Today, we celebrate the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of a new liturgical year. We are now entering Cycle B of our Sunday Mass readings. We all know as Catholics that Advent is a season where we prepare for Christmas, when Christ’s first coming into the world is remembered. However, according to the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969, this is only for the two main characteristics of Advent. Advent is also a season when our remembrance directs our minds and our hearts to await Christ's second coming at the end of time. Advent is thus a period for devout and joyful expectation for the two comings of Christ.
This first Sunday of Advent, we are told to be watchful and to be alert as we wait. The theme of this first Sunday of Advent seems to echo the themes of the Gospels that we heard at the end of the liturgical year in recent weeks: of the maidens who were prepared and had enough oil for their lamps as they awaited the arrived of the bridegroom, of the master who gave his servants talents to take care of, not knowing when the master would return.
It is hard work to be alert and watchful, isn’t it? Especially during Advent this year, in the midst of the challenges and difficulties of the pandemic, in the midst of our weariness, fatigue and frustration. I always have loved the Advent season, which I think about in our current reality. I want to hold onto the love I have had for Advent each year. We were sharing in our small group on Zoom memories we had of Advent growing up. My mom always loved Advent calendars; we would always have a different one each year growing up. Each day, the Advent calendar revealed a religious symbol or a short Bible verse. But, even as a small child, I knew that Advent calendar helped me count down the days before Christmas and to remember to focus on Jesus and on my faith, not on the Christmas decorations or the Christmas presents that I dreamed of getting.
I love the short simple quotes of Mother Teresa. Her simple words make us think a lot about the profound meaning behind them. This quote from Mother Teresa struck me as we begin our Advent journey: “Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today, let us begin.” Sometime, we can be so occupied with the past, of past hurts, past failures, past routines, and old ways of doing things. Not that the past isn’t important, because what happened in the past is part of us and we learn from the past. Then, we can be so fixated on what is happening tomorrow that we lose sight on the present. Yes, our present reality is important. We have work to do in Advent, this journey we are starting today. We have preparations to which we need to be alert, to which we need to be present. We are to be alert as to what is going to happen in the future, but we need to also worry about what we are doing in the here and now. Every day counts. In our faith, we are to live life to the fullest.
Also, once when Mother Teresa was visiting our country, she was asked which virtue Americans need the most. You would think she would have said “charity,” right? But she said the virtue Americans need the most is hope, saying that too many people today have lost hope. Perhaps, we could say that we have misplaced our hope, not lost it. Perhaps we have put our hope in the wrong things, on things that ultimately cannot fulfill our deepest longings and our most profound needs. Advent is not about instant gratification or what our money can buy. Advent is about being watchful and alert as God accompanies us on our journey, as we place our hope in our faith.
In any difficulties, darkness, and trouble we have right now, to be alert and watchful on our journey requires two things, according to Father Dave Pivonka in the Ignite your parish program we are using in our small groups during Advent. First, he says that we must persevere. Perseverance has been an important virtue to us during the pandemic, hasn't it, and it hasn't always been easy to persevere. Second, we are called to look for Jesus in unexpected places on our Advent journey, thinking of how he lived out his ministry in unexpected places: visiting the poor, eating meals with tax collectors, conversing with unbelievers, befriending sinners, and healing the lepers. Perhaps in our watchfulness and our waiting this Advent season, the Lord will call us to some unexpected places as well.
I would like to close my homily this very Sunday of Advent with this observation: I am usually very focused, very prepared, and very ready for Advent, this season of preparation and waiting. But, this year, I am not so sure. If you are me, during this pandemic, I am a bit discombobulated. I am exhausted and weary, trying to do my best to adapt as a priest and a disciple of Christ to this challenging reality. It is not easy. It is not easy at all. How can we be watchful and alert in the midst of the pandemic? My answer is: Don’t worry. Don't be afraid. Bring your reality to your Advent journey. Learn on your Advent journey. Try your best to be watchful and alert. Our Advent journey will teach us.
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