First Sunday of Advent - A (December 1, 2013) Homily

 

First Sunday of Advent - A (December 1, 2013)

 Readings: Isaiah 2: 1-5/ Romans 13: 11-14 / Matthew 24: 37-44

Fr. Charles Johnson, OP

 

          If I ask what you long for in life, will it be the same as what you prepare for?  Is what you expect to come to pass the same as what you hope for?  In other words, are your expectations similar to or compatible with your hopes? In today’s readings, ranging from the prophet Isaiah to St. Paul to the Lord’s admonitions in the Gospel according to Matthew, we get an interesting mix of longing and the need, sometimes urgent, for preparation.  The prophet Isaiah leads us to aspire to greater ideals that we long for but rarely seem to experience, whereas St. Paul and Jesus call us to be awake and prepared for the Lord’s coming and not be lulled into complacency. At the same time, I cannot help but perceive that woven into the message of Jesus is the challenge to us that what we long for must be compatible with what we expect to happen or even prepare for.  In other words, the good Lord not only calls out to us to be prepared, but to know what and who it is that we await, or better put, who it is that we long for, who it is that we must make room for in our lives.

         The eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage were not really the issue.  Rather, the problem was and is the living of life without making space for God and the needs of a suffering world all around us. When St. Paul and Jesus admonish us to “stay awake,” it is not about spiritual insomnia, but having a disposition and attitude of longing for God and believing that his promises are real and meant to come to pass in our time and in eternity. The great rabbi Abraham Heschel wrote, “What makes you think you will like heaven, if nothing in your life on earth resembles it.”  Earthly existence surely is not heaven and vice-versa.  However, Christ gives us the means to make sure the two are not strangers.  

It has to do with understanding our earthly weaknesses as reasons for trust in the Lord’s heavenly remedies.

 

It has to do with our knowing and trusting Jesus in the here and now, so we are able to recognize him not only in the future but also in the present. 

 

         Recognize Christ on high and his face in our neighbor.  Knowing and trusting Jesus in our day and age, so that his mercy and peace might truly be both gifts to share and gifts to come. The vision of peace given by the great prophet, of “beating swords into plowshares,” seems like a utopia.  If that’s the case, it’s because we’ve let what we expect take precedence over who and what we hope for. For those who love as God commands us, the coming of Christ is not a threat, but an eagerly-awaited blessing.  A blessing we are meant to embrace and enjoy today and tomorrow.  The Lord comes to us because he loves us.  In the end, being prepared is not limited to being vigilant, but being open to receive his mercy and peace believing and hoping in the good that follows.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming.  Ready or not, he’s already here.

Advent blessings,

Fr. Charlie  

 

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Second Sunday of Advent - A (December 8, 2013) Homily

Second Sunday of Advent - A (December 8, 2013)

Gospel reading:  Matthew 3: 1-12

Fr Charles Johnson, O.P.

 

One of the great spiritual writers of our time, Padre Ignacio Larrañaga, a Capuchin Franciscan priest who lived in Chile, died in late October at 85 years of age.  I had the privilege of hearing him give a talk 4 years ago in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, where I served in mission. 

 

In spite of his advanced age, he told the nearly 1,000 people in attendance a story of an imaginary conversation between John the Baptist and Jesus. 

 

John, with the full force of his prophetic clarity said that the time had come.  “The ax lies at the root of the trees and the time had come to cut them down.  Religious and social corruption had taken root and the only remedy was to chop them down, but from the roots.” 

 

Fr. Larrañaga’s tone changed as he switched to give the response of Jesus, who with equal firmness replied, “No, it’s all about my Heavenly Father’s mercy.  That is what is needed.  Always mercy, the cutting can wait”

 

The effect of the message was palpable.  We had come to hear the words of wisdom of a contemporary spiritual master.  However, instead of an ethereal message, we were brought to the depths of God’s very essence: mercy, simple mercy.  Be patient, let God’s mercy do what is needed.

 

Yes, John the Baptist was right.  He looked upon the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees as well as the immorality of his time and saw it all for what it was: a failure to recognize sinfulness in its many forms and the need for sincere repentance.  The same can be said for us and our day and age. 

 

The hard-hitting message of John the Baptist had drawing power.  It was obviously very cathartic and brought about sincere conversions in the people who came to him.

 

However, John the Baptist’s perspective needs more, it needs grace. It needs Christ to be complete and to have staying power.   Perhaps John the Baptist needed a little more patience.

 

Pope Francis writes that “we cannot but admire the resources that Jesus used to dialogue with his people and teach them and reveal his mystery to all.” The “secret,” the Pope says, “lies in the way Jesus looked at people, seeing beyond their weaknesses and failings.”

 

Seeing and going beyond our weaknesses and failings to get at the love he himself has given us. Jesus knows where that love is sometimes hidden, do we?  Take the time in prayer to open up your heart to his light; it might be a surprise what we discover. 

 

John the Baptist recognized more the obvious, the sinfulness and hypocrisy of his age.  However, we need Jesus to recognize what is sometimes less obvious to us: that beyond all the sin and suffering that seem to occupy center stage and get all the attention, his love is at work; his grace is alive. 

 

Sometimes the getting beyond our weaknesses and failings, our sinfulness, requires some work.  However, for Jesus it’s not that it takes time, but love.  Keep in mind what St. Peter teaches us in his second letter: “Consider the patience of our Lord as salvation.”  

 

Even in the coldest of hearts, the patient mercy of Christ can find the warmth of love.  How?  Well, it’s a love that he puts there …. Have we let it take root? 

 

The good news is that God prefers to prune the vines and not cut them down.  He longs for us to be fruitful branches, not firewood.

 

Advent blessings,

Fr. Charlie

 

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Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

Advent Greetings!  You've probably heard it many times before that Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for the coming of Christ, in anticipation of the birth of the child Jesus.  It has much to do with time and how we use it.  For most of us, the month of December brings more activities and obligations that clamor for our attention.  It can seem obvious that time and patience tend to be in short supply.  Also, it can be easy to wonder, do the situations we find ourselves in rule us or are we able to bring things to a reasonable pace that respects our need for health of body and soul?  Little peace within us and between us and those who make up our world will also result in little attention being given to God's presence in our midst.  In pondering our daily routines and obligations, consider the wisdom of Blessed Pope John Paul II:  "Do not be afraid to give your time to Christ! Yes, let us open our time to Christ, that he may cast light upon it and give it direction." 

 

God bless,

 

Fr. Charlie

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