Saturday, November 30, 2013

Sunday DEcember 1, 2013 Reflection


1st Sunday of Advent 2013

By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD

Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans Divine Mercy

Independent Catholic Church of the Americas

Link to All Reflections TV Shows; http://www.youtube.com/user/RevBobJohn

 1st Sunday of Advent Video Reflection http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCEIBhO8CBM

Link to St. Joseph Cupertino Parish: http://stjosephcupertino.com/index.html

 Link to Mission Web Site: www.missionstsergius.org

 Link to Franciscans of Divine Mercy Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FranciscansDivineMercy?fref=ts

 Link to Franciscans of Divine Mercy Web Site: www.franciscansdivinemercy.org

 Link to the Independent Catholic Church of the Americas http://www.iccamericas.org/

 

This Sunday we begin the new liturgical year A with a reading from the book of Isaiah that helps us understand what we need to do to prepare to meet our God.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come you, and let us walk in the light of the LORD”

The reading also foretells of the coming of the Redeemer and Savior and the light of God‘s truth came into being.

 The second reading from Paul’s letter to the people of Rome reads thusly; Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

For Christians, the season of Advent anticipates the coming of Christ from two different perspectives. The season offers the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, and to be alert for his Second Coming. The word itself comes from the Latin adventus which is the translation of the Greek word parousia which refers to the Second Coming of Christ at the lst days.  

The message of the readings for the first Sunday of Advent is to be prepared, to be prepared for the time when God calls us home and we face our judgement by God on how well we lived our lives in accord to the teachings Christ gave us.

If we are to be prepared we need to examine how well we are living our daily lives now and then make any necessary changes that need to be made in order to truly be living reflections of Christ’s teachings.

The Gospel from Matthew 24 proclaims the following; “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man shall be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ….. Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord does come. But know this, that if the manager of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be you also ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes.”

Every year during the church season of advent we are asked to review how we are living in accord with God’s will and a time of preparing for our eternal life not just preparing to celebrate Christmas the holiday that celebrates the birth of our redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ, not the arrival of Santa Clause and the presents we might receive.

We are being called to prepare ourselves to meet our creator and answer to Him as how well we have used the gifts He has given us.

How will we meet Him? Will we meet him with tattered clothing or will we meet Him with clean and shining souls which are the clothing that God sees.

In a Broadway musical JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR there is a chant that proclaims “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” It says exactly what we are called to do while living on here on God’s planet. 

God put every person on earth for the explicit reason of preparing ourselves to meet him when our time here on earth is over and we have that judgment by God on how well we did.

We will be asked questions like; “Did we care for His all His creations by being mindful of the environment and protect it?” 

“Did we have compassion for the poor and disadvantaged and share our gifts with those who were not as well off as we were?”

“Did we treat all those we met on our life’s journey with respect by recognizing them as one of our brothers and sisters in Christ and not discriminate against them?”

“Did we use the Gifts God provided us with in a manner that they were intended for or did we misuse them only for personal pleasure and/or financial gain?

Did we go about our being self-centered, caring only for our own comfort and pleasure without regard for how our actions affected others?”

“Did we thank God daily for the gifts we have no matter how small and did we appreciate the people who were placed in our lives, even those who criticize us and pointed out our faults and pray for those who have caused us pain and suffering?”

These are some of the questions God expects us to be able to answer in the affirmative because that is how God instructed us to live our lives.

So many of us go about our daily lives without ever taking the time to recognize what is around us or what gifts we have been given, we only turn to God when things go badly.

I do not want to count the many times I have heard people say, “Where is God when people are dying from Cancer, Aids, or other divesting diseases, why God allows innocent children and the poor to suffer so much?”

My response, which seems logical to me is; so that you will have reasons to practice the Beatitudes and to open your eyes to how well God has blessed you.  Those things give you the opportunity to thank God for the gifts you have been given by using them to reach out to those who are suffering.

God wants to see if you will just sit back being complacent or do you live as Jesus and the saints did speaking out against injustice, fighting poverty, working for equality for all people and seeking peaceful means to settle disputes.

Advent is the time that reminds us that we have to remain diligent, be awake to what is going on around us and respond in a Christ like way.

We need to give God private time each day, morning and evening, where we examine how we went about the day and where we can improve ourselves.

We need to be mindful of the blessings we have been given by God.  We must take time daily to thank God for bringing us through the day.

We need to be preparing ourselves for the day when we will meet Christ dressed not in filthy clothing but in our finest raiment.

Let us begin the season of Advent preparation by seriously evaluating ourselves and if we are prepared to meet God at our final judgment.

Let’s be honest with ourselves when we take our inventory on how we are living as Christians and make whatever adjustments are necessary to life in accord with the teachings Christ.

Let’s make sure our gift to Christ on the celebration of his birth is a more perfect self this Christmas.  AMEN

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