FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT C

[cappie]

As we enter the season of Advent this Sunday, our minds turn once again to the mystery of the Incarnation. At the heart of God’s becoming man is quite simply his urge and yearning to move closer to us.

The message of today’s Gospel tells us that even in the midst of the world’s confusion and chaos,  “The kingdom of God is near,”   Rather than be afraid or down, “Stand up,” commands our Lord, “and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Our Lord too lived in turbulent times not so different from our own – born of destitute and near-homeless parents forced to seek shelter for the night in a backyard village lean-to of all places – not exactly the palace of a prince or king. Yet, the surprise of Christ’s incarnation forces us to look again in our own age at the “signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars;” and to consider anew the signs of God’s intimate involvement in the world about us.

Advent is the season when we learn to overcome our “fear and foreboding” and once more open our hearts to others just as God has disclosed and demonstrated his love for us in Christ. Advent requires a certain element of keeping awake and alert to the universe around us. It requires as well, a certain sense of recognition and acceptance of others  no small order in an age of polarization and mistrust.

Who or what are we waiting for, we might well ask. Who or what are we welcoming  Would we have recognized him at rest in that feed-trough outside Bethlehem so long ago? Would we have known to welcome him? His coming is still hotly debated and even denied, his very existence a sign of contradiction for many.

He brought joy, but we still know sadness. He brought life, but we still know death. So, putting out the welcome mat and hanging the “Open for Business” sign in the window of our hearts can seem a scary proposition this Advent season. Due to the pandemic and general fear as we secure our airports, screen our visitors, and look over our shoulder it can become all too easy to forget about welcome and human contact altogether.

The near-apocalyptic scene painted in our Gospel account of confusion and distress has become an unfortunate reality in too many parts of our world today.  

Good thing God did not – and does not — see things that way, that God thought we and our world were worth yet another chance. Otherwise, we ourselves might still be left out in the cold and dark; left alone with our “fear and foreboding”; left alone perhaps in a smelly old barn bereft of angels, shepherds, and virgin mother.

So, Advent is also a season of hope. It is a time that reminds us, in God’s scheme of things,  the universe will not continue to get darker  forever.  Our Lord reassures us – even at the beginning of Advent. “Our redemption is drawing near.”

 Advent is not a penitential season in the sense that Lent is, but it is a season of expectation, longing and preparation. As the Lord comes close to us in this season, there are many ways in which we can, in turn, reach back out to him so that our hearts may be made ready to welcome his presence.

One way of preparing our hearts is through the liturgy which Advent gives us, you might want to consider making attendance at a Mass during the week part of your rule of life this December.

Let us make this Advent a time of preparation for Christ’s birth by consciously drawing close to him in the liturgy of the church and through our corporate life of faith together. This past liturgical year has been one of many trials and complexities because of COVID. I pray that as we begin a new liturgical year together, we can do so with a renewed confidence that the Lord will bless our parish, and help us to grow in number, faithfulness, and love as we live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ together.

[Dennis Tate]

Is it just my imagination or are others also feeling more of the guidance of the Holy Spirit than ever before in my life?

It sure seems to me that Advent 2021 is HUGE!