by Fr. Tommy Lane
We are delighted to live in times of such economic growth unprecedented for our small country (Ireland 1990's). At the same time we are aware that we are going through a spiritual decline. One would be forgiven for thinking that economic boom and spiritual famine dwell together at one end of the seesaw, and poverty and spiritual richness together at the other end of the seesaw. I suppose when we have full and plenty it is easier to forget about God who gave us the full and plenty. When we are enjoying the gifts we may forget the Giver of the gifts, God. I suppose it is for that reason that Jesus says in our Gospel today, “Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life.” Jesus, being the best judge of human nature, knew that we can be distracted by the good life and warns us not to get lost in the riches of this world but to “stay awake, praying at all times…to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.” I think that since we are small, weak, finite creatures we will always worship a power greater than ourselves. When there was not much money in the past we worshipped God, but when there is plenty of money now, one would be forgiven for thinking that money has become a god in our country. Let us not get lost in the money and possessions we can see forgetting God whom we cannot see.
Advent reminds us of Jesus in the womb of Mary, growing slowly, silently and invisibly but present. In these times when we could allow our hearts to be “coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life”, Advent and baby Jesus growing silently in Mary’s womb remind us to look beyond what we can see, and not forget God whom we cannot see, to “stay awake, praying at all times…to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.”
During Advent let us look beyond the fact that Santa Claus is coming to town and prepare our hearts and town for Jesus coming to town. As Jesus said, let us stay awake, praying at all times. Then when the Lord comes, we can confidently stand before him. Waiting for God whom we cannot see reminds me of the following excerpt of what an American priest, Fr Seher, has written about Advent,
“I have often wondered who waits for whom? I somehow remember that a guy chases a girl until she catches him. Do I wait for the Lord or is the Lord waiting for me? Is the Lord something like a little girl who hides in an obvious place like behind a branch without leaves and is all excited when found. Am I the one looking? Am I the one to be found? We have made many pilgrimages to almost all the Holy Places. The real issue is that we need to look in more obvious places. What obvious place would Jesus hide? An inn? A barn? A cave? A crib? I think we need to ask the question about ourselves. Where and how do we hide? Under piles of work? Busy, busy, busy?”
That reminds me of the 1996 Advent Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Desmond Connell of Dublin entitled “Where are you?” which was the question God asked Adam and Eve in the garden after they ate the apple and then hid when they realized they were naked (Gen 3:9). This is some of what Archbishop Connell said,
“Do we not sometimes complain that God is hiding from us? That he is nowhere to be seen? If our hearts had not known the burden of sin we would never have wanted to hide: we would be out in the open and ready to walk with God. And then God asks a question: ‘Where are you?’ He is the one who begins the search. Does this not seem strange as well? We think of ourselves as searching for God and forget that it is he who is searching for us. Why should he bother to do so? Simply because he loves us. He has been searching in every century - throughout Old Testament times until he came at last with a human heart that could suffer for want of our love. That is the message of Christmas. In this way, the God who had pity on us made it possible for us to have pity on him. That is how he opens our hearts to his love…. [Jesus] invites us to come out of hiding and to walk with him: his suffering has earned us forgiveness of sin. “Where are you?” It is the question we may be asking ourselves as the dark side of the society we are shaping is making us fearful. Where are we indeed?”
For those who are disturbed by the rapid secularization of our country, our first reading from the prophet Jeremiah today gives encouragement. The people of Israel felt let down and betrayed by their kings who did not live according to God’s covenant. In steps Jeremiah and gives hope by saying that God will recreate from the present mess,
“In those days Judah shall be
saved
And Israel shall dwell in confidence
And this is the name the city will be called:
The Lord-our-integrity.”
Those disturbed by what they see and hear happening around them in our society and country could reflect on that message of Jeremiah. The Lord never abandons his own even if they abandon him. God will not destroy the city for the sake of ten just men, as we read in Gen 18.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in our second reading, “May the Lord so confirm your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless in the sight of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus Christ comes with all his saints…We urge you and appeal to you to make more and more progress in the kind of life you are meant to live.” Once again the words of Jesus in our Gospel, “Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life…Stay awake, praying at all times…to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.”
This homily was delivered when I was engaged in parish ministry in Ireland before joining the faculty of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland.
More homilies for the First Sunday of Advent Year C
Advent - “Stay awake, praying at all times...”
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