November 28, 2021

1^st Sunday of Advent -C-Homily

What are we Waiting For?
Deacon Kevin O'Boyle

Good morning!

Today, as I am sure most everyone here knows, the Church enters the Season of Advent- that 4-week period before Christmas.  But what is Advent really for?  A general definition I found in a site called YourDictionary on the internet says that advent means “the coming or arrival of something or someone that is important or worthy of note.”  In this case, the most obvious thing and person of importance would be Christmas and Jesus.  But to us as Catholics, the season should be much more than a season of waiting, and the goal, while certainly including Christmas, is much more than that.

Christmas is a day when we commemorate the incarnation, which is the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem- God becoming Man.  His mission here on earth was to redeem us from our sins.  He would accomplish that by suffering and dying for each one of us for the forgiveness of our sins.  This would open the gate of heaven for us.  But it is not quite that simple.  While the singular act of Christ’s Suffering, Death and Resurrection opens the gates of heaven for us through remission of our sins, it does not quite end there.  If we want to enjoy that life in Heaven, we are called to live, as best we can, avoiding sin, and when we fail, going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and vowing to avoid those sins in the future.

But there is still more.  While Christmas certainly commemorates that day in history over two thousand years ago, it should also look forward to two other events – our Particular Judgement at the time of our death, and the Final Judgement with Christ’s Second coming at the end of time. For just as we are entering a period of waiting for a commemoration of Christ’s birth at Christmas, so we are always in an ongoing period of waiting to meet Jesus face to face at our Judgement.  On the basis of this judgement, we will be sent to Heaven for eternal happiness with Jesus, to Purgatory, for a period of cleansing after which we will go to heaven, or, to those who die in a state of non-repentant mortal sin, to Hell, a place of permanent separation from God and punishment.  This period of Advent should be not simply a period of waiting for Christmas.  It should be a period of preparation for our meeting Jesus at our Judgement.  So, how do we prepare?

Our readings today lay much of this out for us.  In our first reading, Jeremiah predicts the coming of Jesus, the “shoot” from the tree of David.  In our second reading, Paul, after Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension is pleading with the Thessalonians to live a life of love for each other, that they may be held “blameless in holiness before our God and Father”.  Finally, in our Gospel, Jesus teaches his followers about signs of his Second Coming, and how they should act in preparation for it.  “Do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.”

So, what are we waiting for this Advent and in all the Advents of our life?  Certainly Christmas, which commemorates the first coming of Jesus.  But we should also be waiting for His Second Coming when we will e Judged.  And, more importantly, we should not simply be waiting, but doing something to prepare for them.  What we do, will vary with each of us, but we all should be looking at how we love (or don’t love) each other- even our enemies or those who hurt us.  An increase in love will always bring us closer to hearing Jesus say, Well done, Good and Faithful Servant as we meet Him in Judgement.  And that is something to think about this week.  God Bless!!