First Sunday of Advent Homily
Today is the first Sunday in Advent. It is also the first Sunday of the liturgical year. Hopefully, you noticed something similar in the readings to the way that the previous liturgical year just ended. Did you? The last several weeks of the previous liturgical year contained the message to be prepared. We don’t know when our Lord will return. The beginning of the new liturgical year begins with the message – “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” (Mk 13:33-37) So, it seems that the liturgical year begins and ends with the same message. So, we have bookends to our liturgical year. The message is so important that our Church places it at the beginning and the end to remind us that Jesus may come at any time. All the readings that we hear throughout the year are meant to help us be prepared.
Being prepared reminded me of the pandemic. At the beginning of the pandemic many people rushed to the store to stock up on supplies that they thought they might need to survive. They wanted to be prepared. Some of the items that many people stocked up on were food, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper. While we hope that there will never be another pandemic, there are still warnings of variations of the covid virus, and of the recent outbreak of walking pneumonia in China. We hope and pray that there won’t be any restrictions placed upon us. However, if there are we can probably feel safe to say that many people will go to the store and stock up on supplies. I know someone in Centralia that whenever he goes to the store with his wife, they always buy some extra paper products. When they get home, they put those in a room for storage. If there is ever another shortage of toilet paper, I know exactly where I am going to go to get some – Centralia! Some people want to be prepared for the long haul. After all, Jesus said, “Be prepared;” and they were.
Which makes me wonder, are they really prepared? Sure, they may have a sufficient supply of toilet paper to last them for several years. But are they prepared if the Lord should come back again? In our Gospel reading, Jesus warned to be watchful and alert. The Lord may come back and we don’t want to be caught sleeping. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily signify actual sleep. Most likely, being caught asleep may be in reference to being unprepared spiritually. As in, someone not taking their faith seriously, not praying, not going to church, not spending any time seeking a relationship with the Lord. Someone that does this would be consider “asleep” in the faith.
Have you ever been startled and suddenly awakened from a sound sleep? It can be quite frightening. We wake up with our hearts racing. We may be confused as to what is going on. We might stumble out of bed and fall to the floor in a panic. We were totally unprepared for whatever crisis woke us up. This is the image that Jesus uses to warn us not to be caught asleep in our faith. Even Catholics that attend Mass every weekend can be caught asleep. There are some people that come to Mass on a regular basis, but when they leave the church after Mass, they rarely give any time to God. Throughout the week their minds are occupied with so many other things that they forget to pray and spend some quality time with God. The weeks, the months, the years go by without this routine ever really changing. If this is the case, then are they prepared to meet the Lord if He comes?
We can hear this warning not to be asleep in our faith in the first reading. (Is 63:16-17, 19; 64:2- 7) “Why do you [the people are speaking to God] let us wander, O Lord, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?” This prophecy may be roughly 2600 years old, but it can easily apply to many people in our country and in our world today. The first reading continues, “All of us have become like unclean people . . . we have all withered like leaves and our guilt carries us away like the wind. There is none who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to cling to you.” There are many around us that have fallen asleep in their faith. The Lord calls, but do any of them hear His voice? It is like calling someone’s name when that person is in a very deep sleep. The person most likely will not awaken.
The Advent season asks us to be awake and be prepared for the coming of our Lord. Not just to anticipate the coming of our Lord at Christmas time, when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, but to also to anticipate and be prepared for the coming of our Savior at the end of time. In our second reading, St. Paul was talking about being prepared. (1 Cor 1:3-9) We heard, “I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, . . . so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” God gives us all that we need so that we are not lacking in any spiritual gift. God gives us what we need to be prepared to meet our Lord Jesus Christ when He comes again. Blessed are those that use these spiritual gifts wisely and are prepared. They will not be asleep and caught off guard. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus! Our hearts are filled with anticipation for Your coming. Come Lord Jesus, and do not delay!
Fr. Tim Ilgen
