Michel DeVerteuil
Textual Comments
The gospel readings for Advent each year invite us to meditate on the mystery of waiting, and they do it by presenting us with stories of great people who knew how to wait. On the first Sunday, Jesus himself is the model as he taught his followers the spirituality of “waiting in joyful hope”.
The passage is clearly in two sections, verses 25 to 28, and verses 34 to 36.
You must interpret verses 25 to 28 in the light of your experience, times when your world or the world of your family or other community collapsed. Allow the dramatic language to express this experience, making sure that you recognise the double movement of collapse and rebirth.
If you decide to meditate on verses 34 to 36, the key will be to identify concretely the meaning of “that day”, a time like the one in verses 25 to 28. Then you will get a feel for the teaching of Jesus.
Scriptural Reflection
Lord, great tragedies befall us from time to time:
* we lose our job;
* a spouse proves unfaithful;
* we discover that one of our children is on drugs;
* we fall into a sin we thought we had overcome.
These are moments of great distress. It is as if the sun and moon and stars are no longer there in the heavens. We feel as if we are drowning, the ocean and its clamorous waves overwhelming us. The powers of heaven have been shaken and we are dying of fear as we await the future which menaces us.
But, somehow or other, that moment, terrible as it is, brings its own grace:
* we find we have more courage than we thought;
* our family finds a new unity;
* we forgive a long-standing hurt.
Jesus comes into our lives with power and great glory.
We have learnt now that we need never panic.
When these things begin to take place, we can stand erect, hold our heads high,
because a moment of grace and liberation is near at hand.
Lord, we thank you for the times when oppressed people can stand erect
and hold their heads high because a moment of liberation is near at hand.
Lord, at one point in our lives we felt that good times would never end.
We lived mindlessly, looking down on others who were less successful or less virtuous.
We thank you for bringing us to our senses:
* we fell sick;
* we fell into a sin we thought we would never commit;
* one of our children got into trouble with the law.
It was Jesus warning us to watch ourselves,
and reminding us that the day of reckoning is always sprung on us like a trap,
for it comes down on every living person on the face of the earth.
Lord, make us aware of how our minds have been coarsened
by over-indulgence and being too much engrossed by the cares of this life.
We know that what counts in life is to be able to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.
Lord, we sometimes think that, as a church community,
we are exempt from the ups and downs of institutions.
But the day of crisis is sprung on us suddenly like a trap,
just as it comes down on every group on the face of the earth.
*************************************
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.
Homily notes
1. On this first Sunday of Advent the church’s thoughts are concentrated not on the coming of the Lord in Palestine two millennia ago, nor upon the new liturgical year, but on the Second Coming at ‘the end of time’. What do we mean by this curious phrase: ‘the end of time’?
2. Approaching this theme in a homily presents three difficulties. First, it can easily be heard as apocalypticism. That is, it seems to the hearers that there is a direct link between some breakdown in the world order now (either in the social order, the realm of justice, peace, or some vague threat from a monstrous other) and God’s action of punishing or letting everyone get what they deserve. In this scenario, everything going wrong is actually a bizarre proof that Christians are right and that the more disastrous things get the more it shows that God is in charge for he has already written the script. An example of this is the position of many American fundamentalists on the problems of climate change: no use doing anything about it, it is part of God’s plan to punish the world for not being ‘saved’. Such ideas are far from the perspective of most Catholics, but there has been an enormous growth in Catholic apocalypticism since the 1980s and many people in any average congregation will be disposed to hearing today’s gospel, and any talk about the end times, in such millenarian terms. It is significant that the two sections of the discourse that are most explicitly part of the apocalyptic tradition are omitted today: clearly, apocalypticism has no place in Advent preaching.3. Second, there is a danger that speaking about the end times is not about the consummation of the universe, but a fingerwagging exercise about the religious equivalent of what some cosmologists call the ‘Great Crunch’. Whatever we say about the them end times must be clearly part of God’s plan. Hence it is part of God’s loving plan for the universe and so must be appreciably part of the good news. There has been a curious double think about this: God is love, but if you don’t love, then God holds a stick! Such presentations are necessarily false: the coming to completion of the creation, the kingdom, is the completion of God~ s loving plan. It must be presented as analogous to the end of year party, not the end of term exams.
4. Third, there are few areas of our faith where we know less, where our language is more strained, and where our images are less precise. Ironically, the fact that there is so little we can say about the Consummation has actually left a gap which imagination has filled to overflowing, and not always with a profound outcome.5. Here is a possible approach to the question. The ‘End of the World’ has two meanings.
Firstly, there is the very obvious one of the cosmos coming to an end or the whole created order being radically transformed by God. The second meaning of the end of the world is the end of the world I as an individual inhabit: my world will come to an end at my death. In regard to the first meaning we have no information whatsoever within revelation as to when the universe will cease (this is a point worth making as there have been, and still are, many who engage in ‘scriptural mathematics’ using the Book of Daniel and the Apocalypse of John to find out how long more the world has got!).
On the second meaning of the end of the world, my death, we are in a different situation: I may not know the day nor the hour (and am glad that I do not know this), but I am certain that I am going to die. Whatever happens in the future of my life, good things or bad things, I know that it will end. That end will be my end time, my eschaton.
6. Whichever meaning we use, there is a common feature: at The End we must not imagine a giant chasm, but the figure of the Logos who shares a human nature with all approaching him as their priest, prophet, and king. Christ as King stands at the end of time gathering all the fragments of each of our lives, and of the life of the whole cosmos, and refashioning that existence so that nothing is lost. He gathers and refashions our life so that as a new creation this existence, my life, can be presented to the Father.
7. The Good News is that the end is not a crunch, but the glorious figure of the Lord.
8. The end is the gathering of all the little pieces of our scattered and fragmented lives, all our joys, all our collaborations with the grace of God, all the goodness we have sought to create, the peace we have fostered, the reconciliation that we have sought, the acts of kindness and mercy, the attempts to witness to the truth in the face of falsehood or injustice. All these scattered actions are gathered into a new existence that the Christ can offer to the Father in the Spirit.9. The word ‘End’ is a word with many sad connotations for us:
the end of a relationship, the end of a film or a moment of enjoyment, the pain that is a common part of the ending of a life. We look forward to the consummation, the completion of the universe; Thus can we read in the gospel: ‘then [we] will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near’ (Lk 21:27-8).
**********************************
Sean Goan
This gospel passage is taken from a chapter dealing with both the medium and long term future for believers in which Jesus recognises that although he has come to bring freedom and peace, that does not mean there will be an immediate end to violence and suffering. The language is that of apocalyptic which is a type of writing aimed at encouraging people to believe in God’s ultimate victory, the triumph of good over evil. By the time that Luke’s gospel was written, people were wondering when would Jesus return and how would they know. Here they are reminded that the key thing is not to he able to tell the future but to be faithful to the way of Jesus, especially a prayerful way of reflecting on the times we live in.
Reflection
You might be wondering how are these readings supposed to help us get ready for Christmas? Well, they do this by reminding us that Advent is a time of waiting – a getting ready for the return of Jesus – not just a recalling of the first Christmas but a preparation for the fact that he will come again. So the focus for us at the start of each Advent is the invitation to prayerful taking stock of how ready are we, as individuals and as a church, to receive him however, wherever and whenever he comes to us.*************************************
Donal Neary S.J.
Gospel reflections
The best waiting, like waiting for birth, is slow. Parents wonder about their child – who will he / she be like? The mother needs support and love; the children look forward to another baby; grandparents wait in pride. Even when the family situation is limited, we wait in joy and hope for the child – like Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah and all the bible parents who waited, often for many years.
How is my faith this year from last year? And what would I be asking for? Would I promise anything to help me wait actively for Jesus – Mass more often than Sunday, the Angelus every day, to read the gospel each day, to be kinder and more just, care for the poor and needy at home or away. Let my Advent bring me closer to God and effect for the best the lives of those close to me. If we wait in faith and in hope, then everything, even the carols sung too early and the celebrations too early, can remind us of the God who is coming soon in Jesus Christ, to be born of Mary.Mary, may l wait with you in joy and in patience and in hope.
*****
From the Connections:
In his Gospel, Luke depicts our final judgment very simply: “to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke infers that our “judgment” before Christ will be a moment of illuminating truth, when all artifice will melt away, when our rationalizations will fail us, when we will see our holiness and face our failures. But rather than make us tremble, the prospect of standing before Jesus should fill us with hope: that the “shoot of Jesse” comes to redeem us despite ourselves, that, in him, God loves us in our holiest moments and our most glaring sinfulness.
The moments we are given in this experience of life are precious and few. God gives us these days in order that we might come to discover him and know him in the love of others and the goodness of this world in anticipation of the next.
Our lives are a continuing Advent in which we make our way to God by creating a road for that journey, a road built of justice, forgiveness and love.
Signs: Your son or daughter’s mood has changed. Your usually happy child is quiet, sullen, impatient, angry. Typical teenage angst — or is something deeper, more dangerous going on?
Signs: At your annual check-up, the doctor sits you down. He’s concerned about the numbers on your chart. He doesn’t mince his words: You’re over forty; you can’t eat like a teenager anymore.
Throughout our lives, we encounter “signs”: indicators of realities we do not readily see or understand or appreciate — or would rather ignore altogether. These “signs” urge us to look deeper, to see beyond our selves, to confront issues before they become disasters. On this First Sunday of Advent, Jesus calls us to pay attention to the many “signs” of God’s love in the midst of every trial and challenge we encounter. God’s Spirit of humility and wisdom enables us to realize God’s saving work in the Advent of our lives. These four weeks are a microcosm of the Advent that is the very entirety of our lives as Christians: to make ourselves ready to “stand before the Son of Man” through lives of love, mercy and justice.
****
ILLUSTRATIONS:
Fr. Jude Botelho:
We ended the liturgical year listening to readings with an apocalyptic description of the end of the world. We begin the new season of Advent with similar apocalyptic warnings. Again the purpose is not to frighten us but to fill us with hope. The prophet Jeremiah starts with the reiteration of the proclamation of the promise of the Lord. "The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah." Faith means accepting what God speaks and offers, rather than what human beings like and choose. Hope means trusting and accepting what God promises in Jesus Christ. Hence conversion is integral to responding to the word of God.
Missing the signal!
In its day, the Titanic was the world's largest ship, weighing 46,328 tons and it was considered unsinkable. Yet late during the night of April 14-15, 1912, the unthinkable happened to the unsinkable. Near midnight, the great Titanic struck an iceberg, ripping a three hundred foot hole through five of its sixteen watertight compartments. It sank in two and a half hours killing 1,513 people. Before the Titanic sank, warning after warning had been sent to tell the crew that they were speeding into an ice field, but the messages were ignored. In fact, when a nearby ship sent an urgent warning, the Titanic was talking to Cape Race about the time the chauffeurs were to meet arriving passengers at the dock in New York, and what dinner menus were to be ready. Preoccupied with the trivia, the Titanic responded to the warning, "Shut up. I am talking to Cape Race. You are jamming my signals!" Why did so many die that night? Perhaps the crew disregarded the danger of the weather; there were not enough lifeboats on board; and the radio operator of nearby California was off duty; perhaps those responsible did not heed the warnings, they were preoccupied with other things! -Sometimes we believe that our 'ship' is unsinkable, our life is all well planned, and the unthinkable can never happen to us. We need to read the signs of the time, we need to pay attention to the warning signals. But if we are preoccupied with the trivial things of life we will miss the most important till it is too late.
In the Gospel Luke has Jesus using the same apocalyptic language when he speaks of his return in glory. "There will be signs in the heavens and on earth distress and confusion." Those who do not believe will be frightened by these signs and portents. For those who have no faith the signs can only spell doom and destruction, they are seen as the punishment of God. But those who are believers have nothing to fear for these signs, trials and troubles point to the coming of the Lord. He is near. True Christian prayer is the typical Advent invocation, 'Thy Kingdom Come', which is rightly translated as 'Come Lord Jesus Come.' Though the coming of the Lord is as certain as the dawn, yet if we are not ready, if we are not vigilant, we will miss the Lord. "Be on your guard, so that your hearts are not preoccupied with other things. Be alert at all times and pray." The Gospel of Luke, which is characterized by a strong interest in prayer, urges us to pray in the context of the end of history. Advent speaks to us of an order of being an existence that is beyond a natural outlook of life. While the faithless say: "Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die", while skeptics affirm: "this is all there is to life". Advent reminds us that this world is not all there is and so we pray for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will help us to look beyond to the Kingdom, while we wait with joyful hope for its realization here on earth and in the next.
The Watchman
There is an old Hasidic tale about Rabbi Naftali. It was the custom of the rich men of his city, whose homes were on the outskirts and sort of isolated, to hire men to watch over their property at night. Late one evening, as was his custom, Rabbi Naftali went out for a walk and met one such watchman walking back and forth. The Rabbi asked, "For whom do you work?" The guard told the rabbi who had hired him and then the guard inquired, "And for whom do you work Rabbi?" The watchman's words struck at the heart of the Rabbi, who replied, "I am not sure whether I work for anyone or not." The rabbi walked along with the watchman for some time in silence. Then he asked, "Will you come and work for me?" "Oh Rabbi, I should be honoured to be your servant," said the watchman, "but what would be my duties?" Rabbi Naftali answered quietly, "To keep reminding me with that question." Like that rabbi, we need help if we are to remember for whom we work and for what we live our lives. Advent helps us to ask that question of ourselves. 'Watch and pray' are the lookouts, they remind us that God is in charge.
Anonymous
Are we 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
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. Soon the snow was drifting over their heads. 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. It was an eerie scene: three teenage boys propped up on elbows in sleeping bags in a five-foot square cave of snow. 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. If rescue came it would have to come from God. 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 had finally ended.
Mark Link - Illustrated Sunday Homilies
Creative waiting!
It is a fact that we do not wait very well. A story is told of a photographer taking a picture. He says to the woman, "Smile pretty for the camera." A moment later, "OK, madam, you can resume your usual face." Whether you and I will have a successful Advent these next four weeks will depend on the attitude or the face we bring to it today. We must stay awake and watch, as Jesus advises us in today's Gospel. If affirmative, this first week in a fresh Liturgical year might quite literally alter our lives. The truth is all of us are waiting. Especially, during Advent we are waiting in two ways! First, as our ancestors did, we are waiting for Jesus' birth. Secondly, as the early Church did, we continue the waiting for Jesus' second coming. During this period of waiting we are called to be vigilant.
John Pichappilly in 'The Table of the Word'
Watch out!
A drunkard was staggering down the street with blisters on both ears."What caused those blisters on both ears?" asked a friend. "My wife left her hot iron near the phone; so when the phone rang, I picked up the iron by mistake," explained the drunkard. "Okay, but how about the other ear?" continued the friend. "That fool phoned a second time!"
Francis Gonsalves in 'Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds'
For whom are you waiting?
A young lady was walking through the park, when she became conscious of footsteps behind her. She hastened her step, only to become aware that the person behind had begun to walk faster also. Obviously, she was quite worried, and decided to face the situation head-on. She turned around to discover a young man walking briskly behind her. She asked him if he were following her, and if so, why? The young man was embarrassed, as he began to explain why he was doing what he was. He told her that he had noticed her pass this way every day, that he had become infatuated by her, and that he just wanted to meet her. The woman remained silent, while the young man poured out his heart about how much he loved her. Retaining her composure, the young woman said, "My sister is much prettier than I am, and she is coming up there behind you." The young man turned quickly, only to discover that there was no one coming. "You are only making a fool of me" he said. "There is no one coming behind me." The young woman replied very calmly "Yet you looked around! If you loved me as you said you did, you would not have looked around to see my younger sister!"
Jack McArdle in 'And that's the Gospel truth!'
*****
From Fr. Tony Kadavil and Sermons.com
2) Jesus came to save humans from being rat packs feeding on each other instead of sheep feeding with each other. This was never made so clear than in the recent "Black Friday" images of people stomping on each other and fighting it out, all done to the musical background of Christmas music.
At any rate, one bitter cold winter's night in 1935, Mayor LaGuardia turned up in a night court that served the poorest ward in the city, dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. After he heard a few cases, a tattered old woman was brought before him, accused of stealing a loaf of bread.
She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick and her grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, insisted on pressing charges. "My store is in a very bad neighborhood, your honor," he said. "She's got to be punished in order to teach other people a lesson."
The mayor sighed. He turned to the old woman and said, "I've got to punish you," he said. "The law makes no exception - ten dollars or ten days in jail."
But even as he spoke, LaGuardia was reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ten dollar bill. "Here is the woman's fine," he said, "and furthermore, I'm going to fine everyone in this court room fifty cents for living in a city where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."
The following day, the New York Times reported that $47.50 was turned over to the bewildered old woman. It was given by the red-faced store owner, some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations and city policemen - and they all gave their mayor a standing ovation as they handed over their money.
Erskine White, Together in Christ, CSS Publishing Company
5) When the Play Is Over
Gary L. Carver and Tom M. Garrison,
From Fr. Tony Kadavil's Collection:
1: Missing the signal! In its day,
the Titanic was the world’s largest ocean-liner, weighing 46,328 tons, and it
was considered unsinkable. Yet, late during the night of April 14-15, 1912, the
unthinkable happened to the unsinkable. Near midnight, the great Titanic struck
an iceberg, ripping a three-hundred-foot hole through five of its sixteen
watertight compartments. It sank in two and a half hours killing 1,513 people.
Before the Titanic sank, warning after warning had been sent to tell the crew
that they were speeding into an ice field, but the messages were ignored. In
fact, when a nearby ship sent an urgent warning, the Titanic was talking to
Cape Race about the time the chauffeurs were to meet arriving passengers at the
dock in New York, and what dinner menus were to be ready. Preoccupied with the
trivia, the Titanic responded to the warning, “Shut up. I am talking to Cape
Race. You are jamming my signals!” Why did so many die that night? Perhaps the
crew disregarded the danger of the weather; there were not enough lifeboats on
board; and the radio operator of nearby California was off
duty; perhaps those responsible did not heed the warnings; they were
preoccupied with other things! — Sometimes we believe that our ‘ship’ is
unsinkable, our life is completely planned, and the unthinkable can never
happen to us. We need to read the signs of the times; we need to pay attention
to the warning signals. But if we are preoccupied with the trivial things of
life we will miss the most important things till it is too late. The First
Sunday of Advent gives us the warning to be watchful, waiting, and prepared.
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
2: “Watch the road.” There is a beautiful anecdote
given by Msgr. Arthur Tonne clarifying the message of today’s Gospel. Several
years ago a bus driver in Oklahoma reached an unusual record. In 23 years he
had driven a bus over 900,000 miles without a single accident. When asked how
he had done it, he gave this simple answer: “Watch the road.” In today’s Gospel
Jesus gives the same advice in several ways: “Be vigilant at all times,”
“Stand erect,” “Raise your heads,” “Beware that your hearts do not
become drowsy.” This is not only a good spiritual advice for the Advent
season but also a safe rule for daily life. A good football player or
basketball player should always concentrate his attention on the ball and the
players. A good student must be alert, awake and attentive, watching the
teacher and listening to his or her words. A good Catholic in the Church must
be physically and mentally alert, watching the altar and actively participating
in the prayers and songs. Like the Roman god Janus, who had two faces, one
looking at the past year and the other looking into future, Christians during
the Advent season are to look at the past event of the first coming of Jesus
into the world and expectantly look forward to Jesus’ second coming in glory.
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
3: Be patient, be faithful: Be faithful.
Remember Albert Einstein’s words after the Second World War: “As a lover of
freedom, when the revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to
defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause
of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to
the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by
had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities were
silenced in a few short weeks. Only the Church stood squarely across the path
of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in
the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it, because
the Church alone has had the courage to stand for intellectual truth, and moral
freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised, now I praise
unreservedly.” — We are Christ’s Body in the world today.
Be patient. Be faithful. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
4: Who came up with this? A woman was in the
mall doing her Christmas shopping. She was tired of walking through every aisle
of every store to find just the right present. She was stressed out by the
mounting debt on her credit card. She was tired of fighting the crowds and
standing in lines for the registers. Her hands were full and when the elevator
door opened, it was full. “Great!” she muttered and the occupants of the
elevator, feeling her pain, graciously tightened ranks to allow a small space
for her and her load. As the doors closed she blurted out, “I think whoever
came up with this Christmas junk ought to be found, strung up, and shot!” A few
others shook their heads or grunted in agreement. Then, from somewhere in the
back of the elevator came a single voice that said, “Don’t worry. They already
crucified Him.”
5: Sign on a Church bulletin board: “Merry Christmas
to our Christian friends. Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish friends. And to our
atheist friends, good luck.”
#3: “We don’t have time for that!” Typical of last-minute
Christmas shoppers, a mother was running furiously from store to store.
Suddenly she became aware that the pudgy little hand of her three-year-old son
was no longer clutched in hers. In panic she retraced her steps and found him
standing with his little nose pressed flat against a frosty window. He was
gazing at a manger scene. Hearing his mother’s near hysterical call, he turned
and shouted with innocent glee: “Look Mommy! It’s Jesus – Baby Jesus in the
hay!” With obvious indifference to his joy and wonder, she impatiently jerked
him away saying, “We don’t have time for that!”
1) Waiting is no fun: A man was in a
restaurant. A waiter was passing by. “Excuse me,” said the man, “but how long
have you been working here?” “About a year,” replied the waiter. The man said
wearily, “In that case it couldn’t have been you that took my order.” — Advent
season reminds us that we celebrate the first coming of Jesus and we keep
waiting for his second coming in glory. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
2) Would we keep arranging deckchairs on a
sinking ship? On the night of April 15, 1912, the Titanic
hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank. Over 1,500 people lost
their lives in one of the worst sea disasters in history. A few years ago
a magazine recalled the great disaster and asked its readers this shocking,
almost blasphemous, question: “If we’d been on the Titanic when it sank, would
we have arranged the deckchairs?” At first we say to ourselves, “What a
ridiculous question! No one in his right mind would ignore wailing sirens
on a sinking ship and rearrange its deck chairs! No one with an ounce of
sanity would ignore the shouts of drowning people and keep arranging deck
chairs!” But as we continue to read the magazine, we see the reason for the
strange question. And suddenly we ask ourselves, “Are we perhaps,
rearranging the deckchairs on a sinking ship? — For example, are we so
caught up with material things in life that we are giving a back seat to
spiritual things? Are we so busy making a living that we are forgetting
the purpose of life? Are we so taken up with life that we are forgetting
why God gave us life?” (Mark Link in Sunday Liturgies). (Fr.
Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
3) Waiting for the call of the Prime Minister: “Lord
Reith, the founder of the BBC, says that he spent virtually the entire period
of World War II by the telephone, waiting for Winston Churchill to call him. He
never [called]. And think of all the [ordinary] people waiting today at the
airport, at the bus depot, at the doctor’s, at the amusement park, at the
bowling alley, at the post office, the ticket office, the unemployment office,
the Social Security office. Society has become a vast waiting room.” — As Christians,
we give a spiritual dimension to our waiting by waiting for Christ’s, the
Messiah’s, second coming because much of the New Testament is devoted to the
second coming of Christ. [Sherwood Wirt, in Freshness in the
Spirit (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1978).] (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
4) “No, I am not going to kick him off.” I
like John Cooper, football coach for The Ohio State University team, for many
reasons, but especially for this one. As he was being interviewed once about a
player who was in trouble with the law, a reporter asked if Cooper was going to
kick the player off the team. He said, “No, I am not going to kick him off,
because if I kick him off I can’t help him. We are in the business of helping
young people grow up, and you can’t do that by turning them away when they make
a mistake.” –That is good news for those growing up, and that attitude is
especially good news at Advent. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
5) The city had reached 284th Street, far
exceeding their expectations! Be prepared for Christ’s coming. Be
prepared if Jesus should come today; be prepared if Jesus should tarry
another thousand years or more. Be prepared at any cost, for we simply do not
know what tomorrow may bring. Nothing is more unpredictable than the future. If
there is one lesson from history, it is that. I read recently that when the
city fathers of the grand metropolis New York City planned for the future
growth of their city, they laid out the streets and numbered them from the
center outward. When they began, there were only six or seven streets. In their
planning maps, they projected how large they thought the city might grow.
Reaching beyond their wildest imagination, they drew streets on the map all the
way out to 19th Street. They called it “Boundary Street” because they were sure
that’s as large as New York City would become. At last count, the city had
reached 284th Street far exceeding their expectations! (Rev. Adrian
Dieleman, http://www.trinitycrc.org/sermons/eph3v20-21.html)
— Be careful when you try to predict the future! Today’s experts turn out,
sometimes,to be tomorrow’s fools. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
6) False messiahs: “The Holy Spirit
Association for the Unification of World Christianity” is a religious movement
founded in South Korea in 1954 by the late Sun Myung Moon. It is more commonly
known as the Unification Church. Since its inception, the Church has expanded
to most nations of the world, with an uncertain number of members. But we don’t
see many signs nowadays of the Moonies. Their founder Rev. Moon and his
Unification Church have faded into the background. At one time he boasted
considerable political support. He invested heavily in the elections of Richard
Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Rev. Moon built an empire by putting young people out
on the streets selling flowers. Moon preached that a new messiah was soon to
come. This new messiah was already on earth. He was a man born in Korea in the
20th century. Wonder who he could be? Surely not Moon himself!
— In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us the warning that false messiahs will
be forever with us. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
7) Jesus’ admonition is to be faithful. Some
of you remember the ancient epic poem by Homer called the Odyssey.
It is the story of Odysseus who traveled the world pursuing many adventures.
Meanwhile back home, his beautiful wife Penelope was being pursued by various
suitors trying to take advantage of Odysseus’ twenty-year absence. In order to
keep these suitors at bay, Penelope announced that when she finished weaving a
shroud for her father-in-law, she would choose among these persistent suitors.
There was something these suitors did not know, however. Each night Penelope
undid the stitches that she put in during the daytime, and so she remained
faithful to Odysseus until he returned. — That is our call to be faithful.
While we wait for Christ’s return, we are his Body in the world, called to do
his work. The Church has been serving the world in Christ’s Name for some two
thousand years. Now is not the time to let up! (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
8) The Poseidon Adventure: One
of my favorite movies was The Poseidon Adventure from 1972.
You might remember that a cruise ship was turned upside down by a big wave.
Everything was turned upside down. Reality was turned “upside down.” The way
out was up to the bottom and back to the front. The survivors had to go to the
bottom of the boat, which was now the top, to get out. A whole group of people
were not willing to follow the lead of the pastor to crawl up a Christmas tree
to get out of the ballroom, to safety. He said: “Everybody is dead who was
above us when the ship turned over. Now they’re underneath us. It’s up to us to
get out of here.” The people who waited for help drowned, but those who were
willing to risk, to have Faith eventually were saved — not all, but most. The
pastor was indeed the Christ-figure for those people. They eventually trusted
in him and were saved. — For us it is no different, “But not a hair of your
head will perish.” Jesus says, “By your endurance you will gain your
souls.” (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
9)”It said, ‘Go drink a beer.’” Humorist
Lewis Grizzard writes about a man in his hometown named Luther Gilroy. Luther
claimed he was out plowing his field and saw a sign in the sky that said THE
END IS NEAR. So Luther let his mule and his cow out of their pens, gave all his
chickens away, and climbed on top of his house to await the end. When it didn’t
come, he pouted and refused to come down off the roof. Finally, his wife called
the deputy sheriff, who came over and said, “Luther, you idiot, I saw that same
sign. It didn’t say, ‘The end is near.’ It said, ‘Go drink a beer.’ Now come
down off that roof before you fall off and break your neck.” [Lewis
Grizzard, Chili Dawgs Always Bark at Night (New York: Villard
Books, 1989), p. 52.] — From Jesus’ day to the present, people have speculated
about when the world would end. Over the centuries, people have made
calculations and predictions, sold or given away all their belongings, and
gathered at appointed places to wait for the end of the world and for Jesus to
return. Obviously, the world has not yet come to an end, and Jesus has not
returned. Still, we wait. We look around at the world in which we live, a
world filled with violence and crime and racial tension. We read about child
abuse, spouse abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, and we say, “Things just can’t
keep on going the way they’re going.” Times of uncertainty and crisis trigger
thoughts about the end of time. And people always want to know when. (Fr.
Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
10) “Joy to the World!” Consider the
story of one young man. He was often sick as a baby. He was always small, puny
some would say. As a youth he was always frail and delicate. He was not able to
play sports with the other boys his age. Eventually he entered the ministry.
But his health was so fragile, he was unable to serve his growing congregation.
Amazingly, he did not dwell on his troubles. In fact, his spirit soared. His
only real complaint was the poor quality of the hymns of his day. He felt they
did not convey hope and joy. Someone challenged him to write better ones. He
did. He wrote over 600 hymns, most of them hymns of praise. When his health
collapsed completely in 1748, he left one of the most remarkable collections of
hymns the world has ever known. His name was Isaac Watts.– In a few weeks we
will be singing one of his most famous hymns, “Joy to the World!” Isaac Watts
discovered joy in his life because he knew that God would never desert him. He
was able to live his life with all sorts of health problems, feeling close to
God and Jesus. He had joy deep in his heart. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
11) The Light meant Redemption: King
Alexander the Great of Macedonia, who in his day conquered land after land,
used to observe a certain procedure. Whenever his army was encamped outside a
heavily walled city or fortress, he would have a lighted lamp hung up where it
was visible by day and night. He would then have the besieged inhabitants know
that as long as the lantern kept burning, they had a chance to change their
minds. But if the lantern was smashed and its light extinguished, then the city
and all it contained would be mercilessly destroyed. And he kept his promise.
If the lantern was smashed to pieces, all hope was gone. The Macedonians would
storm the city, kill any person who could bear arms, and then ransack and
destroy the city. The time of grace was over. – The lamp is still burning for
us; this is a time for grace- but it will end! [Willi Hoffsuemmer; quoted by
Fr. Botelho.] (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
12) Are we coming or going? A man
was running down the pier, heading for the ferryboat, afraid he was not going
to make it. Here was a man of some status, a man who was concerned about his
dignity. He wore pin-striped trousers, a black Morning Coat, carried a black
umbrella in one hand and a black bowler hat in the other, with which he was
waving at the ferry boat, and yelling at the boat to stop so that he could get
on it. He ran all the way to the end of the pier, furiously jumped and landed
safely on the deck of the boat. Very proud of himself, he straightened his tie,
and recovered his dignity. It was then that he discovered that the boat was not
going out; it was coming in! — Today is the first Sunday of Advent, and there
is that kind of confusion about Advent and Christmas. Are we coming or going?
Christmas is the celebration that Christ has come; Advent is the celebration
that Christ is coming. Advent is preparation for Christmas. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
13) Smile please: A story is told of
the photographer taking a picture. He says to the woman, “Smile pretty for the
camera.” A moment later, “OK, madam, you can resume your usual face.” — Whether
you and I will have a successful Advent these next four weeks will depend on
the attitude or “face” we bring to it today. We must stay awake, as Jesus
advises us in this Gospel and practice self-control. The Greek
philosopher, Plato, who lived out his life several centuries before Christ,
wrote, “The greatest victory in the world is the victory of self-conquest.” (Fr.
James Gilhooley). (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
14) Time expired: A dramatic picture
appeared in a newspaper. It was a young man dead from a drug overdose in his
cherry-red Corvette. The car was parked beside a parking meter that read “TIME
EXPIRED.” — But so, too, is my clock expiring. So is yours. No wonder Jesus
says today, “Stay awake.” An auto decal reads: “Jesus is coming back. Look
busy.” Today’s Gospel affirms He will return for each of us. Were a scientist
to warn us that an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale was fast
approaching, we would take every precaution imaginable. Yet, unhappily, the
Master’s prediction that He shall return does not move us to make even
incidental changes in our lives. But, given the on-target correctness of the
prophecies of His first arrival told in Micah 5:2-6 and Isaiah 9: 6-7, one
would think we would be smart enough to act accordingly. Should we decide not
to do so, we can hardly fault the Early Warning System God has today put in
place in Luke’s Gospel. “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy…” (Fr.
Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
15) Watch and Prepare: In the Royal
Air Force Museum in Hendon, England, there is an exhibition of the memorabilia
of Lord Dowding. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the RAF in 1936
to take on the challenge of expanding the RAF’s fighting force to meet the Nazi
threat. Dowding had less than four years to prepare the RAF for the epic Battle
of Britain, while at the same time helping France as much as possible.
Lord Dowding’s accomplishment in getting the RAF ready is summed up on a
plaque: “It has been given to few men so to employ so short a time that by
their efforts they saved a civilization.” Lord Dowding’s vigilance and
preparation while waiting for the Nazi attempt to invade Great Britain played a
key role in England’s victory in the early 1940’s (Albert Cylwicki in His
Word Resounds). — Vigilance and preparation while waiting are part of
the theme of today’s Advent Gospel. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
16) Promise of Things to Come! It
was about mid-November of 1979 in Dublin. One morning we woke to find that
overnight a layer of fine dust had fallen. It was very noticeable.
It covered cars, windows, clotheslines….. In some areas it was heavier
than others. One man went out to look for his blue car, but so thick was
the dust that he had difficulty finding it. The dust caused quite a
sensation. People reacted immediately. What was it and where did it come
from? Many were worried, fearing that it was caused by a fall-out of
dangerous chemicals or radio-active materials. There was a deluge of
phone calls to the police, to weather centers, and motoring
organizations. Finally the explanation came: it was sand from the Sahara
Desert! This came as a great relief. It was still a nuisance but
was readily accepted because the Southerly winds that had brought it, also
heralded the warmest November in fifteen years. — In today’s Gospel, after
foretelling the endtime events we get such an assurance of his “second coming”
from Jesus (Flor McCarthy, in Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies). (Fr.
Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
17) The Watchman: There is an old
Hasidic tale about Rabbi Naftali. It was the custom of the rich men of his
city, whose homes were on the outskirts and sort of isolated, to hire men to
watch over their property at night. Late one evening, as was his custom, Rabbi
Naftali went out for a walk and met one such watchman walking back and forth.
The Rabbi asked, “For whom do you work?” The guard told the rabbi who had hired
him, and then the guard inquired, “And for whom do you work Rabbi?” The
watchman’s words struck at the heart of the rabbi, who replied, “I am not sure
whether I work for anyone or not.” The rabbi walked along with the watchman for
some time in silence. Then he asked, “Will you come and work for me?” “Oh
Rabbi, I should be honoured to be your servant,” said the watchman, “but what
would be my duties?” Rabbi Naftali answered quietly, “To keep reminding me with
that question.” — Like that rabbi, we need help if we are to remember for
Whom we work and for what we live our lives. Advent helps us to ask that question
of ourselves. “Watch and pray” are the watchwords, they remind us that God is
in charge. (Anonymous; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
18) Advent waiting: A blind man and I were standing in the middle of a throng of travelers at Port Mores by airport. “You just stand here.” I told him. I wanted to spare him the disturbance of being jostled about, so I left him in a protected corner. I then went my way to buy a ticket, post a letter, and check on the plane arrivals and departures. At one stage I turned around and looked back at him. He just stood there. People milled around him. A child stared at him. A porter drove his baggage cart around him. A newspaper boy could not understand why he did not even look at the paper. The blind man just stood there. The shuffling feet around him, the unknown voices and all the various noises of humans going and coming had no meaning for him. He just stood and waited for me to come back. He patiently waited, completely content that I would come back. There was no shadow of doubt on his face. Instead, there was an air of expectation about him: I would return and take him by the hand and we would go on. — That look of the blind man with closed eyelids standing there put in mind the Advent face of a Christian.
(Willi Hoffsuemmer; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
19) O Henry’s story the “Last Leaf” brings out the significance of Hope. The story begins as Johnsy, near death from pneumonia, lies in bed waiting for the last leaf of an ivy vine on the brick wall she spies through her window to fall. She counted the falling of all leaves. Now only the last one is left. She is sure that she will die as the last leaf falls. The night witnessed torrential rain and powerful storm. In the morning Johnsy looked out of the window before breathing her last. But to her surprise she saw that the last leaf had survived the rain and wind. It stuck to the vine. She began to show signs of improvement, and recovered in a few days. An artist who lived below her apartment understood the thought of Johnsy. That night he had gone out with his set of brush and paint. The last leaf was the creation of Behrman. Outside Johnsy’s window were a ladder, a lantern still lighted “some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it . . . it was Behrman’s masterpiece–he painted it [a leaf] there the night that the last leaf fell.” — The sight of the last leaf rekindled the hope of Johnsy. And she survived. At the end of every sorrow there is some joy awaiting us.
St. Paul assures us: “… suffering produces
endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and
hope does not disappoint us” (Romans 3:3-5). (Fr. Bobby). (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
20)”But with a good ship, you can always ride it
out.” Dr. Norman Vincent Peale once told of encountering a
hurricane while on a cruise in the Atlantic. After the captain managed to sail
around the danger, he and Dr. Peale were visiting with one another. The captain
said he had always lived by a simple philosophy namely that if the sea is
smooth, it will get rough; and if it is rough, it will get smooth. He added
something worth remembering: “But with a good ship,” the Captain said, “you can
always ride it out.” — Our ship is our Faith in Christ. With a good ship, you
can always ride it out. Life is unpredictable. God is with us. “But not a
hair of your head will perish,” Jesus says, “By your endurance you will
gain your souls” (Luke 21:18). (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
21) “What time is it Mr. Wolf?” We
played a game when I was a child. Perhaps you played it too. It
worked best just at twilight. We would let the “wolf” hide somewhere, and
then we would walk together as a group toward the “wolf”, unable to see him or
where he was hidden, but knowing that he was there and that he was near.
“What time is it, Mr. Wolf?” we would cry, and he would tell us the time,
later the closer we got, until he cried out “Twelve o’clock midnight, hope to
see a ghost tonight!” And then he would chase us and we would flee toward the
goal and safety, trying not to be caught by the “wolf.” — That is also the
point of the Gospel Lesson this morning. There is a day coming which will
be unlike any other, for it will not be followed by any other. We don’t
know when, exactly, but we know it grows ever closer. The end of the
world, the final day of reckoning, the day of our salvation or the day of our
doom, is coming. Jesus tells us how we should stand in readiness for that
great and terrible day, always being alert to the signs of the times. (Rev.
Robin Fish). (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
22) Making Still Greater Progress: All
the saints have been heroic. That is the definition of “Saint”. But God has had
a harder time in making heroes out of some than others. They have had more
“un-heroism.” Saints like Aloysius Gonzaga, for instance, became heroes so fast
– such was that goodwill – that their flight for heaven seems to have been a
snap. When Aloysius died aged only 23, his three confessors testified of this
radiant young man that they honestly believed he had never committed a serious
sin. On the other hand, St. Camillus DeLellis, born in 1500 (just a decade or
so before Aloysius) had a far more twisted and rocky road to heaven. A soldier
at seventeen, six foot two in his stocking feet, he developed a quarrelsome
temper and a yen for gambling that was a real addiction. Once, for instance, he
literally gambled away all he owned, losing even the shirt off his back. Add to
this, he had a running sore that never cleared up and gave him a short fuse.
Nevertheless, Camillus for all his violence really wanted to behave better. After
trying in vain to enter a religious order or even get employment as a servant
in a religious house, he was inspired to found an order of his own. It was an
order of nursing brothers – very much needed in those days before there was a
real nursing profession. Urged by St. Philip Neri, Camillus studied for the
priesthood and was ordained (a belated vocation, he had to attend Latin class
with giggling teen-age seminarians). Now this man dedicated his strengths and
his weaknesses to serving the ailing and wounded. He taught his “Ministers of
the Sick” to see in each patient, no matter how crotchety, Christ Himself.–
Today, St. Camillus DeLellis is the Church’s official patron saint of nurses.
That is because, as St. Paul puts it today, he had forged ahead despite his
flaws, so as “to make still greater progress” (IThes 4:1. Today’s second
reading). -Father Robert F. McNamara. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
23) The difference between waiting and watching: Some
Navy men were returning from a long voyage on the seas and, as the boat
approached shore, the men were all looking for their wives and girlfriends on
the shore … eager to see them again! As the men looked over the crowd of women
lined up, the air of excitement and expectancy grew. One man however was all
alone as all the other men found their wives and girlfriends and they all
embraced … his wife wasn’t there! Worried, he hurried home and found a light on
in his house. As he entered he was relieved to see his wife, she quickly turned
and said, “HONEY, I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU!” His response
showed his disappointment however: ‘The other men’s wives and girlfriends
were watching for them!‘ — The difference between waiting and
watching was only too clear! (Fr. Lakra).
24) Serve Christ in his many comings : Mother Teresa recognized and welcomed Christ in the needy, the hungry, the homeless, and the forgotten. Jesus’ words about serving His needs in God’s poor ones were seared into her soul. She was one of those rare figures that can shine a new light on Gospel teachings and actually live according to Jesus’ word and example. We can emulate her example. Mother Teresa was certain that prayer could be the powerhouse of our lives. Through prayer, she said, one could recognise Jesus in and among us. — Of course, we cannot force these moments; all we can do is to be prepared. One saint said that life should be lived in ‘attentive expectancy’, the way one waits for the phone, for one’s child, or spouse or the doctor to call. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21 L/21
