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Given at Saint Augustine and Sacred Heart parishes, Jeffersonville, IN –
December 3rd & 4th, 2011.
Last Saturday marked the end of the liturgical year. In the Gospel reading for the Mass of the day
on that last day of the Church year, Jesus is quoted as saying, “Beware that
your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the
anxieties of daily life….” (Luke 21:34) It’s no accident that that particular
reading is read on the last day of the Church liturgical year. After 34 weeks of Ordinary Time—when we focus
on growing spiritually and morally in the context of our daily lives—the Church
realizes that most of us probably do have hearts that have “become
drowsy”—perhaps from drunkenness and carousing, but most likely from the
anxieties of daily life. And so there is
a certain genius on the Church’s part to place that reading right on the cusp
of the new liturgical year. It reminds
us that perhaps our hearts have become drowsy and then it ushers us right into Advent,
a season designed to help “wake us up.”
Our first reading today from the prophet Isaiah is a
beautiful reading—full of awe and wonder.
While the reader did a great job reading it, I think it would require a
method actor to really convey the joy-filled expectation that these words express. Listen to some of these again:
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to
her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated…
And still further:
…Go up on to a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
These are words of great joy
and expectation and are simply wonderful to ponder. Perhaps, however, we are unable to see the
joy that these words convey, at least not in our current situation. Perhaps, even after one week of Advent, our
hearts are still drowsy—tired, weary, and numb—from the anxieties of our daily
lives. Of course, one need not look
farther than the newspaper to understand why: violence and drug use continue to
escalate in our cities and neighborhoods, jobs continue to be scarce and an
economic recovery continues to be lethargic, national politics remains, it
seems, disconnected from the daily struggles of individuals and families, and there are countless other reasons as well. And so no, it’s not surprising that our
hearts may have become drowsy and we are unable to relate to the awe and wonder
expressed in today’s first reading.
Yet, when we listen to the Gospel reading, we see that the
Jews living during Jesus’ time also seemed to be struggling with the same
problem. Now, the Gospel of Mark is
notoriously slim on narrative details and so we’ll have to read between the
lines a little bit to see that their hearts were also drowsy and in need of
awakening. The Gospel begins by quoting
our reading from the prophet Isaiah and then essentially equates it with John’s
proclamation in the desert, calling for a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. The Gospel states
that “people of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem were going out to him.” In
other words, the whole Jewish nation heard of John’s proclamation and began to
come to him to be baptized. Perhaps many
of them were reluctant at first, unable to see the “awe” in the awe-filled
proclamation that John was making.
Eventually, perhaps, through the witness of seeing others go out to the
Jordan River or of speaking with others who returned from there, these
reluctant ones could see that their hearts indeed had become drowsy waiting for
the coming of God that Isaiah had promised.
With “hearts awake,” however, they could experience the joy-filled
expectation that the coming promised by the prophet was now at hand.
And so we encounter these readings here today in this
season of Advent for the same purpose: to call us to recognize the drowsiness
of our own hearts so that we too may awaken to the experience of joy-filled
expectation for the second-coming of Jesus.
Just like those ancient Jews, it feels like Christ’s promised return is
long-delayed, but when we recognize—as Saint Peter reminds us our second
reading today—that “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a
thousand years like one day,” it makes it easier to see that Jesus’ delay is,
ultimately, for our benefit. Christ
wishes that all of us should come to repentance, as Saint Peter reminds us, and
so every second that he delays—which is as nothing to him—is a gift of
opportunity for us to wake up our drowsy hearts, so as to be ready when he
comes.
My sisters and brothers, Jesus did not tell his disciples
to “beware that their hearts not become drowsy” because he is an exacting
master, demanding strict discipline so as to never sin. Rather, he was instructing them—and so us
through the preservation of his words in the Gospels—to remain vigilant so that
they would not be asleep and miss out on the joy of witnessing his return in
glory. My sisters and brothers, this is
what the season of Advent is doing for us.
It’s as if the season itself is saying, “Take comfort, for this time of
suffering is at an end and the time for Christ’s return is near!” If it hasn’t done this for you yet, then I
encourage you to spend time praying with these readings in this coming week and
to ask God to awaken in your heart a joy-filled expectation for his coming.
And if it has? Well,
I think the Gospel then shows us what to do.
All of the people from the Judean countryside and the city-dwellers of
Jerusalem came out to John to receive the baptism of repentance and to
acknowledge their sins—to “make straight a path” in their hearts for the coming
of the long-awaited Messiah, the one Isaiah promised. We too, then, are called to repent and
acknowledge our sins. For the
fully-initiated, that means the sacrament of reconciliation—confession—and it
is why the Church encourages all Catholics to celebrate this sacrament during
the season of Advent. As we hear the
readings reminding us of how the ancient Jews prepared the way of the Lord in
their hearts at the sound of John’s proclamation, so we too are called to
prepare a pathway for Christ to come into our hearts by reconciling with both
God and our neighbor through the sacrament of confession.
Friends, beware that yours hearts do not become drowsy from
the oversaturation of “Christmas Spirit” that the world outside of these walls is
drowning you in. Rather, use this time
of Advent to prepare well your heart for Christ’s second coming and the best
gift you will receive on Christmas day may very well be the joy of the Lord in
your heart.
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