December 2, 2018

1^st Sunday of Advent (C)  

“Remember to Look Both Ways”

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

When we were small, we learned a valuable instruction that we follow to this day, to “look both ways” when crossing the street. We might well say this is Advent’s admonition because it invites us to look in two directions—to the past with gratitude for all that the Lord has done and into the future—to the end of time—to God’s judgement that awaits us.
 
Our spiritual life involves looking in these two directions. We must never forget what the Lord in his love has done for us already—he has saved us and given us a share in his divine life that comes to us through the sacraments. We must also keep our eyes on what is to come, to judgment and to what God has prepared for us. As we do this we also realize that, as one writer put it, “Although we already have one foot in heaven, we must remain vigilant because we are not there yet. We have a journey yet to complete.
 
This journey is marked of course by faith and charity but also by HOPE. So often we view hope as a sort of optimism, a wish, or a feeling: “I hope I win the lottery.” “I hope my boss doesn’t come in today.” “I hope that Monsignor’s homily will be short.” “I hope the Eagles win their next game.”
 
But Christian hope, the theological virtue of hope, is not wishful thinking; it is a certainty, because it is based on the word of Christ who “can never deceive nor be deceived.”
 
This is why the Christian symbol for hope is the anchor. What the anchor is for a boat, hope is for our souls. Feelings are fleeting but Christian hope is the anchor which keeps us from drifting off, it keeps us focused on our life’s ultimate goal. It is the anchor that keeps us steady through difficult times, steady when we face life’s hard realities—the mystery of suffering and death.
 
Without hope, we despair and God did not create us for a life of hopelessness but for the life of heaven.
 
In the book of Lamentations we find a vivid description of suffering: Speaking of God, the prophet says, “He has worn away my flesh...he has broken my bones...weighed me down with chains...even when I cry for help, he stops my prayers. He left me desolate...broken my teeth with gravel, pressed my face in the dust.”
 
But then the prophet suddenly changes his tone: “But I will call this to mind as my reason to have hope: the favors of the Lord are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent. They are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness...My portion is the Lord, therefore I will hope in him.” The prophet was able to “look both ways” to the past mercies of God and to a future of new life.
 
This is Advent’s invitation to us: to look to the past with gratitude and to the future with confidence. The Lord is present alongside us in every situation. Not just now and then, but at every moment. If He is always with us, what is there to fear?
 
Let’s look both ways, so that at the end of time, at the moment of judgement, we will not despair but “stand erect” and raise our heads, standing before our Judge of justice, love, and mercy.