December 16, 2018 3rd Sunday of Advent
In Christianity, we hear often about the "Good News." We might often associate it with Jesus' compassion to the poor, his healings and miracles, and the salvation he won for us. In today's Gospel, we read of John the Baptist. "Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people." Yet as we examine the rest of the reading, we see examples of John's preaching. If you have two cloaks, give one away. Don't cheat others out of their money, extort, or lie. And, of course, the warning that the Messiah is on the move and "his winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Merry Christmas?
Not only do John's listeners enjoy his message, but they seem to think he might be the awaited Messiah! To understand today's Gospel, it's important to understand the Jewish people. For most of their history, God's chosen people had been under someone else's heel. They were slaves in Egypt. Their kingdoms were ravaged first by the Assyrians, then the Babylonians. Now they were under the yoke of the Roman Empire. Familiar with being strangers in a strange land, welcoming the stranger, caring for the vulnerable, and enacting justice was incredibly important to them as a people. While John's words may seem odd or strong to our modern ears, this call to justice was welcome, even if it was directed at the hearer.
The truth is, no one is exempt from John's call to repentance. We all have further to go in the Christian life. We can all grow in virtue and love our neighbors more generously. The Church gives us the Advent season to examine our own hearts. Did any of John's warnings resonate with you? That could be a great thing to bring to Jesus this week!
December 9, 2018 2nd Sunday of Advent
"In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar...and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee...and Lysanias was tetrach of..." Did you need to pinch yourself awake during the first few lines of this Sunday's Gospel? John the Baptist received quite a prelude today as Luke described the religious and political leadership of the time period. Scripture is divinely inspired, and we believe that everything that made it into the Bible is there for a reason. These lines remind us of an important truth. The Christmas story isn't a fairy tale or nursery rhyme. It's not a parable we say to give meaning to the holiday. At Christmas, God's presence is made tangible in a precise moment in time. The birth of Christ is a historical event. As precursor to Jesus' preaching, the ministry of John the Baptist is also a historical event.
"Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." John's call to repentance and the forgiveness of sins happened in a particular time and place. But that does not mean it is limited to first century Palestine! God continues to move in our daily lives. What we hear in today's Gospel - and what we anticipate at Christmas - occurs in our daily lives. God works in concrete ways in time and space. He did that 2,000 years ago, and He continues to do so today!
This Sunday, examine your own Christmas preparations. Is there anything you need to repent of before the Christmas season? Are there low points in your life, valleys to "be filled" by the love of God? Are their mountainous obstacles in your spiritual life? How can they be "made low"? Are you making decisions that have moved you away from God? This Advent season is the time for them to "be made straight and made smooth." Prepare the way in your heart for Christ today!
December 02, 2018 1st Sunday in Advent
Tribulation. Wildfires. Tsunamis. Moral corruption. Disease. War. We tend to associate these things with the end times, and perhaps for good reason! In today's Gospel, Jesus says: "People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world." Not exactly putting us in the Christmas spirit, is it? During Advent, we anticipate a celebration of Christ's first coming. There is a quiet stillness about our waiting, or at least we try to encourage that in ourselves. Perhaps we have an Advent devotional or we take time to pray together as a family around the Advent wreath.
But Jesus did not come only once into history. During Advent, we remember that he will come again. You may remember the rapture craze in the early 2000s, when a series of books and movies envisioned a future where Jesus was coming soon and all the true believers had been whisked away. Everyone else had one more chance to repent before things really went to hell...literally, in this case!
But is that what Jesus is talking about here? The truth is, we don't know what Jesus' Second Coming will be like. The actual return of Christ - though sudden and perhaps frightening to some - should not frighten us. Despite all the stories we may have heard about the apocalypse, the advice of Jesus is not to hang our heads or cower in fear. "Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand." In a certain sense, we are already living in the end times. We already encounter great tribulation. We all find it easy to get distracted or discouraged in the grind of daily life. Today's Gospel reminds us that vigilance for God's presence is needed now.
Live the Liturgy - Inspiration for the Week
As we begin our Advent journey in preparation for the celebration of Christ's birth and in anticipation of his coming again in glory, we are reminded of our need to be vigilant and prepared. This short season of Advent can be a mini-retreat for us who find ourselves living in a world that is often counterproductive to developing mature, focused, and meaningful relationships with God. Being a Christian and standing firm in our faith requires a strength that can only come from prayer. These four short preparatory weeks can help us look back to what God has done in history, to what God continues to do in our lives today, and to what God promises for the future. May we use this Advent time wisely, calling us to greater holiness.