First Sunday of Advent
Thursday was Thanksgiving. On Friday I was the celebrant at the very tragic funeral of 41 year old Vic Brinkman who died unexpectedly. He leaves behind his parents and his young children. In less than twenty-four hours I had moved from joy to sadness. And now here I am celebrating this mass with you. There is something amazing about us humans. Hope never fades for us. Even Vic’s funeral, as tragic and saddening as it was, not without a silver lining. Faith gave the family hope. For that matter, think of all the tragedies his world has experienced - the Black Plague, the World Wars, the terrorist attacks, the horrendous natural disasters and countless other tragedies. Somehow, we human manage to emerge from the shadows of these dark moments with grit and resilience. We call it ‘hope.”
Today we begin the very holy season of Advent – the season of hope. Yes, we are in the holiday mood and the commercialization of the season does not always help us to reflect on the deeper realities. Yet, the scripture readings are unceasingly inviting us to go deeper. I would like to suggest three ways to make this advent meaningful.
1. Pondering Hope! Today’s first reading and the gospel reading describe scenes that carry two realities – the ‘existing imperfections’ coupled with ‘what would be.’ Jeremiah, in light of the existing infidelities and injustices prophecies about the days when justice and right will reign. “The Lord our justice,” he proclaimed. In the gospel reading, Jesus, as he describes the last days, says, “But when these things begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.” These reading describe life as we know it. On the one hand, sin, death, illness, uncertainty, broken relationships, selfishness, injustice, violence, and a million other imperfections plague us. On the other hand, our hope never fades. Jesus Christ is our hope! No other event in the history of the universe brings us the kind of hope that Jesus did. He did not come to a perfect world or wait for the world to be perfect. Rather, he embraced our imperfections. In the manger and on the cross Jesus taught us that no matter how dark things might become around us, hope never fades. There is tomorrow. There is eternity. I suggest that this advent more than anything else, we connect deeply with Jesus who is our hope.
2. Hope Comes from Love. I am drawing inspiration for this second point from the very first sentence of today’s second reading. Paul says to the Thessalonians: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all…” Paul, like you and I, knew the power of love! He, like you and I, knew God’s that abounding love at Christmas and on the cross is the very reason for our hope. Today, Paul urges us to let Christ-like love increase and abound so that hope may abound. Here is the best way to make advent meaningful – that together we increase and abound in love. In the midst of all the imperfection, like Christ, let love increase and abound. So I am inviting you to twenty-five days of love; twenty-five days without hate, resentment, unrighteous anger; twenty-five days of forgiveness, reconciliation and peace; twenty-five day of bringing love to the grieving, the poor, the lonely, the hungry, the distressed and overburdened! If we can commit these twenty-five days to increasing and abounding Christ-like love, then we will also increase and abound hope.
3. Conducting Our Lives to Please God. Paul offers us one more invitation. He us to “conduct themselves to please God.” In other words, love is more that good intentions. Love brings about a conversion in our heart which leads to concrete action. When we increase and abound Christ-like love, the real change happen inside of us. The world will experience hope not because there is less distress in the world, but rather, because we strived for change and become Christ-like. Here are some examples: In relation to the huge influx of refugees, how can we conduct ourselves to please God? In relation to taking care of the earth that God has given us, how could we conduct ourselves to please God? If we think about the most complicated relationship in our live, how can we conduct ourselves to please God?
May our participation in the Eucharist strengthen our hope – the hope that come from the long-awaited Jesus. Amen.
Fr. Satish Joseph