Michel DeVerteuil
General Comments
Although the passage is short, you may divide it up, as each section is different and you may meditate on it separately.
The key to to understanding verse 33 is to take “the time” as the time of grace, the time when a longed for event finally comes to pass: Jesus is reminding us that if we are not awake we let those moments pass us by.
Verses 34 and 35 are a parable, although the emphasis changes is verse 35 so that even these two verses should be meditated on separately. In verse 34 the vocation of the doorkeeper is the focus, so enter into it. In verse 35 the delay in coming is the main point.
In verse 37 identify with Jesus, consciously making a distinction between “you” and “all”.
Lord, we remember the hard times:– a relationship meant everything to us, yet we were just not communicating;
– a beloved child had turned to drugs or alcohol;
– the project to which we had given ourselves wholeheartedly collapsed.
Then, quite unexpectedly, something happened and all was well again.
How true, Lord, that when we are dealing with people we must never lose hope
but remain on our guard and stay awake,
because we never know when the time will come.
Lord, the world today presents a dismal picture:
– violence in families, in neighbourhoods, between nations;
– famine in the midst of abundance;
– money that is sorely needed for food and drink spent on arms.
It is enough to make anyone despair.
You tell us today that this is not your will for the world at all.
It is like when the master of the house goes abroad and delays returning,
so that everyone becomes slack and undisciplined.
We pray that we Christians may be like faithful servants,
each of us with our own task,
and especially that we may be like doorkeepers,
a sign to all that this world is your home
and you will be returning soon to live with us.
Lord, we thank you for the people who have waited for us
– parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts;
the church community; friends.
When everyone else had given up on us and gone to sleep,
they were the doorkeepers.
As we hesitantly made our way home, wondering if we would be let in,
they were awake and welcomed us back.
Lord, forgive us that we give up too quicklyjust because evening and midnight have passed.
But when we stop hoping we miss the opportunities you send us:
– a moment of reconciliation comes but we don’t even notice it;
– the word of encouragement that could have brought a community
or nation to life remains unspoken;
– we give things to people but we do not give them the space
where they could grow in self-confidence,
all because we are not on our guard and have gone to sleep.
Lord, we watch today with all those who wait:
– oppressed peoples throughout the world;
– those who are trying to be agents of reconciliation in Ireland, in Colombia, in the Holy Land;
– those who are working for solidarity between rich and poor nations.
Evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn have all come and gone.
We watch with them, trusting that their time will come
Lord, there are many in our country who have lost hope.
Say to all what you have said to us Christians –
that we must not despair but must stay awake.
********************************************************
Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration
Today we begin Advent. This is the period when we prepare to celebrate the coming of the Christ among us two millennia ago, but we also believe that he is coming among us now and so we have to be prepared to receive him, and we know that he will come again at the end of time and we have to prepare the world for his coming. Everything we do as Christians is related to these three comings. So let us reflect on how it is because he first came that we are here at the Eucharist today; gathered now we ask pardon of our sins that we might be prepared for his second coming in this Eucharist; and as a community let us pray that we will be ready to stand before him when he comes again in Glory.
2. Given this fact of so much misinformation in the public imagination about The End, this opportunity to say something that is not sensationalist and does express the church’s faith on the eschaton should not be passed over.
3. The place to begin is to acknowledge that there are two distinct views, schools of thought, about The End within the Christian tradition and that these views go back to the time of the earliest followers of Jesus. On the one hand there is the familiar view that God will come as avenging justice and repay the wicked with suffering: The End as the Great Crunch. A careful reading of the evidence in the gospels makes it almost certain that this was the vision of The End that was preached by John the Baptist: ‘His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire’ (Mt 3:12). One of the matters where Jesus’s teaching is very different from that of John the Baptist is on precisely this point: The End that Jesus announces as coming is one where suffering humanity is delivered through the Father’s love. For Jesus, The End is the Great Banquet. He preached a future in terms of banquet, harvest, rest, and fullness. The stark choice between the message of Jesus and that of the prophet John is the choice between the Great Banquet and the Great Crunch. However, in so far as many of John’s followers became followers of Jesus, they seem to have retained the Baptist’s vision of the future; or they seem to have perceived Jesus’s message as a refinement of John’s, rather than its replacement.
4. Down the centuries these two visions of The End have exercised varying amounts of influence in preaching. Some parts of the church have read, indeed devoured, the Great Crunch approach which has its clearest expression in the Book of the Apocalypse. Other parts of the church have been so appalled by it — the Greek churches on the whole — that while they have kept it in the canon, they have refused to read it in the liturgy. Other parts of the church have preached the Great Crunch, but then used the Great Banquet language of Jesus as the key to imagery about the life of the world to come.
5. The basic message of Jesus about the coming of the Lord is that of being brought into the Banquet of life: God is love, healer, restorer, mercy. If this is our faith, then this must form our vision of the Second Coming. Just as the First Coming was not the mighty warrior king that many hoped for, but love made flesh in Jesus Christ who reconciled the world to the Father, so the Second Coming is the mercy of God in Jesus Christ who reconciles us to the Father and bids us to takes our places in the Great Banquet. Hence our presence today at the Eucharist: this is the foretaste of that banquet. Christ’s coming now in our gathering is the anticipation of his final coming.
6.
To reflect on how we view the Second Coming is the challenge to purify our mind’s images of the future, of the message of the Christ, and our image of God.It is to replace the image of the Great Crunch with the Great Banquet; to replace the image of vengeance with that of mercy; to replace the image of God is power with that of God is love.
7. For Christians, the future is good news!
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Sean GoanGospel Comment
It is widely thought that Mark’s was the first gospel to be written and that it was composed in Rome just after Nero’s extremely violent persecution of the Christians of that city. One of the themes in Mark is that Jesus is a crucified Messiah and that being faithful to him will involve suffering for your beliefs. This means that they must always be vigilant and that is the theme of today’s gospel. It is taken from chapter 13 which is a link between the end of Jesus’ public ministry and the beginning of the passion and it stresses the importance of believers not becoming lethargic or casual. The fact is we live in a changing world and new demands will be made on us as followers of Christ. For Mark’s first readers that meant being persecuted by the most powerful government in the world. For us, at this time of year, the threat to our faith may be from a more subtle yet no less destructive enemy of the gospel — rampant consumerism.
When the prophet prayed that God might ‘tear open the heavens and come down’ he was probably thinking in terms of what had happened on Mt Sinai many years before when the Israelites experienced God in the awesome splendour of nature (Ex. 19). It would have been unimaginable for the prophet that God should indeed immerse himself totally in our world and yet in the fullness of time that is precisely what did happen. While Isaiah prayed that the mountains would melt like wax at the presence of God, it seems God was more interested in melting our hearts. It is as though the Potter became the clay. During Advent we are invited to think about our human weakness, not so as to become sad or depressed but so that we can be filled with wonder at the way in which God chooses to save us.The Invitation
I like these words of the late Cardinal Hume: “There are times when I can visualize Our Lord at the break of day standing by my bed and saying: “Get up, follow me.” Whether I am conscious of it or not, in effect that invitation, that loving but insistent command, is given to me every day. Each new morning is the opportunity to start again. Yesterday there may have been inadequacies and failures but today Christ renews his call: “Follow me. I have chosen you. I need you.” Who can fail to respond to the thought that God needs our willing collaboration.”
We are carers of creation and of his people. Take this seriously, it is our world. God has made himself so vulnerable and this gospel reading is just before the passion. An area or parish improves if enough people do something. We look at areas in a locality which are now clean of drugs, more prosperous and just. This has been the work of people co-creating the world with God. Making it a better place. Doing the world a world of good.
Gospel today says – Don’t give up. God is always near! Live in hope and preparation. Stay awake to the season – the ways we can deepen and grow in our faith — maybe do a a retreat, do something good for others with your time or finance, notice God in the events of the next few weeks, pray a bit every day, make time to be awakened to the centre of our world who is God, and to his central action in creating the world each day, sending Jesus Christ his Son.****
From the Connections:
THE WORD:
The beginning of the Christian year begins at the end of time: the promised return of Christ at the end of time. In this brief Gospel parable of the master’s return, Jesus articulates the Advent themes of waiting, watchfulness and readiness. Jesus calls us to realize our responsibilities in the present as we dare to look forward to the promise of the future.
Thee coming of Christ and his presence among us – as one of us – give us reason to live in hope: that light will shatter the darkness, that we can be liberated from our fears and prejudices, that we are never alone or abandoned by our merciful Father in heaven.
Advent confronts us with the preciousness and limits of time: that our lives are an Advent, a prelude, to the life of God to come. While confronting us with the reality that our lives and finite and fragile, these Sundays of Advent also assure us of the mercy of God, who is with us amid all the struggles and challenges of our everyday Advent journey to the dwelling place of God.
Family members and friends can’t do enough for each other. No one is proud, no one stands on ceremony or protocol. Petty disputes and hurts are no where to be found. The distinctions of race and class melt away. A person is a father or spouse first; white, black, Asian second. The garbage man loves his wife as much as the university professor loves his – and everyone understands. Each person pulls for everyone else. A family’s good news gives joy and hope to everyone; the sadness and grief of a family’s loss is felt by everyone.
In the intensive care waiting room, the world changes. Vanity and pretense vanish. The universe is focused on the doctor’s next report.
In the intensive care waiting room, we can’t help but face the fact that life is fragile and limited. In waiting word of some improvement in our loved one’s condition, every moment of life becomes a gift.
The intensive care waiting room is a place of hoping. It is a place of anticipating, of expecting. It is a place of Advent.
****
Life messages : Fr. Tony Kadavil
1) An Advent project of being alert and watchful in the spirit of today’s gospel. Every morning when we get up, let us pray, “Lord, show me someone today with whom I may share your love, mercy and forgiveness.” Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "Whatever you do in your family, for your children, for your husband, for your wife, you do for Jesus." Every night when we go to bed, let us ask ourselves, “Where have I found Christ today?” The answer will be God’s Advent gift to us that day. By being alert and watchful we will receive an extra gift: Christ himself. Let us remember the saying of St. Thomas Aquinas: "Without God, I can't. Without me, He won't."
2) Being wakeful and watchful: We are so future-oriented that we often forget the present entirely. We spend too much time trying to protect ourselves against future misfortunes. We save for a rainy day, to get married, to buy a home, to send the children to college, to retire in comfort and to protect ourselves against future misfortunes. But we need to be more spiritually wakeful and prepare for our eternal life because we can die any day, and that is the end of the world for us. Let this advent season be the time of such a preparation for us.
****
Fr. Jude Botelho
Waiting to be Rescued
Mark Link in ‘Illustrated Sunday Homilies’
A monk asked, “Abbot, what has God’s wisdom taught you? Did you become divine?”
“Not at all!” “Did you become a saint?” “No, as you can clearly see.” “What then, O Abbot?”
“I became awake!”
James Gilhooley in ‘Pastoral Life’
The Challenge of Waiting
“In his book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’, Jewish psychiatrist Viktor Frankl tells the story of how he survived the atrocities of the concentration camp at Auschwitz. Frankl says one of the worst sufferings at Auschwitz was waiting: waiting for the war to end; waiting for an uncertain date of release and waiting for death to end the agony. This waiting caused some prisoners to lose sight of future goals, to let go of their grip on present realities and give up the struggle. This same waiting made others like Frankl accept it as a challenge, as a test to their inner strength and a chance to discover deeper dimensions of freedom.”
Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’
Doors and Dormant Doormen
“Kaka, you’re the only man in the world who’s paid for sleeping!” remarked Joe Dias to the doorkeeper of Premal Jyoti, our Jesuit HQ in Ahmedabad. Early 1980s, when things were missing from the open corridors and gardens of Premal Jyoti, we suspected that it was the work of the Vaghris, a nomadic tribe that lived in the slums nearby. It was Dahyabhai, our parlour attendant, a Vaghri himself, who advised us to keep a Vaghri to keep watch and terminate the thieving. It worked. We employed a Vaghri leader nicknamed Kaka, who ordered his people to stop stealing from Premal Jyoti or else he’d lose his job. Thereafter Kaka has slept at the doors of Premal Jyoti, and, is paid for it! Not all doorkeepers are as lucky as Kaka. In fact, the doorkeeper described in Mark’s gospel must keep watch ‘evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn’! Doorkeeper, are you awake? Will you open the door so that He will dine with you this Christmas?
Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’
One of the wisest, noblest and gentlest men who ever lived was Socrates. He lived in Athens in the fifth century B.C. He was unjustly put to death by the Athenian judges. When Socrates was in the prison waiting for his death, his friend Crito came to visit him. Crito tried to persuade Socrates to escape from the prison. He said, “Socrates, I have enough silver to bribe the prison guards to help you to escape from here.” But Socrates declined it. Then Crito asked him to delay the drinking of the poison. He said, “Socrates, I know other people drink it late. They dine and get drunk and keep company with those they happen to desire. So don’t hurry.” Even this suggestion Socrates declined. He said to Crito, “You know Crito; I wouldn’t do what others have done. I don’t gain anything by clinging on to life a little longer.” Socrates called the jail attendant who came with the cup filled with hemlock poison. Then Socrates asked him, “Sir, you have knowledge of this. What is necessary to do.” The attendant said, “Nothing except drink it and walk around until your legs become heavy, and then lie down and thus it will do it for itself.” Socrates took the cup, raised it and said a prayer and emptied its contents. For some time he walked around; when his legs became heavy, he lay down and pulled a blanket over his head and closed his eyes in death. - As in life, so in death Socrates was a virtuous man. He wanted to be always at-right with justice and with God. He was a man who was perpetually watchful about his righteousness; he was a man who was perpetually prepared to meet his God.
John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’
Wake Up!
Do you remember the movie ‘Awakening’? Robert De Niro plays the part of a patient who, for thirty years, does not move or speak. A particularly, sensitive and enterprising doctor tries out some new theories and lo and behold, the patient begins to move around, talk and feel. For a brief period he returns to this world and announces to those amazed folks around him that he is back: “I have been away for quite some time.... now I am back.” He becomes gradually aware of the love and concern that surrounds him and what is really alive inside of his heart and soul. –It is never too late to wake up. Morning is when you wake up. Advent is a nice time to wake up. Wake up to give an account of your stewardship. Wake up into a time for giving and sharing, a time that we are called to be thankful and prepare our hearts for the Christ child. Wake up and open your eyes in faith to see God present and active in your life and in your world.
Christ Comes in Mystery....
This poem captures what I’m trying to say: “I looked at you and smiled the other day; I thought you’d see me, but you didn’t. I said “I loved you” and waited for what you would say; I thought you’d hear me. But you didn’t. I asked you to come outside and play ball with me; I thought you’d follow me, but you didn’t. I drew a picture just for you to see; I thought you’d save it, but you didn’t. I made a fort for us back in the woods; I thought you’d camp with me, but you didn’t. I found some worms ‘n’ such for fishing, if we could; I thought you’d want to go, but you didn’t. I needed you just to talk to, my thought to share; I thought you’d want to, but you didn’t. I told you about the game hoping you’d be there, I thought you’d surely come, but you didn’t. I asked you to share my youth with me; I thought you’d want to, but you couldn’t. My country called me to war; you asked me to come home safely, but I didn’t.”
William Bausch in ‘The Word In and Out of Season’
# 2: “Ready or not, here I come.” When you
were a child, did you play the game, Hide and Seek? If you did, you will
remember that the person who was “it” closed his eyes while the rest went to
hide. To give them time to hide, the child started counting: 5, 10, 15, 20 and
up to 100. Then he would say, “Ready or not, here I come!” The point of the game
was to hide oneself so well that the leader could not find you, for if he found
you, and beat you back to the goal, you had to be “it” the next go-around. The
secret of the game was preparing oneself against being found and caught. With
excitement we heard the words, “Ready or not — here I come!” In today’s Gospel
lesson Jesus is saying to the world, “Ready or not — here I come.” In chapter
13 of Mark, Jesus tells us that he will be returning to the earth “with great
power and glory.” As in the game, only this is not a game, there is a counting
and an accounting going on right now. It is a countdown before the blast of his
appearance on earth a second time to judge the world and to gather his faithful
to himself. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
# 3: “We are the clay and you are the
potter; we are all the work of Your hands.” (Isaiah 64:7): Pygmalion,
the sculptor, is one of the most famous characters in the myths of ancient
Greece. Because he could not find any woman that measured up to his ideal of
womanhood, he decided not to marry. Instead, he undertook to carve a statue of
a woman that fulfilled his dreams. The statue that he carved was outstandingly
beautiful. He treated it as if it were real, dressing it in the loveliest
clothing, decorating it with jewelry of gold and precious stones. Next time he
visited the temple of Venus, the goddess of love, he timidly prayed that she
give him a wife “like my statue.” Venus took note of the prayer. When Pygmalion
returned home and kissed his beautiful statue, it came to life. Taking the name Galatea,
she accepted Pygmalion’s hand in marriage. Fact is even more wonderful than
fiction. God the creator is the divine sculptor. He shaped each one of us, and
then fell in love with those whom he had made. “…O Lord, you are our Father, we
are the clay and you are the potter; we are all the work of Your hands.”
(Isaiah 64:7. Today’s first reading). (Father Robert F. McNamara). (Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
4: Fear of mother-in-law’s rising: A man from the U.S. took
his family to Israel to see the places where Jesus had lived and died. He was
forced to include his troublesome mother-in-law in the tour party. While in the
Holy Land, his mother-in-law died. An undertaker in Tel Aviv explained that he
could ship the body home to Wisconsin at a cost of $10,000 or the body could be
buried in Israel for US $500. The man says, “We’ll ship her home.” The
undertaker asks, “Are you sure? That’s an awfully big expense and we can do a
very nice burial here right in the Valley of Josephat.” The man replies, “Look,
2000 years ago they buried Jesus here and three days later he rose from the
dead. Besides, during his public ministry he raised Lazarus from the tomb. I
can feel his invisible presence all over here in the Holy Land. So, I just
can’t take that chance in the case of my mother-in-law.”
5: Letting the “left behind” read the newspaper report on
the “rapture.” The Evangelical printer explained to the visitors: “In the
printing trade, the largest print type that can be used on a front-page
headline is called “Second Coming Type”. One of the visitors asked: “If Christ
has come back, who will be left to put out the newspaper?” “Well,” said the
printer, “the good people are caught up in the air and go to Heaven, so the
reporters would be left behind to publish the newspaper for the evil people.”
6: The Messiah is Jewish: A Protestant Minister and a
Catholic Priest enjoyed teasing their Rabbi friend, continually asking him when
he was going to convert to their Faith. When the Christmas season rolled around,
the Rabbi sent them a card with the following note: “Season’s Greetings! Roses
are reddish, Violets are bluish; When the Messiah comes, you’ll wish you were
Jewish!!”
7: “The beginning of a new day”: Some time ago a man was
staying in a chalet (hotel) in the Swiss Alps. Early one morning he heard what
sounded like an earthquake. Hurriedly he got out of bed and ran to the front
desk and asked if there was something wrong, if the mountains were breaking up?
He was scared. The man at the front desk explained, “Sir, we are on the west
side of the mountain. As the sun comes up in the east, and the snow and ice
expand as they begin to get warm. The expansion causes a large crashing noise.
It’s not the end of the world or the Second Coming of Jesus; it’s just the
beginning of a new day.”
8: “God won!”: A little boy walked into his Dad’s room just
as his Dad finished reading the Bible. The son asked, “What are you reading?’
The Father replied, “I am reading the book of Revelation, the last book of the
Holy Bible.” The little boy curiously asked, “What’s it about? His dad replied,
“It’s about God’s final battle against evil.” The little boy excitedly asked,
“Who won?” The Father stooped down to his boy’s eye level and said, “God won.”
9. “Behold, I come!”: One young clergyman preaching his
first sermon, was very nervous. He started with the text, “Behold I come!” Then
his mind went blank. He bravely repeated, “Behold I come!” Still his frightened
brain wouldn’t function. So he leaned over the pulpit and repeated once more,
“Behold I come!” At that moment the pulpit collapsed. He tumbled over into the
lap of a lady. He got up and, red-faced, stammered, “Oh, I’m sorry! Please
forgive me!” The lady was not upset in the least and replied, “That’s all
right. I should have been expecting you. After all you warned me three times!”
(Msgr. Arthur Tonne)
25- Additional anecdotes:
1) “You may judge my ability as a salesman”: Years
ago, when 20th Century Fox advertised in the New York papers to fill a vacancy
in its sales force, one applicant replied: “I am at present selling furniture
at the address below. You may judge my ability as a salesman if you will stop
in to see me at anytime, pretending that you are interested in buying
furniture. When you come in, you can identify me by my red hair. And I should
have no way of identifying you. Such salesmanship as I exhibit during your
visit, therefore, will be no more than my usual workday approach and not a
special effort to impress a prospective employer.” From among more than 1500
applicants, this guy got the job. Jesus wants us to be ready like that man. We
don’t know when He’s coming back, so we should be prepared all the time. (Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
2) Wesley, Luther, and gardener: Once John Wesley was
asked what he would do if he knew this was his last day on earth. He replied,
“At 4 o’clock I would have some tea. At 6 I would visit Mrs. Brown in the
hospital. Then at 7:30 I would conduct a mid-week prayer service. At 10 I would
go to bed and would wake up in glory.” When Luther was asked what he would do
on the day of Jesus’ return, he said he would go out and plant a tree. Our text
tells us that Christ expects each of us to be about our work so that when he
comes, he will find us in gainful and constructive employment, taking care of
the world as his trustees. Some years ago a tourist visited the Castle Villa
Asconti on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy. Only the old gardener
opened the gates and the visitor stepped into the garden, which was perfectly
kept. The visitor asked when the owner was last there. He was told, “Twelve
years ago.” Did he ever write? No. Where did he get instructions? From his
agent in Milan. Does the master ever come? No. “But, you keep the grounds as
though your master were coming back tomorrow.” The old gardener quickly
replied, “Today, sir, today.” A Christian watches and works as though the
Master would return this very day. He wants Jesus to find him busy about his
tasks: washing dishes, mending shoes, running a lathe, teaching school,
planting a rose bush. Jesus will be pleased to see his faithful ones working
hard to build a better world, a more Christian society. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
3) AD 2025: The World Future Society released
their forecasts for the next 25 years a few months ago and some of those
forecasts were upbeat. For example, these futurists predict that by the year
2025 the world will have a billion millionaires. That is a lot of wealthy
people. I hope you are one of them. They also forecast a new process to remove
salt from seawater and make it drinkable at a much lower cost than thought
possible. They predict drastic improvements in artificial intelligence, genetic
engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics. These advances will improve every
aspect of our lives. But they also report that the threat of another cold war
with China, Russia, or both could replace terrorism as the chief foreign-policy
concern of the United States. Scenarios for what a war with China or Russia
would look like make the clashes and wars in which the United States is now
involved seem insignificant. Also, of deep concern is climate change with the
disappearance of much of our biodiversity, widespread flooding and water
replacing oil as the most precious commodity on earth. (futuristupdate@wfs.org )How much
of this will occur? No one knows. But here is what we do know. The God who sent
a tiny babe 2,000 years ago to redeem our world is the same God Who holds the
future. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
4) “What a way to meet the President:” When
Eisenhower was president of the United States, he once visited Denver. His
attention was called to a letter in the local newspaper saying that a six-year-
old boy dying with cancer expressed a wish to see the president. One Sunday
morning a black limousine pulled up in front of the boy’s house. Ike stepped
out of his car and knocked on the front door. The father, Donald Haley, opened
the door wearing faded jeans, an old shirt, and a day’s old beard. Standing
behind him was the boy. Ike said, “Paul, I understand you want to see me. Glad
to see you.” Then he took the boy to the limousine to show it to him, shook
hands, and left. The family and neighbors talked about the President’s visit
for a long time with delight, but the father always remembered it with regret
because of the way he had been dressed. He lamented, “What a way to meet the
President of the United States.” If we keep in fellowship with God through
prayer, we will keep ourselves spiritually dressed for Christ’s coming at any
time. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
5)) “Today, sir, today.” Some years ago, a
tourist visited the Castle Villa Asconti on the shores of Lake Como in northern
Italy. Only the old gardener opened the gates, and the visitor stepped into the
garden, which was perfectly kept. The visitor asked when the owner was last
there. He was told, “Twelve years ago.” Did he ever write? No. Where did he get
instructions? From his agent in Milan. Does the master ever come? No. “But, you
keep the grounds as though your master were coming back tomorrow.” The old
gardener quickly replied, “Today, sir, today.” A Christian watches and works as
though the Master would return this very day. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
6) “Give God a chance to help; wait three days.” It
was the day after Easter. The pastor paused for a moment at the top of the
steps leading from his Church to the avenue, now crowded with people rushing to
their jobs. Sitting in her usual place inside a small archway was the old
flower lady. At her feet corsages and boutonnieres were spread out on a
newspaper. The flower lady was smiling, her wrinkled face alive with joy. The
pastor started down the stairs, then on an impulse turned and picked out a
flower. As he put it in his lapel, he said, “You look happy this morning.” “Why
not? Everything is good.” she answered. She was dressed so shabbily and seemed
so very old that her reply startled him. “No troubles?” he responded. “You
can’t reach my age and not have troubles,” she replied. “Only it’s like Jesus
and Good Friday.” She paused for a moment. “Yes?” prompted the pastor. “Well,
when Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, that was the worst day for the whole
world. And when I get troubles, I remember that. And then I think what happened
only three days later: Easter and our Lord arising. So when I get troubles,
I’ve learned to wait three days and somehow everything gets all right again.”
And she smiled goodbye. — The old flower lady’s advice would help many of us:
“Give God a chance to help; wait three days.” (Patt Barnes in Guideposts)
“Wait on the Lord,” wrote the psalmist, “be of good courage, and He shall
strengthen thine heart….”(27:14). The word wait appears 106 times in the
Scriptures. Sometimes there is nothing else we can do. Like the early Church,
we can only wait, watch, and work. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
7) Baby Jesus with a GPS: It always feels
strange beginning Advent in November. But the stores are already decorated for
Christmas, so why not? I hope the department stores won’t think we’re trying to
spoil their party by injecting a little religion into this busy season of the
year. It reminds me of an item that appeared in USA Today last
year about this time. Authorities in Bal Harbor, FL outfitted the baby Jesus in
their outdoor Nativity Scene with a GPS locator as a protection against
thieves. The previous Baby Jesus was stolen even though it had been bolted
down. “I don’t anticipate this will ever happen again,” said Dina Cellini, who
oversees the display, “but we may need to rely on technology to save our
Savior. The Mary and Joseph statues will also be outfitted with GPS.”
(1.12-24-07, p. 3A. Contributed by Dr. John Bardsley) Interesting! Somebody
stole the Baby Jesus. I’m not surprised. They’ve already stolen Christmas. I’m
exaggerating, of course. Still, I’m thankful you are here today as we seek to
reflect on the meaning of Christ’s coming into the world. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
8) Get ready: John Phillips, in his book Exploring
Revelation, tells about the return of Richard I, the Lionhearted, to
England. It was during the time of the crusades. While Richard was away doing
battle in the Middle East, his kingdom fell on bad times. His brother, Prince
John, justly vilified in the tales of Robin Hood, usurped the kingship and
misruled the realm. The people of England suffered under John’s rule and longed
for the return of their rightful King. They prayed that it might be soon. Then
one day, Richard returned. He landed in England and marched straight for his
throne. John’s castles tumbled before Richard like ninepins. Richard the
Lionhearted laid claim to his throne, and none dared stand in his path. The
people shouted their delight. They rang peal after peal on the bells. The Lion
was back! Long live the king! John Phillips adds these hopeful words: “One day
a King greater than Richard will lay claim to a realm greater than England.
Those who have abused the earth in His absence, seized His domains, and
mismanaged His world will all be swept aside.” (http://www.sermonnotebook.org/revelation/Revelation%201_4-8.htm.
) That day’s coming, friends, and it will be a grand and glorious day. Get
ready. No one knows when it will be. But get ready. No one knows what shape it
will take, but we know this: God’s in charge and God can be trusted. “What I
say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” (Mark 13:37). (Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
9) “Gee, I guess I just wasn’t ready.” There’s an
amusing commercial on television in which a man is about to let go of his
bowling ball as he eyes the pins at the end of the lane. Just as he is ready to
release the ball, he gets lifted out of himself by two men in sparkling white
suits and goes walking off across the lanes, through the walls of the building
and onto a staircase surrounded by clouds. At first he doesn’t understand what
in the world is going on but then it suddenly dawns on him. He has just died.
He looks at the two white-suited men at his side and asks in disbelief, “Are
you sure it was supposed to be me? I was working on a string of strikes!” Convinced
there was no mistake, he goes off reluctantly and shrugs, “Gee, I guess I just
wasn’t ready.” The point of the commercial is that one has to be ready all the
time and for the sponsor that means having insurance, a “piece-of-the-rock.”
That’s the way to be ready. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
10) “Misha, you can come and be in my family and live in
my home.’” On one occasion this missionary couple was teaching the children
about Christmas. They told them all about Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and
wise men, and about the baby Jesus. They told them all about the stable, and
the manger, and the star in the sky. They told them all about God’s love for
the world embodied in the birth of Jesus. And after teaching the children the
Christmas story, this couple invited them to draw some pictures of the manger
scene. All of the pictures were wonderful! But one in particular caught their
attention. It was drawn by a little boy named Misha. And what made Misha’s drawing
distinctive was that there were, not one, but two babies lying in the manger.
“Misha, what a wonderful picture!” said the woman missionary. “But who is the
other baby in the manger with the baby Jesus?” Misha looked up with a lovely
expression on his face. “The other baby is Misha,” he smiled. “Oh? How is it
that you added yourself to the manger scene?” she asked. And this is what Misha
said. “When I was drawing the picture of the baby Jesus, Jesus looked at me and
said, ‘Misha, where is YOUR family?’ I said to Jesus, ‘I have no family.’ Then
Jesus said to me, ‘Misha, where is your home?’ And I said to Jesus, ‘I have no
home.’ And then Jesus said to me, ‘Misha, you can come and be in my family and
live in my home.’”
(http://www.tellicochurch.org/Year%20B%20Sermons/
021224.html.) ) That’s a lovely story, and we are so thankful that Misha was
introduced to Jesus. But do you understand that two thousand years after the
coming of Christ, millions of children come from situations like Misha’s? They
are still awaiting a Savior. You’ll find them in the former Soviet Union.
You’ll find them in Afghanistan. You’ll find them in Africa. You’ll find them
in the gang-ridden neighborhoods of our inner cities. You’ll find them right
here in our own community. Of course, it is our responsibility to reach out to
these little ones, to show them the love of Jesus, but the truth of the matter
is that, for the most part, they are forgotten this Advent season. (Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
11) Anti-Christs: The Scriptures provide us with
very few details about the nature of Christ’s return, and much of what we do
have is written in a kind of code that can be widely interpreted, or
misinterpreted as the case may be. For example, did you know that Ronald Reagan
was the anti-Christ? Ronald Wilson Reagan six letters in each of his names,
666. What more evidence do you need? At one time the website of the PBS show
Frontline carried a list of prominent figures who have been labeled the
anti-Christ at one time or the other. Some are quite predictable, ranging from
Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein to former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev,
because of the strange mark on his forehead that some said was the mark of the
beast. But how about Reagan? And how about John F. Kennedy? Kennedy was there
because he received 666 votes at the 1956 Democratic Convention and a head
wound killed him. Bill Gates was there because he would enslave the world
through computers and even the old folk singer Pete Seeger was there, though we
are not told why http://bloomingcactus.typepad.com/bloomingcactus/2005/11/mark_132437_kee.html.
) But surely none of these is the anti-Christ. The parts of the Bible that
foretell the end of time, the apocalyptic literature as it is called by
scholars is written in a kind of code and is open to much interpretation. And,
obviously, it is all pre-space age imagery. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
12) “But it’s steady work.” Leo Rosten tells an
amusing story that comes out of the Jewish tradition. There was a man in a
small Russian village who, because of a disabling condition, could not find
employment. The community council wanted to help him but they also wanted to
protect his pride. They decided to give him a job. They paid him two rubles a
week to sit at the town’s entrance and be the first to greet the Messiah when
he arrives. “Just sit on the hill outside our village every day from dawn to
sunset,” they tell him. “You will be our watchman for the approach of the
Messiah. And when you see him, run back to the village as fast as you can,
shouting, ‘The Messiah! The Messiah! He is coming!’” The man’s face lit up just
thinking of the glory of his new position. Every morning he greeted the dawn
from the hill and not until sunset every day, did he leave his treasured post.
A year went by, and a traveler, approaching the village, noticed the figure
sitting on a hill. “Sholem,” called the traveler. “What are you doing here?” “I
am waiting for the Messiah!” the man replied. “It’s my job.” The traveler was
somewhat amused. “How do you like this job?” he asked, suppressing a smile.
“Frankly, it doesn’t pay much,” said the poor man, “but it’s steady work.” [Leo
Rosten, The Joys of Yinglish (New York: McGraw Hill Publishing
Company, 1992).] That would be steady work if you did not believe that Jesus
was the Messiah — twenty-five hundred years of waiting and watching for the
coming of the Lord. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
13) “I’m two hours late, and you’re still not ready?”
Margaret was all ready for her date. She was wearing her best outfit, her hair
was fixed, her makeup was perfect. Imagine her disappointment when her date
didn’t show up! After an hour of waiting, Margaret decided that he wasn’t going
to come. She changed into her pajamas, washed off her makeup, gathered up a
bunch of junk food, and parked herself in front of the television for the
evening. As soon as she got involved in her favorite show, there was a knock on
the door. She opened it to find her handsome date standing on the doorstep. He
stared at her in shock, then said in disbelief, “I’m two hours late, and you’re
still not ready?” (Steve Barry, “Life in these United States,” Reader’s
Digest, Oct. 1992, p. 82. Contributed by Dr. John Bardsley.) Of course, our
Jewish friends have spent hundreds, even thousands of years waiting to
celebrate the coming of the Messiah. In fact, they’re still waiting. (Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
14) “One for you, one for me.” A young girl was
cycling down the road outside the cemetery. As she got nearer, she heard the
voices, so she stopped and listened to the voice, “One for you, one for me, one
for you, one for me . . . “She shuddered as she imagined some awful truth. She
thought to herself, “God and Satan must be dividing the souls at the cemetery.”
She cycled back to town as fast as she could and found an old man hobbling down
the road, leaning heavily on his cane with each step. She said, “You’ve got to
come with me. You won’t believe what I heard. God and Satan are down at the
cemetery dividing the souls.” The old man didn’t believe her, “Shoo, you brat,
can’t you see I’m finding it hard to walk as it is.” She kept pleading, and he
eventually gave in and hobbled after her back to the cemetery. When they got to
the fence, they stood quietly and heard, “One for you, one for me, one for you,
one for me . . . ” The old man whispered, “Man alive, you’ve been tellin’ me
the truth, girl. Let’s see if we can get closer and see them.” Shivering with
fear, they got as close to the wall as they could and peered through the fence.
Unfortunately, they still couldn’t see a thing. The old man and the young girl
clung to the fence as they heard the same words, “One for you, one for me, one
for you, one for me . . . ” Then, after another minute, they heard, “One for
you, one for me, and one last one for you. Okay, that’s all. Now,” said the
voice of the one doing the counting, “let’s go get those nuts by the fence, and
we’ll be done.” The boys found a cane lying on the ground near the last few
remaining walnuts. And, oh yes, the punch line . . . The old man got back to
town five minutes before the girl did. (THEMAZEMAN@aol.com cited on The
Jewish Humor List.) Is that what you expect from Christ’s return–that you
and I had better be on our best behavior because Christ and the Devil are going
to divide up souls on the basis of merit, and we don’t want to come up short?
Then you need to take a second look at the Gospel. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
15) “Watch.” Though Russia and the United States
agreed in 1974 to limit themselves to 2,500 nuclear missiles and bombers and
permitted themselves to build an additional 1,200 missiles with multiple atomic
warheads, by 1991 Russia had 10,877 and the U.S. had 11,602 nuclear weapons.
Both sides have enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world not once but many
times. While hundreds of millions are starving, nations spend annually $220
billion for arms. Leading ecologists warn us that we will suffocate ourselves
with pollution. The world seems to be winding itself up. And we seem to know
it, too. A cartoon shows a man wearing placards as he walks up and down the
crowded streets of a big city. On the sign is the warning: “The end is nigh.
Prepare to meet thy doom.” The sign carrier says, “The horrible thing is that
people don’t laugh at me anymore!” In our text Jesus is telling us to get ready
for his second coming. The key word of our preparation is “Watch.” He concludes
his saying on this return with “And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”
Ready or not, Jesus is coming. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
16) Reason to hope and rejoice: She had every
reason to be bitter. “Though talented, she went unrecognized for years.
Prestigious opera circles closed their ranks when she tried to enter. American
critics ignored her compelling voice. She was repeatedly rejected for parts for
which she easily qualified. It was only after she went to Europe and won the
hearts of tough-to-please European audiences that stateside opinion leaders
acknowledged her talent. Not only has her professional life been a battle, her
personal life has been marked by challenge. She is the mother of two
handicapped children, one of whom is severely retarded. Years ago, in order to
escape the pace of New York City, she purchased a home on Martha’s Vineyard. It
burned to the ground two days before she was to move in. Professional rejection.
Personal setbacks. Perfect soil for the seeds of bitterness. A receptive field
for the roots of resentment. But in this case, anger found no home. Her friends
don’t call her bitter; they call her Bubbles. Who is she? Beverly Sills.
Internationally acclaimed opera singer. Retired director of the New York Opera.
Her phrases are sugared with laughter. Her face is softened with serenity. Upon
interviewing her, Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes stated, ‘She is one of the most
impressive if not the most impressive, ladies I’ve ever interviewed.’ How can a
person handle such professional rejection and personal trauma and still be
known as Bubbles? ‘I choose to be cheerful,’ she says. ‘Years ago, I knew I had
little or no choice about success, circumstances or even happiness; but I knew
I could choose to be cheerful.'” (Max Lucado, The Applause from Heaven,
Word Publishing, 1990, page 3). Today we open the Advent season that leads to
the celebration of the birth of Christ on Christmas Day. We prepare the way for
the Lord to enter our hearts more deeply. This is why we do not lose heart or
hope. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
17) “God warms my heart when I keep my eyes fixed on
Him.” There’s a great story about Saint Francis of Assisi that
illustrates this very well. One winter night, there was a raging blizzard, and
the man who was supposed to wake up every couple of hours and keep the fire
going at the monastery was unable to find Francis. So he went outside into the storm
and found him kneeling at the side of a hill wearing his ordinary clothing. His
arms were outstretched; he was praying, oblivious to the wind and biting cold
snow. A day later, when the man asked Francis how he could stand this, Francis
replied, “God warms my heart when I keep my eyes fixed on Him.” God warms our
hearts, too, when we keep our eyes fixed on God. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
18) Unique child: Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was
one of the most sought after speakers of the 20th century. Shortly before his
death, he spoke for his good friend Robert Schuler in the Crystal Cathedral.
Dr. Schuler began his introduction by saying: “I want to introduce you to the
most dynamic person you will ever meet in your life. He is exciting, positive
and winsome. He can reach down inside of you more deeply than anyone else you
have ever known before. He will give you self-confidence and courage, and a
whole lot of other things you have always wanted in your life but have not
had.” Dr. Peale was astounded. He had never been introduced like this before.
How could he possibly respond to this introduction? As he was trying to think
of some response, he heard Dr. Schuler continue: “The person of whom I am
speaking, of course, is Jesus Christ. And here to tell you about Him is my
friend, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.” Yes, Jesus Christ came to free us to be all
that God wants us to be. From that moment when Jesus Christ was born at
Bethlehem, there came power and there came light into our world. There came
life, and there came a future. If God can reach down and touch the earth in all
its darkness and sin and win the victory, God can bring victory into our
situation whatever that situation may be. (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
19) The end of the world in 2012: With preacher
Harold Camping’s prophecies and the Mayan calendar’s prediction about the end
of the world next year, doomsday seems a hot topic these days. But today, I
received a reassuring press release from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center,
assuring a worried public (were we worried about this?) that a gigantic, killer
solar flare won’t destroy the Earth in 2012. Whew! “There simply isn’t enough
energy in the Sun to send a killer fireball 93 million miles to destroy Earth,”
NASA’s Karen C. Fox reports in the release. NASA also notes that the next solar
maximum is predicted to occur in late 2013 or early 2014, not 2012. (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/11/nasa-solar-flare-sunspots-earth-destroyed-end-of-the-world/1)
(L/2011) (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
20) Waiting to be rescued: One December day
16-year-old Gary Schneider and two friends set out on a four-day climb up Mt.
Hood. Nine thousand feet up, a blinding storm engulfed the three boys. They
tunneled into a snow bank to get out of the driving wind and to wait out the
blizzard. Eleven days later the blizzard continued to rage. The boys’ sleeping
bags grew wet and lumpy. Their food supply dwindled to a daily
ration of two spoonfuls of pancake batter apiece. Their sole comfort was a
small Bible one of the boys had packed in his gear. The boys took turns reading
it, eight hours a day. The only light was a spooky, reflected light coming from
the cave’s tiny opening. There the three boys remained huddled hour after hour,
day after day, listening to the word of God against a background of howling
wind. Waiting like this was not easy. All the boys could do was pray, hoping
the blizzard would blow itself out and help would come. Finally, on the
16th day the weather cleared and the boys crawled out of their snow cave.
They were weak from the ordeal and could manage only a few steps at a time.
Later that day they caught sight of a rescue party. Their long ordeal of
waiting finally ended. — Today’s readings challenger us to wait for the rebirth
of Jesus in our lives. (Mark Link in Illustrated Sunday Homilies;
quoted by Fr. Botelho). (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
21) “I became awake.” “The spiritual life is first of
all a matter of being awake,” said Thomas Merton. A story comes to us from Eastern
mysticism: A monk asked, “Abbot, what has God’s wisdom taught you? Did you
become divine?” “Not at all!” “Did you become a saint?” “No, as you can clearly
see.” “What then, O Abbot?” “I became awake!” — Advent is the time of a
spiritual awakening to see and experience the presence of the Messiah in our
midst. (James Philips in Pastoral Life; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
22) The Challenge of Waiting: “In his book
Man’s Search for Meaning, Jewish psychiatrist Viktor Frankl tells the story of
how he survived the atrocities of the concentration camp at Auschwitz. Frankl
says one of the worst sufferings at Auschwitz was waiting: waiting for the war
to end; waiting for an uncertain date of release and waiting for death to end
the agony. This waiting caused some prisoners to lose sight of future goals, to
let go of their grip on present realities and give up the struggle. This same waiting
made others like Frankl accept it as a challenge, as a test to their inner
strength and a chance to discover deeper dimensions of freedom.” (Albert
Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
22) Watchful Always: One of the wisest,
noblest and gentlest men who ever lived was Socrates. He lived in Athens in the
fifth century B.C. He was unjustly put to death by the Athenian judges. When
Socrates was in the prison waiting for his death, his friend Crito came to
visit him. Crito tried to persuade Socrates to escape from the prison. He said,
“Socrates, I have enough silver to bribe the prison guards to help you to
escape from here.” But Socrates declined it. Then Crito asked him to delay the
drinking of the poison. He said, “Socrates, I know other people drink it late.
They dine and get drunk and keep company with those they happen to desire. So
don’t hurry.” Even this suggestion Socrates declined. He said to Crito, “You
know, Crito, I wouldn’t do what others have done. I don’t gain anything by
clinging on to life a little longer.” Socrates called the jail attendant who
came with the cup filled with hemlock poison. Then Socrates asked him, “Sir,
you have knowledge of this. What is necessary to do.” The attendant said,
“Nothing except drink it and walk around until your legs become heavy, and then
lie down and thus it will do it for itself.” Socrates took the cup, raised it
and said a prayer and emptied its contents. For some time he walked around;
when his legs became heavy, he lay down and pulled a blanket over his head and
closed his eyes in death. – As in life, so in death Socrates was a virtuous
man. He wanted to be always at-right with justice and with God. He was a man
who was perpetually watchful about his righteousness; he was a man who was
perpetually prepared to meet his God. — In today’s Gospel Jesus warns us to be
alert, and prepared. (John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies; quoted by
Fr. Botelho). (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
23) “Wake Up!” Do you remember the movie Awakening?
Robert De Niro plays the part of a patient who, for thirty years, does not move
or speak. A particularly, sensitive and enterprising doctor tries out some new
theories and lo and behold, the patient begins to move around, talk and feel.
For a brief period he returns to this world and announces to those amazed folks
around him that he is back: “I have been away for quite some time…. now I am
back.” He becomes gradually aware of the love and concern that surrounds him
and what is really alive inside of his heart and soul. –It is never too late to
wake up. Morning is when you wake up. Advent is a nice time to wake up. Wake up
to give an account of your stewardship. Wake up into a time for giving and
sharing, a time that we are called to be thankful and prepare our hearts for
the Christ child. Wake up and open your eyes in Faith to see God present and
active in your life and in your world.
(John Pichappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (Fr.
Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
24) St. Mary Major’s Empty Throne: A powerful
symbol of God’s faithfulness is found in an ancient work of art in one of
Rome’s most beautiful basilicas. The Basilica of St Mary Major was the very
first Church in the West dedicated to the memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It
was constructed in the 400s, and many of its original mosaics have survived. A
mosaic located on the triumphal arch high above the main altar, in the very
focal point of the Basilica, depicts something very strange: a lavish,
gorgeously decorated throne, which happens to be completely empty. That empty
throne is the perfect symbol for Advent. On the one hand, it reminds us of the
Incarnation. Jesus, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity,
left his heavenly throne when, out of infinite love, he came to dwell among us
here on earth and become our salvation. This powerful reference to the
Incarnation is echoed by the Basilica’s most famous relic: pieces of the crib
that Mary used for the baby Jesus. Every year thousands of pilgrims still visit
those relics today. The location of the empty-throne mosaic – directly above
the high altar – also reminds us that Christ continues his incarnation, by
coming down to dwell among us at every Mass, in the Eucharist. But the empty
throne also reminds us of God’s other promise – that Jesus will come again to
bring his Kingdom to fulfillment. Seeing the empty throne stirs our hearts with
a desire for Jesus to return and to wipe away all our sorrows, forever. It
makes our hearts ring with the same cry we heard in today’s First Reading and
Psalm: “Rouse your power, and come to save us.” The empty throne is proof that
God fulfilled one promise on the first Christmas Day, and will certainly
fulfill another in the days to come. (E- Priest). (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
25) Do you have earthquake insurance? We’ve been hearing about earthquakes in many parts of the world. Do you have a weather alert radio? What about health insurance/car insurance/house insurance? Do you have smoke and fire detectors…maybe also CO2 detectors in your home? Do you wear a seat belt when you are in a car? What about an alarm system for your home and business? There are many ways that we are “watchful and ready” for things in this life – that we hope and pray will never happen. But what about our eternal life – our spiritual life with Jesus – that we KNOW WILL HAPPEN? Why is it that so many in our world do so much about this temporary physical world and so little with the spiritual, eternal world? This weekend we begin the Church season of Advent with the three-fold reminder that Jesus came (Christmas), He comes (Word & Sacraments), and He is coming again (as Savior or Judge). (Rev. Myers). (Fr. Tony) http://frtonyshomilies.com/
From Sermons.com
"God? Are you really there?" Jimmy said out loud.
To his astonishment a voice came from the clouds. "Yes, Jimmy? What can I do for you?"
Seizing the opportunity, Jimmy asked, "God? What is a million years like to you?"
Knowing that Jimmy could not understand the concept of infinity, God responded in a manner to which Jimmy could relate. "A million years to me, Jimmy, is like a minute."
"Oh," said Jimmy. "Well, then, what's a million dollars like to you?" "A million dollars to me, Jimmy, is like a penny."
"Wow!" remarked Jimmy, getting an idea. "You're so generous... can I have one of your pennies?"
God replied, "Sure thing, Jimmy! Just a minute."
Little Jimmy wasn't ready for that response was he? Our text this morning seems an unlikely scripture for Advent. It has nothing to do with Mary and Joseph, the Wise Men, of shepherds watching their flock. Instead it is story about a wealthy landowner going on a trip. The servants left behind were given charge of the estate and when the master returned he would check on their stewardship. It is a story about being prepared, getting ready. In that sense then this is an Advent story, for this is the season of preparedness. Consider with me a moment that...
2. Advent Is Time to Get Ready for the Return of Christ.
from here to there,
funny things
are everywhere.
Charles Hoffacker, Christ Winks at Us
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I believe that God is in me, as I am in Him.
I believe that the true welfare of man consists in fulfilling the will of God.
I believe that from the fulfillment of the will of God there can follow nothing but that which is good for me and for all men.
I believe that the will of God is that every man should love his fellow men, and should act toward others as he desires that they should act toward him.
I believe that the reason of life is for each of us simply to grow in love.
I believe that this growth in love will contribute more than any other force to establish the Kingdom of God on earth
To replace a social life in which division, falsehood and violence are all-powerful, with a new order in which humanity, truth and brotherhood will reign.
Advent announces that Jesus is coming and not through any action of our own. We do not deserve it. Advent happens. Advent means that Jesus comes again and for all time, at Christmas, this Christmas.
That day's coming, friends, and it will be a grand and glorious day. Get ready. No one knows when it will be. But get ready. No one knows what shape it will take, but we know this: God's in charge and God can be trusted. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'"
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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