1st Sunday of Advent 2013
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius &
Bacchus/ Franciscans Divine Mercy
Independent Catholic Church of
the Americas
1st Sunday of Advent Video
Reflection http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCEIBhO8CBM
Link to Franciscans of Divine Mercy Facebook
Page: https://www.facebook.com/FranciscansDivineMercy?fref=ts
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
