Homily - Advent Reconciliation service - (1 John 1:5 – 2:2; Psalm 27; John 12:31-36)

At my parishes in the Mississippi Delta, I will be having reconciliation services in the first few weeks of the holy season of Advent.  Our service at Belzoni in Humphreys County, Mississippi will be Wednesday, November 30, and our service in Yazoo CIty will be Monday, December 12.  The following is the homily reflecting upon the reading from Sacred Scripture at those services. 

         Light is a common theme in all of our readings today.  As we come together to celebrate a communal reconciliation service as a part of our period of preparation during Advent, we can think about how we light the candles on the Advent wreath to mark the passing of the days during this holy season of preparation.  When we finally reach Christmas, we see lights displayed everywhere – on Christmas trees, and lighting up houses and windows.  These lights represent the reality that Christ was born as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem in order to be the light of the world.

         You know, I was just up in Canada a couple of weeks ago to visit friends.  I lived in the city of Winnipeg for two years and survived two long winters up there.  Up north, during the winter months, it seems like it is dark and cold all of the time.  With our mild climate here in Mississippi, and being so far south in our country, we don’t expereince the darkness and coldness so much during this time of year.  I really appreciated how the people in Winnipeg loved the Christmas lights in the midst of that darkness, reminding them that not only is Christ the light in the midst of all the darkness, but that springtime would be coming as well.

          

         The light of Christ enters our lives when we are baptized, and we are symbolically given a baptismal candle that is lit from the Easter candle to represent the light of Christ in our lives.  At the Easter vigil mass, the entire Church is lit up with candles lit from that same Easter candle as a wonderful sign of the light of Christ we are called to be as the Church and as followers of Jesus. 

         Yet, when we sin, when darkness enters our lives, when the relationships we have with God and with others are broken or strained, the light of Christ is diminished in our lives.  The Sacrament of Reconciliation that we are celebrating this evening is here to help us restore that light.

         This season of preparation during Advent is a very busy time for all of us.  Students are winding down the semester, and all of us have so many activities going on this time of the year. Most of us really look forward to the Christmas season, to the time we spend with family and friends. However, Advent is also a time of conversion, a time when we can look at our life of faith in a fresh and new way.  May we see Advent, and this communal service of reconciliation today, as a holy time of renewal for us, a time where the light of Christ can be celebrated in our lives, a light that will take away the darnkness, a light that will signify the strong presence that Christ and the Church have in our lives.

         In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us to keep faith in the light while we have the light, that we may become sons and daughters of the light.  May the healing and grace that we receive from this communal service of reconciliation and the Sacrament of Reconciliation reinforce our identity as sons and daughters of the light.  May we bring this light to others.