The deacons preached this weekend. Below is my homily for the First Sunday of Advent (Year A - 11/27/2022), preached at the 12:00 Mass:
Good afternoon. A blessed First Sunday of Advent to you all and your families. Advent has become my favorite season of the liturgical year because it brings me peace in midst of the busyness of the holiday season and the anticipation of turning the page on a new calendar year. Advent reminds me to slow down, quiet my heart, and reflect on the hope, peace, joy, and love that await us all on Christmas Day when we celebrate the anniversary of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Advent is also a season of preparation for the Lord’s Second Coming at the end of time. Our early Christian brothers and sisters thought that Jesus’ return would be imminent? Yet, here we are, almost two thousand years later, and we are still wondering to ourselves: when is the “end of time”? Well, it is not TBD (or “to be determined”) because God has already determined it. It is also not TBA (or “to be announced”) because that is up to God, not us. All we need to realize is that Jesus will come again at the end of time because he promises that he will come again in today’s Gospel: “For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. . . for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Until then, Christ tells us to “stay awake” and “be prepared”!
My sisters and brothers in Christ, there is almost a feeling of foreboding in Jesus’ message but only because, like with Noah before the flood, our Lord wants us to have a sense of the urgency in getting “our house in order '' in joyful anticipation of his Second Coming. Now, you may remember in his homily, on the Solemnity of Christ the King, Fr. Charlie posed these questions for us to ponder: “If our lives were to end tomorrow, what is that thing we wish we would have changed, that we would have done something different about? What is that thing that we would especially regret having done or not having done if our lives were to end tomorrow?” Might I be so bold as to tweak Fr. Charlie’s questions just a bit and pose to you all the following questions: “If we were to meet Jesus tomorrow, what is that thing we wish we would have changed, that we would have done something different about? What is that thing that we would especially regret having done or not having done if we were to meet Jesus tomorrow?” I believe we are in the perfect season of the year to reflect on these questions in our own lives because, as Saint Paul tells us: “our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”
A few days ago, we gathered with our families and friends for Thanksgiving and we shared what we are thankful for. Perhaps we even thought about family members who were not there with us and why they were not there. I am not referring to family members who are in college or the military and could not make it home for Thanksgiving or even those loved ones who have gone to their heavenly rewards. Rather, I am thinking about those family members who are estranged because of arguments, unforgiveness, or resentment. While Thanksgiving is a perfect time to reflect on all the people and things in our lives that we are grateful for, Advent is the perfect season for us to offer and receive forgiveness, to mend broken relationships, and to reconcile with loved ones and friends who are separated from us by choice. Most of all, Advent is the perfect season for us to ask God for forgiveness and receive his mercy, to restore our relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to reconcile ourselves to our Father in heaven through the outpouring of grace from the Holy Spirit, and help each other do the same.
My sisters and brothers in Christ, this is the true miracle of Christmas and a way to enter the New Year with renewed hope, peace, joy, and love. In her wisdom, the Church gives us the season of Advent to prepare ourselves, to open our hearts to the Incarnate Son of God, to take a chance and risk inviting Jesus into those empty, cold, and dark areas in our lives that need healing, renewal and restoration, and peace. I admit, this all sounds like a Hallmark movie; however, it is possible with the grace of God, and Saint Paul also tells us how in today’s second reading; just listen to what he tells the Romans (and us): “. . .put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” Saint Paul writes that “the flesh has desires against the Spirit. . . the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity. . . idolatry. . . hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy. . . and the like. . . those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:17, 19-21). Therefore, to overcome the desires of the flesh, so as to inherit the kingdom of God, we must put on the “armor of light”. We must “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” When we do, we will see others as Jesus sees them, hear others as Jesus hears them, and love others as Jesus loves them. The question then is, how do we “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”?
As I reflected on this, the Holy Spirit revealed to me a nursery rhyme that I sang with my goddaughter, niece, and nephews when they were younger. I am sure everyone here has heard of this nursery rhyme. It goes something like this: “head, shoulders, knees, and toes. . .” Once again, allow me to be so bold as to tweak this nursery rhyme a bit and say that to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”, we must put on Jesus’ head, heart, hands, and feet. Throughout the Gospel, we read how Jesus goes off to a mountain or a quiet place and prays, to discern his Father’s will. Therefore, when we put on the head of Jesus, our thoughts are always directed toward our Father in heaven, that His will be done, not ours. And we all know that the Father’s will flows from His love and mercy for us, from His Most Sacred Heart, that pours forth water and blood on the Cross for our salvation (John 19:34).
Thus, when we put on the heart of Jesus, when our heart beats as one with the heart of the Father, our will flows from a place of love and mercy. We become Christ in the world and our head and heart move our hands to do the will of God and our feet to “walk in the light of the Lord”. We put on the hands of Christ, hands that stretch out and catch others who are drowning in their own unbelief and lack of faith and give them hope. With the hands of Christ, we can lead them to an encounter with Jesus, perhaps at retreats like the upcoming “Welcome Weekend Retreats” for women and men, where they discover that there is more to life because God created them for a reason, that they have a purpose in God’s plan of salvation. Let us put on the feet of Christ, not only walk in the ways that God instructs us but lead others to “walk in his paths. . . to walk in the light of the Lord!” so that they too might share in the hope of Christ.
At the beginning of Mass, we lit the first purple candle on the Advent wreath. This candle symbolizes hope, our hope in Emmanuel - “God with us”. I want to share my hope for you and your families this Advent season. I hope that you and your family make memories of Advent that hold insights into the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, not a blur of things to do, places to go, and people to see. I hope that you and your family experience the true spirit of the Advent season, the spirit of hope, peace, joy and love that comes from quieting our hearts to prepare ourselves spiritually and prayerfully for baby Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God who “became man to take our sins upon Himself.” I hope that you and your family are intentional in putting on the Lord Jesus Christ - head and heart directed towards God, hands and feet directed on the path leading to God - so as to grow in the virtues of faith, hope, and love, keeping the light of Christ burning brightly for each other and the world as we prepare for the joy of Christmas. Amen.
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