(Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent Yr. C)
Today marks the beginning of the new year
of the Church, a new liturgical year. What is the liturgical year all about?
The liturgical year is the year in the course of which the Church and the Christian
community celebrate and meditate the mysteries of Christ, from the Incarnation
to his Birth, his Passion, Death, Ascension, to the Pentecost. Furthermore, it
presents before us, the public life of Jesus, his preaching and miracles, as they
are transmitted to us by the evangelists. Be that as it may, the liturgical year is not merely a
remembrance or a re-evocation of past events; rather it is rendering actual,
present and efficacious now and every time the event of Christ and the mystery
of our salvation. Thus, every liturgical year well lived, is a year rich
and replete with grace and divine benevolence. The Holy Mother Church does not
want the succession of time in idleness and emptiness, rather she desires that
time be enriched and occupied with the events of the redemption wrought by
Christ. As such, in the course of the Church’s liturgical year, the ordinary
time (kronos)
is transformed into a time and moment of grace (kairos) a time of
salvation replete with eternity.
The New liturgical Year begins today with
the period of Advent, which was historically instituted for the preparation for
Christmas. However, with the passing of time, it acquired a dual significance,
as the memorial of the dual coming of the Lord, that is his coming among men in
the flesh and his coming at the end of time, in glory as Judge and Lord. Advent
etymologically means “coming” and historically the word was later used to
denote a “visit” of an important figure (like a King to a city), so Advent is a
period of preparation for this visit. In St. Bernard’s parlance we can
distinguish a triple Advent: First Advent,
which is constituted by the Birth of the Saviour, the Incarnation proper. Last Advent will be the future one, the
glorious coming of Christ as the Judge of the whole world at the end of time. Intermediary Advent, is His immanent and continuous coming into
our lives. The Christian life is an on-going
advent, a constant personal encounter with Jesus who has come, who is to come
and who is already in our midst; while in the first and last Advent the
coming of Christ is and will be manifest and evident, in the intermediary Advent
it is hidden, it is the coming of Christ in the hearts of men. In Christendom,
Advent is a four week of anticipation. Anticipation of what or of who?
Certainly, the answer to this question will vary from one individual to
another, incumbent of course, on individual experiences. For some it could be
for a party, for others it could be for vacation or for Christmas bonus.
However, these human expectations are
not bad in themselves, but there is more to Advent than those vegetative kinds
of anticipation. It is a period of preparation for the visit of the
Saviour.
This no doubt introduces us to an important
and paramount element of Advent, as a period of expectation, but also of
preparation. This second element requires our personal responses. And as such,
the pertinent questions we are bound to ask are: What are you preparing for? How are you preparing? Whom are you
preparing for? Indeed, these questions bring us face to face with our own
existential realities. Some may go to retreat, some may begin to pray more,
some become more generous, some indulge in drinking to stupor, some steal and
kill and only few really tidy up their
lives so that they may become one with the Saviour. We need to prepare
ourselves for the coming of our Redeemer; we need to ward off from ourselves
all that may be a hindrance for us in this period of spiritual expectancy, of
He who is to come, il Veniente. On this idea of ‘coming’ the readings of today
converge. In the first reading Yahweh declares through the Prophet Jeremiah
thus: “I shall make an upright Branch grow for David, who will do what is just and
upright in the country” (v.15).
Jesus in his eschatological discourse in the Gospel of St. Luke affirms that
“they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (v.27). In the second reading St. Paul
exalts the Christians of Thessalonica to be prepared for the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ with all his saints.
The first reading (Jer. 33:14-16) begins with
a divine reassurance by the Covenant keeping God, to the Israelites. God
says to his people: “Behold, the days are coming...when I will fulfil the
promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah”. What is that
promise: “I will make a righteous branch to spring forth from David, and he
shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” (Jer. 33:15). This wondrous
voice of the fulfilment of God’s promise to his people re-echoed in the time
and period of despair, in the history of the Israelites, they just returned
from exile and upon their arrival they saw everything in ruins. Indeed, the
divine reassurance came at the time the people needed it most. The same experience could be applicable to
the historical moment we find ourselves today. It does appear we are battered
on every side by bitter realities that surround us, ranging from economic and
political crises to a near neglect of God. In this moment of despair and
despondency, if we turn to God, His reassuring voice and words will resound in
our time too. If we wait for him with adequate preparation, He will renew our
lives and our society at large. The words of prophet Jeremiah will equally find
its fulfilment in us and in our time. In the passage we see the phrase “the
Lord is our righteousness”; here
righteousness is not an ethical or moral attribute, but the saving act of
Yahweh, who accomplishes His words.
The context was the conquest of Jerusalem by
Babylon, and the exile of a good number of the Israelites. The restoration of David’s
dynasty that was prophesied by Jeremiah seemed not to have been fulfilled as a
result of the long duration of the exile period. However, its partial
fulfilment was seen in the return from exile. On the other hand, Christians see
the fulfilment of that promises with the coming of the Messiah. The divine
promises seem to have been kept on hold and the people were in a state of
despair, however, the prophecy of Jeremiah consoles and raised a beacon of hope
for them. On the other hand, the
fundamental message that prophet Jeremiah intends to communicate to us today is
that God is faithful; he maintains and fulfils his promises, which are
always promises of good. God comes to the aid of our helplessness and confusion
with his liberating and saving action, when and how he desires, and nothing can
stop Him.
In the Gospel passage of St. Luke (Lk. 21:25-28.34-36), we are given a
message of consolation and of hope in apocalyptic contents, which apparently
instils fear in the listeners. It is ad rem to affirm that the apocalyptic
literature has its peculiar style, which requires an adequate interpretative
key. Therefore, in today’s passage the intent of the evangelist is not to
strike us with fear and anguish, rather he wants us to adopt the attitude of
hope, a confident waiting on and for the Saviour, and the certainty that the
Lord comes to liberate humanity from evil. No doubt, this is the pivot around
which revolves the whole Advent Season. However,
from this passage spring triple invitation for Christians of the first generation
and of our own generation: First, “Look
up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near”. Raising one’s head means to work in freedom
with one’s gaze fixed on the freedom God. It is an invitation to stand firm
in moments of trial and tribulation. It is equally an invitation to go beyond what
is immediate and look towards the future, for many a times we are tempted to
fix our gaze on immediate things, on things we can behold here and now, it is
only in the evangelical dynamics of looking up and raising one’s head that we
can see greater and better things in view. Second, “Take heed yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation
and drunkenness and cares of life”. The disciples of Jesus have to be
attentive like the sentinel in the night and avoid styles of life that
contradict the Christian Message. Third, “Watch
and pray at all times”. Watching and
praying all the times, a Christian makes his or her life to become a continuous
advent.
In
the Gospel passage, beyond the apparent
terrifying images is a message of consolation and of hope. St. Luke
suggests to us the right spirit with which we have to live the Advent Season:
●He invites us to see things and to evaluate situations with the eyes of faith
and the Christian hope, therefore, with serenity and joy. ●To always be
vigilant and attentive for the “coming of the Lord”. Therefore,
the Gospel indicates two important attitudes for us: To watch and to pray. And
these two values are essential in the spirituality of Advent.
The
second reading (1Th. 3:12-4:2) serves
as a completion of this day’s discourse on how to live the Advent. St. Paul invites us to rediscover the
Christian meaning of our life, which revolves around the call to walk towards
sanctity: “And may he so confirm your hearts in holiness that you may be
blameless in the sight of our God and Father” (v.13). St. Paul indicated to Christians another practical and
concrete way of preparing for the coming of the Lord. He equated the Christian life to a journey, for he invited us “to walk
and to please God”. To walk involves
a continuous movement towards Him, trying to please Him with good deeds.
And if the Christian life is a walk, in
advent the walking becomes intense because our Saviour is in view.
In the second part of his letter the
apostle presents some ethical exhortations and some theological problems that
are of concern to the nascent community. He reminded his readers of his initial
catechesis, which was given “through our Lord Jesus”. Indeed, this Christological title denotes that the
catechesis of the Church in general and that of St. Paul in particular is
founded on the words of the historical Jesus, and perpetuated today by the
Living Lord, the exalted Kyrios.
Beloved in Christ, in this season beaming
with grace, the Christian meaning of time and history are well orchestrated,
for us Christians Jesus gives meaning to time. He is the Centre of human history. History has its beginning in Him, for He is the Alpha, and its end, for
He is the Omega. Time and history culminate in Him. Without Christ time and
history are mere accidents, but with and in Christ they are God’s design, a
history of salvation. For us therefore, time is not just a succession of
seconds, minutes and hours etc. it is a history directed and governed by God.
Above all else, however, we need to
rediscover and appropriate the spirituality of Advent, and as it is suggestive
of the readings of today, ours has to be an existence in expectation for the Veniente.
Our entire existence as Christians ought
to be lived in a continuous tension and propensity towards the One who is, who
was and who is to come (cf. Rev.
1:8). We are called to live the Intermediary Advent with gratitude for His
First coming and with an attitude of preparation (to watch and to pray) and of hope towards His Second Coming.
Beloved friends, is Advent, let us watch, pray and wait in joyful hope for the
One who is to come, the Veniente! May the CHILD of Bethlehem give us enabling
grace to earnestly watch and pray for His Coming into our hearts!! Amen!!!
(Fr. Vitus M. C. Unegbu, SC)
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