1st Sunday of Advent

This Sunday we begin the season of Advent and we begin another church year as we start our preparation for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. This year all we do at this time in preparation for and celebration of Christmas will be tempered by the reality that COVID19 is with us as a real and present danger lurking in the background. Christmas when we get to it will be very different for all of us as we struggle to make sense of everything that has happened since last year.

Advent like Lent is a time of spiritual preparation and there are many opportunities for doing this between now and Christmas Eve. Amongst all the razzmatazz of the Christmas preparations and the madness of the shoppers on our town and city streets including Black Friday we need to stop and ask ourselves what are we waiting for this Advent.  We are waiting for Jesus who is coming to help us awaken from sleep so we can put aside all that is false in our lives and our world and rebuild our house on rock, that is the rock of faith. St. Paul’s words “God is faithful” will accompany us through any change or adjustment we need to make in our lives . This is the God Isaiah evokes as he imagines us as clay to be formed by our God, “the potter,” and reminds us, “we are all the work of god’s hands.  The Father will transform both humanity and nature to the way he intended them to be from the first moment of creation free from sin, sickness, and death- free from the consequences of evil. In our anticipation for the Lord’s coming, we hope that our faith will help reveal the Kingdom and prepare others as well as ourselves for eternity. Our efforts alone will not bring about the Kingdom, as if we humans can progress or evolve to a higher plane by ourselves. But, God, acting through us, will reveal and realise the Kingdom. Then, when we act according to his will; we add our contribution to his activity.       CCC 1042-1050

Blessed John Henry Newman in his time reminded us in a homily for the Advent Season: “Advent is a time of waiting, it is a time of joy because the coming of Christ is not only a gift of grace and salvation but it is also a time of commitment because it motivates us to live the present as a time of responsibility and vigilance. This ‘vigilance’ means the necessity, the urgency of an industrious, living ‘wait’. For all this to happen we need to wake up, as we are warned in the  reading to the Romans: ‘Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Rm 13:11).As we begin this advent we ask ourselves what are we waiting for ? Are we waiting for the razzmatazz of Christmas Day or are we preparing as we should be for the greatest gift of God, Jesus his Son, Christ the Son of God the light in the darkness for a broken world. A world that needs something to hold on to this Christmas especially during the Covid 19 Pandemic.

ADVENT REFLECTION

As we begin the Churches new year it is a good opportunity to stop and reflect on what has happened over the last year and as we all know such a lot has happened. In particular we have the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic in which many have lost their lives and many more have given their all in terms of caring for and sharing with other people. We pray for them all. It has been a time of uncertainty as well as fear of the unknown for all of us. We have come through all the upheaval of the last 8 months and now we are moving towards Christmas.

Advent is the time of preparation for Christmas and Christmas this year will be very different for all of us for so many reasons especially COVID 19. Sadly, for so many who live in our secular world, Advent has no meaning.  It is so easy to pass the whole of December in the frantic secular preparation for Christmas.  With all of this going on the Church invites us to spend these 4 weeks in a spirit of hope filled anticipation. Advent from the Latin, Adventus means `coming’. God wants to be with us that is why he sent his Son Jesus into the world. As we think about the deeper meaning of Advent we cannot forget those who are in any kind of need especially as a result of the COVID Pandemic.  Over these days  of preparation we are asked to go beyond our own personal comfort zones and to take note of the places and people in this world most easily overlooked by everyone especially where we live.  

That is why the money we give to those organisations such as saint Vincent DePaul and the Salvation Army are so important at this time of the year as they help so many more people at Christmas and this year there will be so many people who will need their assistance due to the current circumstances. There are a number of steps for all of us to take to enter into the Advent season. All of us should slow down and as a result of covid19 this should be the case as we go about the daily toil that this time of year brings. Then, when we slow down we can begin to quietly pray, “Come, Lord, Jesus.”  Advent is about letting God come to live in us as we go about our everyday lives. For all of us, the Christmas we will celebrate this year with COVID19 around us  will be very different in comparison to wonderful Christmases of our past perhaps because we were younger perhaps because some of our loved ones who were central to our Christmas celebrations are no longer living perhaps because the burdens and struggles of life or the changes in our world robbed this Christmas of something or someone that was there before.

Some of us, might be looking forward to Christmas, and not be as aware as we should of the people around us who will be  struggling with Christmas,yet we  feel that, in spite of our best efforts to make Advent different there is still something missing, and we still feel that we are not -ready for Christmas when it finally arrives. For all of us, the story behind Christmas  draws us in, and invites all of us to understand the mystery of how Jesus came into this world and why.  Our best preparation for the Christmas Season  is for us to reflect upon how he came.  He came in the midst of scandal and conflict.  He came in poverty.  He was rejected before he was born.  He was born in a Manger in a Stable.  He was hunted down.  And he grew up in obscurity. He did not shun our world its poverty and conflict.   He embraced it.  And he wants to embrace us today, on this day at this time especially in this time of COVID19 with all its difficulties.  Right where we are.  Right when we are feeling most distant.  Right when  we are feeling least “religious” or “ready.” 

If we let him come into our hearts during these challenging days, we will find ourselves entering into the real meaning  of Christmas. Christmas  is all about being the people  that we are called in faith to be that is people who are caring for and sharing with our families and friends as well as those who are in need wherever they are and there are many people who have little or nothing at all.  All of our Advent preparations should lead us to  the celebration of the Christ Child Emmanuel who is God with us. So as we go forward may the Advent season help us to prepare for the birthday of Jesus at Christmas as we make our preparation this year we pray:

Come, Lord, Jesus.”  “Come into my life, it is messy in so many ways. I believe you love me.  Come and fill my heart mind and soul with the peace and the love only you can give.” “Come, Lord, Jesus, come into this house, into my family, into our struggles. Come and heal us, and give us peace in heart mind and spirit. Come into our communities and let us experience, each in our own way, the joy you are offering us at Christmas time.”

THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

This Sunday  we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. The theme of the kingship of Christ should not be misunderstood. Jesus is not king in an earthly sense of the word. The acclamations of the crowds that took place in the Gospel and the enthusiastic endorsement of the disciples that Jesus is the Messiah might mislead us. Jesus is king to the Glory of God the Father; Jesus is Messiah, because he is the anointed one of God, who comes to do the will of God.The gospel parable of the last judgment picks up on the king and shepherd themes. At the end time Jesus, the Shepherd King, will return and surrounded by his retinue of angels, will judge the nations. He will share his glory with those he finds worthy. Will he find us to be worthy of his call to be with him forever? If we are serious about our Christianity, if we are committed to the Kingdom of God, then we will be living lives of sacrificial love, the love of Jesus Christ. To take Christ as our Shepherd involves becoming a shepherd to others making Christ present to them by reaching out showing the faith and leading them along the path of faith if they aren’t already there.

The kingdom of Christ, a reign of charity and peace, is for all of us where ever we are. We remember that the Kingdom of God exists in every home where parents and children love each other. It exists in every region and country that cares for its weak and vulnerable people. It exists in every parish that reaches out to the needy with a helping hand. This very moment in our history and our lives presents us with a challenge and a choice. We can hear the Lord’s call in the presence of other’s needs. Or, we can turn away. Still there is hope in the grace God offers. Our past selfish ways can be overcome.  Now is the time for  conversion of heart and mind as we look to the season of Advent. Now is the time to give ourselves to the work God and his kingdom where all are valued and no one is left behind. These months of the pandemic have highlighted the desperate need of the poor, and those newly impoverished by loss of jobs, businesses and everything else.  Jesus directs us Christians today, even if our resources are limited, to ask ourselves: What can we share with those Jesus so powerfully identifies with in today’s parable?  May all of us take up the challenge that the feast of Christ the King gives us . That challenge is to reach out to others showing them that the ways of Jesus that is the way of caring and sharing with other people is  what we as Christians are really all about especially during the CIVID19 pandemic

33RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

This Sunday we celebrate the world day of the poor for 2020 and is has as its theme Stretch forth your hand to the poor” (Sir 7:32). This is a timely reminder to all of us who support Church Based charities to continue our support of the organisations such as the St. Vincent DePaul  and the Salvation Army especially during the run up to Christmas 2020 with all the challenges that it will bring with the ongoing COVID19 pandemic.

Our reading from the Gospel for this weekend  is about the servant and his one talent. The parable speaks first of the Master’s trust in his servants. While he goes away he leaves them with his money to use as they think best. While there were no strings attached, this was obviously a test to see if the Master’s workers would be industrious and reliable in their use of the money entrusted to them.

The master rewards those who are industrious in their work and faithful to his vision and he punishes those who sit idly by and who do nothing with his money. The essence of the parable seems to lie in the servants’ conception of responsibility. Each servant entrusted with the master’s money was faithful up to a certain point. The servant who buried the master’s money was irresponsible. One can bury seeds in the ground and expect them to become productive because they obey natural laws. Coins, however, do not obey natural laws. They obey economic laws and become productive in circulation. The master expected his servants to be productive in the use of his money. If we stop and substitute the money aspect of the parable with the word faith then we get to what the parable is really about and it tells us that faith is a real and wonderful gift from God that should be treasured. Faith is also given to us according to our ability to deal with it; each in proportion to his ability, as it says in the parable.

But the most important aspect of the Parable is that the Master will eventually return and the big question is will we be ready for his return? Paul assures us, ” The day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.” This is a wake-up call to alert us to stop relying on false security, while missing the ways that Jesus comes into our lives and they are many.  Sometimes we feel God’s blessing. Sometimes we feel he is away out there in the distance. There are even times God may feel like the enemy. We enjoy times of intimacy as graced moments. But in all the moments of our lives  we should try to realize that in times of distance and estrangement God offers us his life. The Gospel parable about the talents, and Saint Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians both tell us to be at peace with ourselves in heart and mind, for if we are doing the Lord’s work there is nothing to fear. So let us be fearless in our living out the gospel in our lives where we are and remember that even in our darkest times God is near to those who love him and do his will.

32ND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

This week we have seen the presidential election in the USA and it has been a real roller coaster for so many people. We pray for the American Nation and its people we pray for the healing of the hurt that the election process has brought as there are many people who are hurting at this time.

The theme of our readings this weekend is not marriage though the Gospel story is about the bridegroom and his attendants. Instead the readings point us towards something very different that is the gift of Wisdom. The first reading  taken from the Book of Wisdom cites watchfulness as the key to a faithful understanding of wisdom according to St. Bernard wisdom lights up the mind and instils an attraction to the divine.  The author of the Book of Wisdom reminds us that we have one unfailing presence to guide us through our lives that is Wisdom. We are told Watch for her early and you will have no trouble; you will find her sitting at your gates. She is “resplendent and unfading;” always there for those who seek her out.  So we are called in this reading to look for wisdom that comes from god and it will be given to us.

The Gospel story for this Sunday is about an oil crisis in the Middle East it tells us about the five bridesmaids who didn’t buy extra lamp oil they were foolish because they weren’t prepared for the late arrival of the bridegroom. On the other hand the story flags up the wisdom of the five wise bridesmaids who were prepared for the late arrival of the bridegroom as they went out and bought more oil for their lamps. Their wisdom wasn’t extraordinary, but eminently practical. It is true that it is difficult, or impossible, to estimate the quantity of oil necessary to keep a lamp lit as we wait for an unknown length of time! In this story the Lamp oil is really about our faith and how we live our faith. This Gospel calls us to seize the moment and direct our lives guided by the wisdom that God gives us through the life and teachings of Jesus. What we experience is the routine of work, school, and various activities, rushed family meals, television, the news on the car radio, shopping, visiting elderly parents, friends and family, church services, etc. It can feel so predictable and it is. But the routine of our daily lives  can also be shattered by the unexpected and sudden demands life puts on us and our loved ones.

This has been proved to be very true in recent months during the COVID19 pandemic and that is the main thing that 2020 will be remembered for that none of us expected or wanted, it has become a great crisis for so many people who have lost their livelihoods and more importantly lost members of their families or friends. When the crisis of life whatever they may be whenever they might happen are we be ready to respond? It depends on how well we have tended to our “oil” supply.  If we have squandered it by neglect, or missed opportunities then when we look for backup in a moment of crisis, like the bridesmaids we may be left with the sound of the slamming door being locked as the bridegroom tells us I don’t know who you are you are too late. Only those who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding. When God calls us, will we be ready as we do not know the hour when the bridegroom will come.