Be vigilant!

Dear brothers and sisters, Happy New Year! Today over 1.5 billion Catholics from all over the world celebrate the first Sunday of Advent.  It is the beginning of a liturgical new year.  We have 3 liturgical cycles, A, B and C. Today we begin year C.  The Gospel of Luke will be read over the course of this year. The Church offers us this special moment to help us stop and reflect on the most important questions about life. It is easy to get caught up with everyday life such as taking care of the children or herding the animals. I was watching a herder tending his sheep the other day. The man was standing in the freezing cold wearing a thin coat.  He looked bored and cold.  I started to wonder what he was thinking about.  Is he happy when he gets up in the morning? Does he think about his future with hope?  Or is he bored with life? This special time invites us to think about these kinds of questions.  Who are we? Why are we here? And, more importantly, where are we going? Advent calls us to open wide our hearts and minds to new possibilities. It gives us hope and consolation. Today’s biblical readings tell us that we are not going towards nothingness. We are going towards an encounter with our Creator and Redeemer.   God is preparing us for an eternal wedding feast!  In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah says that the days are coming when God will raise up for David a just shoot (cf. Jer 33, 14-16).  He is speaking to a group of people who are very sad and confused. They have little hope in the future.  But he has good news for the people. He says that God will send a messenger of hope to the world.  Each Christmas we celebrate the fulfillment of that promise.  We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.   So how are we supposed to prepare for this great moment? First, we need to live a life that is worthy of the name Christian.  St. Paul tells us that we should abound in love for one another (cf. 1 Thes 3: 12).  It sounds very nice, but it is not easy to put in practice.  Most of us can do good things to those who love us. Well, at least most of the time.  But it is hard to do and wish good to someone who makes our lives miserable. Moreover, Jesus tells us very clearly to avoid getting drunk.  When we are drunk we are unable to pay attention.  We are unable to work and do the good he calls us to do.  Many people get drunk because they are anxious about life and about the future.  They try to forget about their problems.  But God wants us to turn to Him and not to a bottle of alcohol. He wants us to stay alert and look straight in the eyes of reality. Most of us are probably thinking that this is impossible.  It is, if we have to do it on our own. So where does our help come from? It comes from Jesus.

How exactly? Does it fall from the sky like magic? No. It comes through lots of prayer.  We do this every time we turn our hearts and minds to God, especially during the Mass.   What else are we to do? When we realize that we have failed to do good or done bad things we need to go to confession.  The blood of Jesus will wash our guilt away and give us new strength to be more faithful. My brothers and sisters, it is not those of us who honestly try but often fall that need to be frightened of Christ’s return.  Only those who refuse to live for God and for others will have to worry.  Those of us who “keep his covenant” (Ps 25, 10) “will be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus.” (1 Thes 3: 13). Amen.