Third Sunday of Advent Year A 2013

Third Sunday of Advent (A)

(Isaiah 35:1-6, 10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Advent prepares us for the celebration of our Lord’s coming on earth as one of us: as an Infant destined to reveal and make manifest something of the intimate Glory of God; and as Redeemer, to save His chosen ones and all who learn to invoke His most holy Name.  However, our celebration is not meant to be a merely fond reminiscence; for it offers us an eye-piece, as it were, whereby we might be able to prepare for, and appreciate, something of what is otherwise hardly known and totally unprecedented for us:  His future coming as the glorious Lord and Judge of mankind.

In today’s Gospel reading John the Baptist is about to acknowledge the Bridegroom’s presence to the Bride in a way that brings his faithful witness to Jesus to its glorious fulfilment: for the forerunner is about to die alone in the lowest dungeon of Herod’s prison for the Truth of the God Who will be lifted-up high, to die alone on Rome’s criminal Cross.  

John was in prison awaiting his executioner and he was not absolutely sure about Jesus.  The prophets, as we have just heard in our reading from the book of Isaiah, had foretold the coming of God: 

Say to those whose hearts are frightened:  Be strong, fear not!  Here is your God, He comes with vindication; with divine recompense He comes to save you.  Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe.

John was the one chosen not only to announce the Messiah but actually to introduce Him to the people, and John was well aware of this:

I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is mightier than I.   I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 

John had been greatly impressed by what the prophet had foretold about God’s vengeance and retribution, and he duly forewarned the expectant people that the Messiah will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  However,

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism

he addressed them directly with words of divine truth indeed, but spoken with a vehemence  that was his own, saying (Matthew 3:7-12):

You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.  And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’  For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.    Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees.  The One Who is coming after me is mightier than I; I am not worthy to carry His sandals.  His winnowing fan is in His hand. He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.  

Such words showed something of John’s human weakness.  For though the prophets as a whole foretold the truth, they rarely knew the ‘when’, or the ‘where’, or ‘how’ their words would be fulfilled; and even the immediate forerunner of the Lord Himself, not seeing clearly the whole plan of God, was obliged at times -- as on this occasion -- to use the veiled language of metaphors in order to express what he experienced most surely and needed to proclaim so urgently.    When, therefore, John looked at Jesus and saw no direct manifestation of, nor heard any promise threatening, an imminent ‘day of vengeance’ or of awesome ‘retribution’ for sinners, his human weakness showed itself again and he was puzzled; indeed, perhaps he was even a little disappointed, because the pride and arrogance of the Pharisees and Scribes and their disdain of the poor and needy did not ‘sit well’ with him.

Jesus, however, sent him a message telling him to accept, embrace, the light which had already been afforded him:

Go and tell John what you hear and see:  the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. 

In other words Jesus was saying, ‘Accept what has been given you; that is enough for you, for now.  As for the rest, God’s retribution will come in God’s good time; take the fulfilment which has already been given you and realize,

            Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.’

Well, People of God, Jesus did not declare John to be the greatest of all the children born of women without good reason: John proved the truth of those words by persevering in faith and dying in the peace of complete trust in God.  Even though he could not see or understand all that he would have liked to have seen and understood, nevertheless, he knew full well that God is beyond all human comprehension, giving light enough to guide our footsteps surely and bestowing grace sufficient to keep us safe along His ways so that we can be free from all solicitude about self and thus able to open up our hearts and minds in total commitment to Him in return.  Now, there can, of course, be no such gift of self-dedication where comprehensive foreknowledge of the outcome is wanted, expected, or required.  John was being offered sufficient light; and, when asked to back it up with all his love, he did not turn back, but was willing and able to enter into the valley of the shadow of death fearing no evil.  Trusting in the word of the Lord and in the faithfulness of the God of his fathers, he was allowed to foreshadow with sublime fidelity Our Blessed Lord’s own end: 

“Father, into your hands I commend My spirit”; and when He had said this He breathed His last.  (Luke 23:46)

Jesus admired and loved John:

As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?  Then what did you go out to see?   Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.  Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.”

Note carefully here, People of God, that Our Lord’s words about John concern Mother Church also, and as such are addressed to all who, along with us today, will and do take the trouble to go out and seek for God’s truth: who are prepared to set aside, at times, worldly pre-occupations in order to look more closely for the God and Saviour Who promises eternal life to all who will open when He knocks on the door of their spiritual awareness.

Yes, John was indeed a prophet, he was the greatest, and in that respect he was like our Mother Church which is the consummation of the prophets of old.

What did you go out – out of your warm and comfy homes – for; why did you disturb your pleasant rest, leave your happy gatherings, interrupt your holidays, and the like?  Why did you go to Church?  To find a reed swaying in the breeze?  That is, a Church whose teaching changes in accordance with every contemporary doctrine of supposed science, with every whim of popular conceit, and with every plaint of human self-love and solicitude?   A nice Church, perhaps even a very nice Church, which says you can believe and do what you want so long as you have a sizeable number of people thinking along the same lines as you? 

NO, People of God, you surely do not want such a Church, whose priests simply preach and proclaim what you find least stressing or most comforting to hear!!
 

Then what have you gone out and come to Church for today?  To find someone wearing fine clothes?  That is, preaching a doctrine that will fit you really comfortably, indeed, ‘down to the ground’: not restricting or restraining any of your lower desires, but rather ‘dolling them up’ with modern fancy phrases which might enable you to think that really they are good desires, about which past generations have been sadly mistaken.  Or again, that the Church in her ancient ignorance and simplicity does not understand that Scripture’s apparently plain words and open condemnations really need to be approached with the whole panoply of modern pseudo-scholarship, so that they can be understood and adapted in accordance with the dictates of faithless self-seekers and the exigencies of ‘natural’ longings which demand free expression! 
 

No, no!!  I don’t think the vast majority of you here -- indeed, I hope that none of you here -- want that!

Then what do you go out of your homes each Sunday and come to Church for?  To see a prophet?  Yes, and much more than a prophet.

You have come to a prophet, that is, to the Church which is our true Mother and which dares to proclaim to us the saving truth of God whether it meets with popular approval or not.   Indeed, you have come to much more than a prophet, for you have come to Jesus Christ Himself, Who promised to be with His Church to the end of time; and this Church, the Catholic and universal Church, by His gift our Mother, is the only place where He has promised so to be.

This theme of ‘going out’, looking for a prophet who proclaims divine truth, this awaiting, searching, longing, for the Messiah to bestow on us personally the Salvation He brings for all, is the whole theme of Advent.  Blessed are you who have allowed yourselves to be moved by such a desire today.  

Our Christmas celebration of Jesus’ coming to us as Saviour has always held a unique attraction for us!  What humble peace, simple joy, and deep human fulfilment, have ever and always emanated from that Holy Family bound together by unbreakable bonds of mutual love and reverence, and  cherishing in its embrace the Child of divine promise and most sublime expectations!  All that now serves, as I said, as our eye-glass for appreciating and preparing for what we can hope to find when He comes again, this time in divine glory and as Judge to reward the faithful and condemn the sin of the world.  It will be most awesome and far in excess of our imaginings, expectations, or anticipations, and that is why we were given the experience and example of John the Baptist today: for, though our weakness will be tested, our faith must not be shaken, for our hopes will not be disappointed, as Isaiah said:

(You) will see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God.  Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not!  Here is your God, He comes with vindication; with divine recompense He come to save you!

Or, as St. James tells us:

Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.  Behold, the Judge is standing before the gates.  Take as an example of hardship and patience, brothers and sisters, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Dear People of God, as we look around us today, Christmas has become what has been long threatening, Xmas.   I pods and tablets, televisions and computers, technology of all sorts, are being constantly produced and promoted, sold and sought after … and all are worthy of praise for their testimony to humanities’ ability to overcome, master, use and administer the world in all its complexity and wonder.  But, without the gifts that only Jesus Himself -- the Lord of Christmas – brings, they make up what is but a soulless celebration of human wit without wisdom, fullness without fulfilment.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw.  But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.  (Malachi 4:1–2 NLT) 

Both aspects of Christmas are there; John the Baptist is there and Jesus is there. Indeed, all aspects of Christmas are there, for I love to see what I regard as a delightful reference (metaphoric, of course) to our own, very human, spirit of Christmas rejoicing, in those final words:

 And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture!!

2nd Sunday of Advent Year A 2012

 2^nd Sunday of Advent (A)

(Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12)

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.  The cow and the bear shall be neighbours, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox.  The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.  There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain. 

Those are moving words because they promise what is idyllic.  But what is that promise based on?  Listen again:

A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.  The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. 

And so, that wonderful, idyllic, prospect is opened up for mankind because a Saviour is to come among us, upon Whom the Spirit of God will rest and Whose delight will be in the fear of the Lord:  Jesus of Nazareth, to be born of the Virgin by the Holy Spirit, Son of God and Son of Man.

And yet, when He did come, He was not accepted nor even acknowledged by His People; indeed, His rejection was so violent and so degrading that His presence among men was not able to work any saving change for the great majority of those who saw but did not recognize Him, who heard but would not listen to Him, even though some had waited long and been ardently expecting Him.  Vindication against Rome and before the nations had become their supreme motivation and -- as we can see with fanatics the world over -- having someone, something, to hate is a great spur for commitment or even sacrifice.   Jesus’ mission, on the other hand, was for their personal righteousness before, and corporate witness to, the God of their fathers Who had sent Him.  Jesus could only work a change for people if they would allow Him, first of all, to make a change in them individually.  That is why we heard the prophet say in the name of the Lord:

The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, for the Gentiles shall seek out the Root of Jesse.

God’s Kingdom of glorious peace would only come when the earth -- that is, all the peoples on earth beginning with Israel, God’s Chosen People -- were full of the knowledge of the Lord: not knowledge about the Lord, but knowledge of the Lord bestowed on them by the Root of Jesse: knowledge suffused through and through by love, such as could only be given to those who would humbly and perseveringly seek to find, or rather allow themselves to be found by, the Person of Him sent in the fullness of time by the Lord, the ever faithful-and-true God of Israel.

Bearing these things in mind we should not be too surprised when, on turning to the Gospel passage from St. Matthew, we heard John the Baptist say to certain Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him while he was administering his baptism in the Jordan:

            You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 

What could have brought the Pharisees and Sadducees together?  Little that promised good for John, certainly.  The Pharisees -- the ‘separate ones’ as their name proclaims -- lived their lives according to rules and regulations fitted for the priests in the Temple of Jerusalem, rules and regulations handed down by their own oral traditions; and they prided themselves on the rigour and detailed fidelity of their application of those rules.  The Sadducees, on the other hand, really were current priests of the Temple, and, as a whole, they were social aristocrats who did not accept the oral traditions of the Pharisees.  What therefore enabled such naturally opposed and mutually disdainful factions to unite on this occasion?   Surely, only the fact that both regarded John the Baptist with like antipathy!

For his part, John knew how to mix-it with such enemies; for by calling them a ‘brood of vipers’ he declared them to be -- according to a byways (not highways!) Jewish tradition -- descended from Cain and born of the union of Eve and the Serpent!!  We Christians have, however, in the Acts of the Apostles (28:3, 5), have a much more historically accurate picture of the significance of the appellation ‘brood of vipers fleeing from the coming wrath’ when we recall the experience of St. Paul shipwrecked on the island of Malta:

Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire, when a viper -- driven out by the heat -- fastened itself on his hand.  He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 

Brood of vipers indeed, because both were fixed in their ways and both were proud: one of their reputation for holiness in the eyes of the common people, and the other for their deeply cherished positions of power and privilege; and yet both were as one in their delight at the reverence shown them by the ordinary people: people they were meant to serve but whom they held in very low esteem as a whole.   And in this respect the Pharisees and Sadducees showed themselves to be vipers indeed by their pseudo-holiness and pseudo-dignity: for the Pharisees were more faithful custodians of their human traditions than faithful interpreters of God’s law, more solicitous for their standing in the eyes of the people than sincere guides for those people along the  paths of humble devotion before God; while the pomp and circumstance of the Sadducees, far from showing forth the dignity of Israel’s ancient calling as the Chosen People, was totally dependent on and subservient to the current-day Roman power and politics.  Such pretence by their civil and religious leaders de-railed the response of ordinary Israelites to the message of John the Baptist even though he was preparing the way of the Lord by advice easy enough for them to understand and put into practice:

“He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”  To the tax collectors he said, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”  Likewise to the soldiers he said, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Such teachings were easily accessible to anyone wanting and willing to ‘repent’ as St. Matthew tells us John’s initial proclamation required:

John the Baptist appeared preaching in the desert of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ 

Repentance was a very hard subject to preach even for one as great as John the Baptist!  So unexciting for the senses and so humble in its performance, repentance was easily dislodged from the awareness and appreciation of simple people by the easy-to-see, carefully honed and sought-out, pseudo personal holiness of the Pharisees, and could be quite overwhelmed by the ceremonial pomposity and Temple-based dignity and power of the craven Sadducees, who despite all appearances, were totally subservient to the occupying Roman power. 

Dear People of God, the poisons affecting, debasing, and preventing true religion among the people in Jesus’ time are still with us and still seducing many today: pseudo-holiness and political correctness!!
 

The great and ultimate fulfilment of salvation through the final coming of God’s Kingdom as foretold by the prophet, the forerunner, and by the Lord Jesus Himself, is not something that can be brought about by human endeavour it can only be humbly aspired to and prepared for, before being gratefully received when freely given by God Himself to those filled with knowledge of the great mercy and goodness of the Giver, and of the saving love of their Redeemer. 

St. Paul tells us that:

Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs, but so that the Gentiles (also) might glorify God for His mercy.

And so, we Gentiles can and should learn from the experience and failings of ‘the circumcised’, as Paul explicitly tells us:

Whatever (is) written (is) for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Above all we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus in the Scriptures, our ears attentive to His words resounding in Mother Church, and our hearts open to and longing for His most Holy Spirit’s guidance and inspiration as children of God.

We must, therefore, not allow the integrity of our response to Jesus’ call to repentance this Advent to be waylayed and possibly de-railed by modern pseudo-holiness and political correctness; and for that purpose we must pay careful attention to and learn from what happened among the Chosen People of Israel those many centuries ago.

The Pharisees were truly devout but they could never forget themselves or deny their pride in, and desire for, a public reputation proclaiming them to be ‘the best at their job’; that is, they wanted to be commonly known and generally appreciated as personally holy individuals and members of an influential and closely knit group whose traditions were the surest guides for the people in the ways of holiness.

Alas, however, they were substituting holiness in the eyes of the people for holiness before God.
 

The Sadducees were not even aiming for holiness of a religious nature so much as security and approval for their politically correct attitudes and actions.   They sought to ‘accepted and acclaimed’ -- by those who really mattered to them -- for their sagacity, influence, adaptability, perhaps even, at times, for their priestly dignity and social charms ….   Attitudes and abilities, some of which at times, and under certain circumstances, could possibly have proved both helpful and laudable; but which, in those called to be first and foremost priests and shepherds for God’s People, bring Jesus’ words to my mind:

You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.  (Luke 16:15)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in this season of Advent we are walking anew to what is before us, setting out with fresh steps towards what is most beautiful and promises great joy.  As did Joseph, let us walk with Mary, the Jewel of Israel, and for us, the Queen of heaven and Our dear Lady, our supreme mother and unique sister. But, with Joseph, let us take great care, this time of ourselves who are carrying in our soul’s sanctuary of mind and heart the still-to-be-born Son of God.  Let us not turn our  eyes to seek some easier path, but let us always keep them fixed most lovingly on Jesus proclaimed by Mother Church, let our eyes look most confidently for the lead of God’s Spirit of Truth and Love, as we endeavour, as true children of God the Father, to serve, and indeed to love, all our brother and sisters on the way.  But in all things and above all things, let us ever desire and aspire to be with Jesus, so as to be  formed in Him and in His likeness by the Spirit, for the glory of our God and Father.

                                   

1st Sunday of Advent, Year A, 2013

1^st. Sunday of Advent (A)

(Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:37-44)

Advent has come round once again and I imagine that all of us here who are mature adults will be thinking how the time since last Christmas has flown.  I really should say the time from last Advent, but perhaps many of you would not remember the beginning of Advent last year, whereas you will certainly remember last Christmas: how the time has flown since then!!

People of God, I want you to think on that: how quickly the last year has passed by!   I ask you as disciples of Jesus to do this because it is so easy for people to live their whole life and, when it comes to an end, find themselves not only surprised -- the years having passed like a dream, as the poet puts it – but also quite unprepared for what awaits them.  That is why, in God’s Providence, the Church’s liturgy has periods of preparation – Advent and Lent -- that recur annually and thereby remind us: “Look, another year has gone by!   How many more do you think you have?  You need to prepare yourself.”

Why do we need to prepare ourselves this Advent for the coming of the Lord?  After all, most people today, probably the great majority in our supposedly ‘sophisticated’ countries which control the world’s purse strings, think that there is no God worth bothering about: if He is there, it doesn’t really concern us because we are very busy and He is very good and kind, or so Church people say; They must say that, of course; they cannot proclaim an unpopular God; He has to be good, kind, and forgiving … otherwise we, and all the others like us, won’t be going to Church again!!  So, what do we need to prepare for, and why do we need to prepare for it?

Dear Catholic and Christian people, let us first of all be very clear about one  supremely important fact:

WE DO NOT KNOW WHO WILL BE CONDEMNED, BUT WE KNOW MOST SURELY WHAT WILL BE CONDEMNED:

orgies and drunkenness, promiscuity and lust, rivalry and jealousy as St. Paul told us, and that unpreparedness  of which Jesus Himself spoke in today’s Gospel:

For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  In (those) days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark.    They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.  Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.   Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. 

So many want to die without having to think about religious matters on earth or about their eternal future in the world to come: they want to be happy and carefree concerning such matters because they like to think that GOD IS TOO GOOD TO PUNISH ANYONE JUST FOR BEING CAREFREE AND IGNORANT OF HIM.

Today’s readings serve to protect us wonderfully well against such folly, against such EVIL, by reminding us of the ultimate significance of our life here on earth and how supremely important it is for us to make good use of the time at our disposal.  

The first main theme of our readings is the joyful expectations of those pilgrims going up to the Temple in Jerusalem:

Come, let us climb the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may instruct us in His ways, and we may walk in His paths.

We can almost feel the excitement and anticipation of those pilgrims journeying to meet Him Who, they most firmly believe, will guide them along the way of salvation.  And surely, our sharing in such a God-given belief, such a hope and longing, stirs up in us a like determination and confidence as that which filled the breasts of those ancient pilgrims, who walked along, exhorting each other with the words:

            Oh, House of Jacob come, let us walk In the light of the LORD. 

Compared with them, we are -- as St. Peter said -- a privileged People, for we have already, and in a far truer sense than those pilgrims could ever have imagined, reached Jerusalem, the dwelling-place of the Most High, because we have the privilege of being children of Mother Church.  For, in her, the letter to the Hebrews (12:22-24) tells us:

You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant. 

Therefore, being so privileged, we should come -- each and every Sunday -- with even greater joy and expectation to the house of the Lord,

            that He may instruct us in His ways, and we may walk in His paths.

Let us therefore pray now, gathered before the Lord, that we may indeed grow in understanding of His ways and learn to walk more steadfastly along His paths, in accordance with the second theme of our readings today:

Stay awake!   For you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

For, not only do we not know the day of the Lord’s coming, but we have even been warned -- quite explicitly by Our Lord Himself -- that it will take place when we least expect it:

For, at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.   

St. Paul, that most faithful apostle of the Lord Jesus, told us what this means for us, and how we might set about doing what Jesus requires of us in preparation for that meeting:

It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light;  let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. 

We human beings are creatures of habit: we can do something one way, and then, by repetition, allow it to become first of all a tendency for us, and then finally develop into a firmly fixed habit that we do almost instinctively.  Now, in God’s Providence, the liturgy of Mother Church each year invites, indeed, urges us, to observe Advent as preparation for our celebration of Christmas not merely with deep gratitude for the birth of the Messiah as the Infant of Promise but also with firm hope and joyful preparation for His Second Coming as the Lord of Fulfilment. She does this because, without repeated observance of such seasons of preparation, we might easily, indeed almost inevitably, drift into a habit of unthinking and – at the best -- merely material observance of feasts of great moment for the Spirit at work in our lives, instead of establishing a truly Christian habit of preparation that will enable us to appreciate, celebrate, and profit ever more and more, from the ever enduring and constantly recurring goodness of the Lord.

Consequently, People of God, I urge you to use this Advent well: try to form a habit of welcoming the Lord into your life.  We have a month in which to start a new habit, or in which to strengthen a habit we have already been trying to build up over several, perhaps many, years.  The whole point is that if we do not have a habit of recognizing, welcoming, and gratefully responding to Jesus, a habit diligently practised and firmly established over years, then when He comes, unexpectedly, at the end of our days, we will find ourselves unable to welcome Him.  For, be sure, People of God, one cannot live a forgetful life and then, when suddenly challenged, come out with the right response of appreciation and love.  

This is of great importance not only for us but with the Lord Himself, for He has quite deliberately and explicitly told us that His coming at the end will be unexpected, and so there will be no time to collect our thoughts and weigh up what should be our attitude; we will find ourselves responding instinctively, at that unprepared moment, either in accordance with the character we have carefully built up by faithful devotion over the years, or with that thoughtlessness and insouciance allowed to develop over years of selfish, careless, and faithless living.  And that response will, for better or for worse, prove to be our final response and our last opportunity: a violent person, under pressure, will react violently; a weak-willed person, under threat, will be craven; a faithless disciple will always prove himself a hypocrite.   No wonder Jesus said (v. 46):

Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing (his duty) when He comes. 

Recognize yourselves, People of God: sudden trials, sudden and unexpected threats, leave neither the time nor the ability to act in an unaccustomed manner; in order to be found doing the Master's will when He comes we need to have seriously formed good habits and right instinctive attitudes.  Advent is an opportunity given us by Mother Church to try to establish the supremely good habit of recognizing and welcoming the Lord into our lives this Christmas.  Therefore, the way we prepare during the course of this Advent could be the mirror image of our state of preparedness when He comes – suddenly -- to settle accounts with each of us personally at the end of our time of preparation and formation in Mother Church.  

In Psalm 53 we read:

God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God;

and, according to the Psalmist, He found none:

Every one of them has turned aside; there is none who does good, no, not one.  They do not call upon God.

That was the situation, even in Israel, before Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour, came to redeem us; and that is still the situation of many today who turn away from, reject, Jesus.  They do not acknowledge God; they do not seek or call upon Him; they have not understood the probationary nature of their life experience on earth, where both the wonder of God’s creation – so beautiful with all its natural powers and sublime human potential -- and the depth of mankind’s needs seem to be so impenetrable and irreconcilable for them.

So, dear People of God, use Advent to prepare yourself to welcome Jesus not only this coming Christmas but whenever He might choose to stand at the door of your soul and knock.  Try to recognize all those occasions, both great and small, clear and only glimpsed at, where truth and beauty, goodness and love, sympathy and help, power and fragility, fear and wonder, impinge on your consciousness and invite you to respond to God sensed, somehow, to be present there; and may your Advent character of awareness and appreciation, gratitude and trust, peace and joy help the Spirit further Jesus’ Kingdom of faith, hope, and charity in your souls.