Homily:
1st Sunday of Advent – Cycle A
Friends, hot on the heels of
our celebration of Christ the King, we come to the first Sunday of Advent. Instead of hearing readings that turn our
focus to the Christ Child (perhaps as we’d prefer they’d do), we hear readings
that remind us of Christ’s kingship. And
this is totally appropriate since the beginning of our new liturgical year is
never a “reset”, but always a “continuation”.
Our declaration last week that Jesus Christ is Lord and King of the
Universe necessarily leads us right into the truth that he is yet to come
again, and our readings remind us of this.
In our first reading from the
prophet Isaiah, we hear the prophecy of how the Lord will come to establish
Mount Zion, the hill on which Jerusalem was built, as the “highest”
mountain. As we know, the city of
Jerusalem is nowhere near the highest point of anything. In the symbolic language of the prophets,
however, the cities of the greatest prominence—from which the greatest rulers
rule—are the ones built on the highest mountains and so Isaiah declares that
God will come to establish Mount Zion as the highest mountain so that Jerusalem
will be considered the greatest of cities from which the greatest of rulers,
the Lord, will rule over all the earth.
This is an obvious allusion to
Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, whom Isaiah didn’t know, but
nonetheless foretold, and who would, by his death and resurrection on Mount
Zion, establish himself as king. In
doing so, he will draw all nations to himself; because, in himself, he has
become Mount Zion, established as the highest mountain (for we read in the
Gospel of John that Jesus says, “...when I am lifted from the earth, I will
draw all people to myself.” ~ John 12:32).
Then we hear Isaiah say, “Many peoples shall come and say: ‘Come, let us
climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may
instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.’” Is this not the embodiment of who Jesus
is? The one to whom all peoples go up to
be instructed in his ways so as to walk in his paths? And yet Isaiah continues: “For from Zion
shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” In Jesus Christ we see this, too,
happening. Carried first by his apostles
and then by the faithful throughout the generations, this instruction has gone
out into the world.
Bishop Robert Barron, in a
recent podcast reflecting on the feast of Christ the King, reminds us that this
was the whole purpose of Christ’s coming: that is, to establish a kingdom that
unifies the world. And this is a real kingdom,
with Christ as the king, and with the law of God as the universal rule for all
peoples everywhere. In other words,
Christ didn’t come to teach us how to be nice people and then to sacrifice
himself for our sins only to return to heaven and leave us alone—as if, as he
ascended, he could be heard saying, “Now you better behave, because I’m not
going to come down their again and save you!”
No, Christ came to establish the definitive kingdom of God under his own
kingship. This is what we celebrate on
the feast of Christ the King. That he
will return in all of his glory to take his kingdom unto himself is what the
season of Advent spurs us to remember.
This remembering, however, is
never static. In other words, we’re not
meant to go “Oh yeah,” and then continue as if nothing is different. Rather, this remembering is meant to spur us
into action: for we are the ones who have gone up to Christ to receive
instruction so as to walk in his paths, and we are the ones who are sent to go
forth from Christ into the world with this instruction. And why?
To prepare for the final uniting of all into the one kingdom of
heaven. And so, how do we prepare?
We prepare by first
recognizing that this world is covered in darkness: a darkness that only the
light of Christ can penetrate and illuminate.
It is fitting, then, that we celebrate this season at the time of year
in which the days are filled with the least amount of daylight. Advent calls us to recognize this darkness
and enter into it, so that we can know what is truly the light of Christ and
what is the false light that the world puts forth to distract us.
Frankly, I just don’t see how
we can do this if we have already filled our lives with winter holiday lights
and festivities. At the end of the
prophecy that we heard in today’s reading, Isaiah exhorts the children of
Israel to “walk in the light of the Lord”, and Saint Paul, in the second
reading from the Letter to the Romans, exhorts them to “throw off the works of
darkness and put on the armor of light”.
Friends, I declare that this is all but impossible for us if we have
already decked out our homes with false lights and festivities that have little
to do with preparing for Christ’s coming.
We should, rather, be examining ourselves—going into the darkness of our
inner selves—to see if we are truly prepared to meet Christ our King and to be
judged by him.
Therefore, I exhort you to
leave off the lights and festivities this Advent and instead “seek first the
kingdom of God”. For, as Christ himself
reminded us in today’s Gospel reading, we do not know the day when Christ will
come. Rather, it will catch us unaware,
going about, as it were, our daily business.
Those who are ready for the judgment will be taken up into the kingdom,
and those who aren’t will be left behind.
You know, it is really unfortunate that there are so many teachers in
the Church today who will argue for universal salvation: that is, that
ultimately everyone will be saved.
Unfortunate because it is not biblical.
The biblical teaching is that there are many who will be lost to eternal
punishment: most of whom, I would guess, will be lost because they didn’t take
care to be ready for the day that the Lord called them to judgment. And this for me is very distressing, which is
why I am preaching this to you today.
You know, there’s a specter
running around called “The Christmas Spirit” that convinces people to believe
in a domesticated Christmas: a Christmas that’s all about family reunions,
meals, and shared gifts. This, I argue,
is a false spirit. False because Christ
himself cannot be domesticated. The true
Spirit of Christmas is the one that leads us to prepare for and hail the coming
of Christ the King: a king more powerful than all the rulers of this world, a
king who will judge between nations and impose terms on many peoples, a king
who can, once and for all, lead people to beat their swords into plowshares and
their spears into pruning hooks, a king who can bring true and lasting peace
through justice by uniting all peoples into one kingdom. Friends, if your “Christmas Spirit” isn’t a
spirit that prepares for and hails this king, then I say to you again: it is a
false spirit.
The question, therefore, that
this first Sunday of Advent poses to all of us is this: “Where is Christ the
King in my preparations for and celebrations of Advent?” If you struggle to find him there, then
perhaps you’ll ask yourself, “What, then, am I preparing for?” Let us all challenge ourselves to discern in
prayer at least one way that we can turn this time of Advent and Christmas into
a preparation for and a hailing of the coming of Christ the King. Perhaps we’ll take up a work of mercy, or
spend an hour in adoration each week, or read the scriptures a little each day
(especially if that means turning off TV, steaming services, or social media),
or any number of things. Making a good
and thorough examination of conscience and sacramental reconciliation is
probably one of the best ways to put Christ the King into your
preparations. Whatever you discern, be
intentional. Write it down and make
concrete plans to do it. Share those
plans with a friend and keep each other accountable to it. In this way you will keep yourself awake for
the day of the Lord’s coming, which may be very soon, and you will be ready to
join the multitudes who sing with the Psalmist: “Let us go rejoicing to the
house of the Lord.”
Given at Saint Mary’s Cathedral: Lafayette, IN – December 1st,
2019
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