUNDAYS.
FINALLY, THINK ABOUT ADORATION. THINK ABOUT JOINING YOUR FELLOW PARISHIONERS BY BEING PRESENT WHEN THE SACRED HOST IS FORMALLY HONORED ON TUESDAYS. GIVE THE LORD AN HOUR OF YOUR TIME ONCE A WEEK. AND IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU DO; IF YOU ARE PRESENT TO HIM, THAT'S A GREAT BEGINNING. LET HIM SEND HIS HEALING GRACE TO YOU.

SOME OF YOU ALREADY DO SOME OR ALL OF THESE THINGS. OTHERS DON'T DO ANY. BUT THE POINT IS TO ADD SOMETHING TO YOUR DAY DURING ADVENT SO THAT YOU CAN ENTER INTO THE ANTICIPATION TO WHICH THE CHURCH CALLS HER CHILDREN. AND ASK THE LORD FOR THE STRENGTH TO ESCAPE THE TRIBULATIONS THAT ARE IMMINENT AND STAND BEFORE THE SON OF MAN.