Dec 8, 2019

Post date: Dec 10, 2019 4:19:2 PM

December 8, 2019 Homily by Fr. Karl Schray

How is Advent going for you?

Are you preparing a way for the Lord?

Have you seen the presence of the Lord in folks around you?

To receive the graces that God offers us this Advent,

an examination of conscience is necessary. That is why celebrating

the Sacrament of Reconciliation is an important part of Advent.

“Why do I put confession first among the seven pillars of Catholic

spirituality?” asks Matthew Kelly?

“It is not a matter of guilt, but it is a humbling thing.

It is simply that, at God’s side, I am a better person. When I turn away from God or take God for granted,

I am also turning my back on my true self.”

What chaff do we need to remove to become pure wheat for Jesus?

God spoke through the prophet John the Baptist and so the Church

chooses today’s Gospel because through him, God is now speaking to us.

I think if there is any time in history John’s message needs to be heard

it is that it needs to be heard by people in today’s culture.

John’s message was to repent which means to have a change of heart.

This means we need to have God first in our lives, not second, or third or

fourth, but first. When John said

‘Do not say we have Abraham for our father, John was telling his fellow

Jews you can’t presume, because you are a member of God’s chosen

people, that you can do whatever you want without the possibility

of any negative consequences. John is telling us too that

we can’t do whatever we want or make up our own rules

just because we carry the name Catholic.

It distresses me when I see people on the news who engage

in outlandish behavior and then say they are Catholic. So what.

Does that make their behavior okay? The same is true of those who claim

‘I don’t have any religion but I’m a spiritual person’- as many do today.

Which is their way of saying, ‘I can live the way I want, and

I don’t need a church community. And because I’m spiritual, it’s okay’.

It’s God who makes the rules, not us. Church leaders show the example!!

John says, we, like a tree, must bear good fruit—which means

we must live a virtuous life and let God’s law and Spirit guide our lives.

This is Advent’s message.

As Christmas draws near, we can have parties, give gifts, send cards and

decorate and bake but as Thomas Merton writes:

“It is important to remember the deep seriousness of Advent.

That should remind us that the King who is to come is

more than a charming infant smiling in the straw.”

John describes Jesus as a farmer threshing—separating the wheat

from the chaff.

He blows with his fan and the wheat which has weight and substance

falls to the floor while the chaff is blown away.

We, too, need substance in our repentance before Jesus.

What chaff do you and I need to remove in order to

make Jesus more visible in our lives?

With the sure hope of Jesus’ coming, there is

nothing more reasonable than repentance—that is,

changing in us whatever keeps us from saying ‘yes’ to Jesus.