Happy New Year! Today - the Church begins a new liturgical year… and we enter into Advent Season, a time of waiting, longing and hoping…
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to be alert, to be watchful; to stay awake, so to speak.
During these weeks of Advent – we are called to spend more time taking account of our lives, examining our conscience….
In this homily, I will ask several questions and I encourage you to continue reflecting on them during Advent and even beyond Advent… and what they mean to you.
So - what kind of a year have you had? Take a look back at the last 12 months... What stands out in your experiences?
What is Jesus most wanting you to notice about the year that has gone? Is there something Jesus wants you to ‘wake up’ to? Or wake up from?
Jesus does not want us to sleepwalk, so to speak, through our lives. He wants us to be attentive to - what is going on - around us and more importantly – within us.
The late Father Anthony DeMello, a Jesuit priest said: Most people, even though they do not know it, are asleep. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they raise children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up – Meaning - People live and die never understanding, the reality, the loveliness and the beauty of living… what life is.
Meaning - They live and die without really truly loving, without tasting deeply the real joy of living because they are so pre-occupied, so consumed by the busyness and pressures of ordinary life, consumed with eating and drinking, buying and selling… going after worldly concerns and pleasures.
So, people need to wake up, to open their eyes, to see what is real, both inside and outside of themselves…
Being alert, to be awake, to be vigilant in the biblical sense is not a matter of living in fear of the end of the world or fear of death. Rather it is a question of having love and reconciliation as our chief concerns, being grateful at all times, appreciating, affirming, forgiving, apologizing, and being more mindful of the joys of living in human community and being aware that we live within the sure embrace of our loving God.
So - What would you like to say to God about the year that has passed? …
We have another new beginning. Over the next 12 months, what do you need to be more awake to? What do you need - to do more of, - or less of?
What is it that you think about the most each day? To what are you most attentive and watchful?
The Church has designated these weeks of Advent to remind us that our entire lives must be an ongoing watching for ways and opportunities that we can grow more spiritual, and less worldly, less materialistic - for us to grow closer to God… so that God will be our daily guide and focus in all things.
We are called to spend more time in prayer and sacrifice and to confess our sins to prepare for Christmas just like during Lent to prepare for Easter.
The question is: Are you a better person – better yet – are you a better Christian now than you were a year ago?
The season of Advent is not just to prepare for Christmas Day to celebrate the birth of Christ – His first coming… AND when we speak of the second coming of Christ – it does not necessarily mean only the end of human history, it could also mean for us the end of our own individual lives – our own personal death;
Reality check - we are all going to die someday – sooner or later. We are just passing through. Our true home is in heaven. It’s a great time to ask some tough questions. Questions like, “Am I ready to die anytime?” and “Where will I go when my life is over?”
We need to be awake spiritually. The end of the world should NOT concern us, nor should we worry excessively about when we will die. What we should worry about is in what state our dying will find us.
the coming of Christ in our lives could also mean - His becoming present - in our daily lives… Emmanuel meaning “God is with us”.
We say - “we wait for Jesus’ final coming to judge the living and the dead”. We speak of “Christ’s coming into our daily lives” – but, if you really think about it, actually - it is Christ who is always present and always waiting for us to open our hearts and for us to let Him come into our lives… every day.
As Christians, we believe that without Christ in our lives, our lives become a chaos, a mess. Without the Lord - away from God’s path, away from God’s ways – we are like the people mentioned in the first reading from Isaiah…they wandered aimlessly. They got themselves into all sorts of trouble…because possessions, selfishness, arrogance, worldly concerns and pride all dominated their lives and destroyed them.
Throughout Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament – one thing is clear – that people - if left to their own devices – if left to exercise their free choice - people can easily become self-destructive. This applies to all people of all ages, including us… Our society is no different… which is becoming more and more atheistic.
In our society – people are demanding their rights to do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do…without regard to other people’s rights. People say: “my choice, my body, my life, my family, my marriage, my home, my way”. As the great St. Pope John Paul II warned: Freedom must be guided by moral truth. Freedom must be grounded on moral law which is grounded on Divine Law because freedom outside of moral law leads to self-destruction.
We need the Lord in our lives to guide us... Jesus said: “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” We need God to be in our lives… Otherwise – we wander from God’s ways…therefore, we will make a mess of our lives… and we lose our capacity to love which is the very purpose of our lives because we were created in the image of God who is Love.
But - with the Lord, even in the midst of our most difficult struggles in life – and a lot of people are struggling nowadays – but with the Lord - we find peace and hope and joy and continue to grow in love… regardless of the circumstance we might find ourselves in.
advent calls us to realize and acknowledge how much we need a Savior…
… to realize we cannot make it on our own. We need Jesus to save us.
The name Jesus in Hebrew means: “God saves”… We need Jesus in our lives.
And so - We long for His presence in our lives. That is Advent.
Jesus calls us to stay awake and to be alert. And so - Jesus is waking us up - so we do not miss out on the real depth and joy of life - that is happening all around us. Jesus said: “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full…” (John 10:10) - meaning – for us to have fullness of life! – lasting joy, peace and happiness which the world cannot give.
Jesus calls us not just to “get through” life; but to plunge into life…. Not just to “get over” failures; but to learn from our failures… Not just to endure challenges; but to face and embrace them… because if we do – our lives will be much richer and that is the paradox. This is the active waiting Jesus calls us - to prevent us - from aimless wandering and to prevent us from having meaningless lives.
Whatever this coming year will bring us, all will be well, all will be wonderful, exciting, beautiful and full of love, as long as our hope is in the Lord.
AND - If our hope is in the Lord, we will be ready when He comes however and whenever that might be.
God bless…
