Advent

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First Sunday of Advent, Cycle C 11/29/09
Deacon Greg Sams

Since today is the first day of our new liturgical year, the year of Luke, we would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Just like any other new year’s day, we enter with a spirit of hope and expectations. We look forward to making our world a better place, our lives to be enriched, to changing the things in our lives that need changing. Maybe we promise ourselves all sorts of things, to lose weight, to quit smoking, to shoot under 100 on the golf course, or whatever. The New Year is to give us a new perspective on our lives. For the beginning of our new liturgical year, we need to refocus and examine our spiritual lives and determine what obstacles are keeping us from a more perfect union with our Lord Jesus Christ.

The word Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus which is translated from the Greek word Parousia. The Greek word Parousia is commonly translated as “coming”. When we hear the word Parousia, it is typically in reference to the Second Coming of Christ, the final judgment. The season of Advent is not only about preparing ourselves to remember the greatest event in human history, the birth of the Christ child, God becoming Man, but also to be hopeful and expecting for the second coming of Christ.

A Rabbi and Priest were arguing one day. The Rabbi was claiming that the Messiah has not come, and that when He did come, it would be the first coming. The Priest was claiming that Christ, the Messiah, had already come and the next time would be the second coming of Jesus. Right in the middle of this heated debate, Jesus showed up. So they ask Him is this your first coming or your second. Jesus answered with one word. He said “YES”.

I tell you that to tell you this, the word Parousia also translates as “Presence”. So in addition to remembering the birth of Christ and the anticipation of the second coming of Christ, we need to remember that Jesus is ever present to us. Every moment of our lives God is with us.

Our readings today give us insight in these three elements of Advent, the birth of a promised Messiah, the promise of a second coming and final judgment, and the presence of Jesus in our lives.

The first reading from Jeremiah gives the prophecy of God fulfilling His promise to send a redeemer into the world. His prophecy was to give his people hope. For during his time, foreigners had come and destroyed the city and the temple. Jeremiah prophesied that Judah shall be saved. God promises to redeem His people. The only way that redemption would be possible was for God to become Man. Not only to save Judah as Jeremiah said but to save all of us. God becoming Man reunites mankind and provides the key to open up the gates of heaven.

Paul’s letter to the Philippians tells of God setting aside His divinity to become Man. It expresses His love for each one of us. Paul wrote:

“Who, though he was in the form of God,
did no regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death even death on a cross.”

We celebrate Christmas to Remember what God has done for us. He became Man that we could share in His divine life.

Yesterday, I had a Baptism at noon. As I drove into the church’s parking lot, I noticed that the parking lot was almost half full. I was a little confused. I knew that not this many people would be here for a Baptism. As it turned out, Fr Cellini was celebrating a funeral Mass. After the Mass, I began the Baptism Rite. It struck me how providential these two events were occurring back to back. At first I thought, wow, a beginning and an end. We prepare ourselves by our Baptism for the day that we die. Then it dawned on me that I was wrong. This wasn’t a beginning and an end. Rather, this was a beginning and a beginning. The child was being baptized to begin her life on this earth as a child of God. The deceased was beginning her life in eternity with God, made possible by her Baptism some 60 years earlier.

By our Baptism, we have the privilege of being brothers and sisters to Jesus Christ. So as we prepare during this Advent, we need to remember the dignity that has been bestowed on each one us as child of God and bring honor to that dignity.

Both our second reading and the Gospel, refer us to the second coming of Christ. We are given images in Luke’s Gospel:

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”

People will die of fright. I don’t think I want to be her when this second coming occurs. Christ will return in all of His Majesty. The central question is will we be ready. Will we run and hide or will we respond as Luke tells us “to stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

Not only do we prepare to remember Christ birth, but we must also prepare for the second coming. So how do we do this? After all the people of Luke’s time had seen the city of Jerusalem destroyed, they must have thought what’s going on. Here we have all of these devastating events happening, the destruction of our temple, and the persecution of the Romans, why hasn’t Christ come back for us? Just as Jesus said to His disciples, “only the God the Father knows the time.” Well some 2000 years later we are still waiting.

So what do we do? We prepare.

Luke tells us:

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.”

Many say, well, I won’t be here for the second coming. It hasn’t happened for 2,000 years, so why bother. I have news for those who feel that way. When we die, we will experience the second coming. We will be face to face with Jesus Christ who will be our judge.

So Luke’s message is not only for the people of his time, but is for us today. As I look out on most everyone here, and as well as when I look in the mirror, the second coming may not be to far off. So we need to be about the business of preparing our souls.

There was this lady who was 60 years young and while she was out doing what ladies to so well, shopping at the mall, she suddenly experienced a heart attack. On her way to the Emergency Room her heart stopped and she found herself face to face with St. Peter at the Golden Gates. St Peter asks her what she was doing here, that she was not scheduled to arrive for another 25 years. So the lady was sent back and recovered from her experience.
While she was recuperating in the hospital, the idea came to her that since she was going to be around for another 25 years she might as well change a few things. So she ordered up a liposuction, a tummy tuck and face lift. Well after many weeks of surgery and recovery finally the day came when she was to leave the hospital. Now she had been totally transformed and no longer looked like she was 60. She was absolutely stunning and appeared to only be 30 years old. As she said good-bye to everyone at the hospital she stepped out into the street and was struck by a tractor-trailer truck killing her instantly.

Once again she finds herself in front of St Peter. She is really upset because after all she was supposed to live another 25 years. So she asks St Peter what happened to the additional 25 years.

St. Peter responded: Oh I’m so sorry we didn’t recognize you.

So the question is when we come face to face with the Lord will he recognize us; will our souls be healed and prepared to meet the Lord.

Remember early I said that another definition of the word Parousia was the word “Presence”. Christ is present to us now. Not only in the Eucharist and our other Sacraments, Jesus Christ is with us right now. The scripture says that were two or more are gathered, God is in the midst. There are obviously more than two of us here right now. We began in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So Jesus Christ is with us right now. He is present to each one of us. He is sitting next to each one us right now. We need to live this truth. We need to live recognizing that Christ is with us always. The only time He is not is when we individually reject His presence.

It is good that we come to Mass and worship on the weekends, it is good to resist the major temptations in our lives, and it is good to pray. All these things are good.

Our challenge today, in recognizing Christ presence to us, is to go deeper into ourselves. We need to identify those things in our lives that are creating obstacles for a more perfect union with God now. We need to be a people who as Father Cellini pointed out, that are not half-hearted about our faith. We have the faith that Jesus Christ left the world; we should be shouting from the roof tops the good news of Christ birth, of God becoming Man.

This is why we need to prepare ourselves not with the things of this world or how we look, but with the surrender of ourselves. We need look within ourselves and begin to be true to ourselves.
Each one of us can make a list of the issues that we suffer from. We tend to hide behind various issues that create obstacles of our becoming one with God.

The obvious include all forms of addiction like alcoholism, drugs, or I have to have it mentality. But more subtle traits could include:

Always Right – I have been guilty of this. I used to argue with my wife until I simply wore her down. One day God spoke to me that if I wanted to be healed that I needed to give up the right to be right. So I did and our relationship has grown ever since. I always tell couples during a wedding liturgy that if they want to have a happy and long marriage that the man must give up the right to be right. Amazingly, the Bride always agrees.

Egocentric – Another malady that I struggled with prior to being converted into the Catholic Church. You see I was a self made man in love with his creator. It was all about me. Thank God for His healing of me from this obstacle. It is not to be all about ourselves, but it needs to be all about others.

Gossip – This is perhaps the most abused and common amongst us all. When we gossip, it is something that we can’t take back. It is a harm that can’t be healed. The phone rings and it is someone asking for prayers;

We need to prayer for Sue.
Sure what is wrong with Sue?
Oh, well Tom is having an affair.
Really! Who with?

You can finish the rest of the conversation. In the sacredness of prayer, we can become the greatest of hypocrites. We need to zip it up.

Cynic, indecisive, poor poor pitiful me (the martyr), procrastinator, the list can go on an on.

We can each make our own assessment and decide as we prepare for Christmas and experience these 4 weeks of Advent to change. To become what God created each of us to be. It is the time to remove the obstacles. It is the time to prepare and hold our heads high. It is a time to be able to sing to the Lord that “He alone is my hearts desire”.

We need to be enthusiastic about our faith, joyful in our hope, and generous in our love. This way we can have a deeper personal relationship with Jesus Christ and become what God created us to be.

By our surrendering everything we are to the love of Jesus Christ, we can participate in the divine life made available to us by the birth of Jesus Christ.
We can live as a people of Hope and hold our heads high as we wait for Jesus’ second coming and final judgment.

We can shout from the rooftops to the world that Jesus is alive and lives amongst us in every aspect of our lives.

Alleluia.
Praise the Lord.
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