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Homily for First Sunday of Advent

READ: (Isa 63: 16-17; Isa 64: 1, 3-8; 1 Cor 1: 3-9; Mk 13: 33-37)

REFLECT:  Acknowledge the presence of God, be faithful and watchful to encounter Jesus…

Dear friends, today with the beginning of the First Sunday of Advent, we begin a new liturgical year.  The season of advent marks the celebration of main events in the life of Jesus and the story of salvation. The season of Advent prepares us for Christmas, the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. Therefore it is a time of intense preparation, longing expectation and a hopeful gesture to meet Christ our Saviour. During these days of advent we make every effort in a special way to serve and encounter God watchfully and hopefully. So let us make the journey of advent with a point to move in eagerness, enthusiasm, love and compassion with others and oneself to welcome the Word made flesh, the incarnate Son Jesus amidst us.

We all would be all the more eager to prepare for the coming of Jesus as advent begins and Christmas is on the way. The coming of Jesus and our preparation to welcome Jesus into the world, into our lives and into our hearts demand certain preconditions and proposals, so that the coming of Jesus would really affect our lives and give us healing and happiness. Therefore, I would like to share with you three points of reflection, by which we all can prepare well to meet the Lord Jesus soon;

1.     Acknowledge God’s presence:

Acknowledging God’s presence would mean a total submission to his Lordship and authority. Our submission to God is manifested in all ways and always. When we acknowledge God’s presence in our lives, God assures of his presence with us at all times especially in times of despair and abandonment. Something similar we find in the first reading from Prophet Isaiah, where Isaiah by understanding the love bond between a father to a child calls on God to come to the rescue of people Israel by interceding on their behalf. That’s why prophet Isaiah says, “O Lord, why have you made us stray from Your ways, and hardened our heart from Your fear?”  So the only way to resolve the waywardness of Israelites is to focus on the Fatherhood of God to Israel and plead God to come to their rescue.  We see the relationship between God and Israel is reasserted by prophet Isaiah by saying, “For the sake of His own chosen servants (v. 17b), the tribes of His inheritance (v. 17c), and the Holy People (v. 18), Isaiah calls upon God to return to Israel (v. 17b), restore His relationships with them (v. 19a), and rename them as His own (v. 19b). Yes what unites God with his chosen people is an acknowledgment of the fatherhood of God and his presence. When we acknowledge the presence of God he will direct our paths; he will take care of us; he will lead us onward to green pastures of life. Therefore, acknowledging God’s presence is our total trust and dependence on God. So let us acknowledge God’s presence in our lives and move closer to him always.

In addition to the above, the end of the first reading manifests us a clear sign of acknowledgment that prophet Isaiah makes known in the following statements, “But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.” Yes, acknowledging God as potter and we as clay would mean that we allow ourselves to be moulded and shaped by God and his divine wisdom and works. Prophet Isaiah speaks to us of Israelites, acknowledging that they have wandered away from God’s ways and his love. While we analyse and see in our lives, we realize that there were and are times that we too have wandered or wander away from God because we search for what we want than what God wants or wishes from us. In the midst of human wants, desires, feelings and emotions, we need to turn back to God and his ways, so that we remain in union with God to progress according to his plan and his will for us.

First reading is of course the real manifestation of  Israel’s feel and Israel’s waywardness made them realize and accept God as their redeemer. It is an expression from the people of Israel through the mouth of Prophet Isaiah that they have realized their waywardness and a loss of direction and now wish to be intervened by God through his presence. Perhaps prophet Isaiah foretells in advance that all the nations will recognize and worship God for his goodness and greatness. Today, what we need is the spirit of acknowledgment that we have lost direction by our own selfishness and stubbornness and be ready for a change of life under the guidance and direction of God. Such sort of approach would help us to look at the future with hope, peace and joy. But for most of us, it becomes a challenge to give up our own egoistic tendencies, because we give more importance to self than God and his will in our lives. So let us acknowledge the presence of God in life. When we acknowledge that God is present everywhere, then no more self-importance is given, for God becomes important everywhere and God permeates everywhere.

2.     Be Faithful to God’s faithfulness:

God’s faithfulness to His people is not the same as our faithfulness to God. When God is faithful to us, He cares for us, He leads us, and He loves us. To God’s faithfulness what we can return is an expression of our faithfulness by trusting and leaning on the plans that he has for us. The second reading from St. Paul’s letter to First speaks of grace, fellowship, and the faithfulness of God in Jesus Christ. The grace of God in us is not our own merit but the merit of God. It is the grace of God that sustains our faith; it is the grace of God that enables us to go beyond our human weaknesses; it is the grace of God that enriches our lives in every way, although we fail to realize the grace of God in us. Therefore, it is our bounden duty as followers of Christ to manifest our faithfulness to God, by the grace of God in our lives and inspire as many as people for God and for his service. That shall be the greatest tribute that we can give back to God for his faithfulness to us although we are weak and wrong with our human nature.

The passage of the second reading ends with a promise of God that he will keep us firm till the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord. This promise gives us consolation and comfort, hope and strength to move ahead in life. What can take us ahead of life is our firm faith and faithfulness to God’s love and laws. The moment we remain faithful to God’s love and law, God does the unimaginable in our lives. Perhaps, it is a hard task to be firm in faith and be faithful to God’s love and law as we are in the most tempting and alluring times of the world. All over and all through we are caught up with various crisis and chaos, but it all depends on each one of us with the choices we make and with the convictions we live. When our choice is oriented towards faith and our convictions are based on the faith we profess in the Lord, everything else would fall in life with smoothly.

So with the vulnerability and feeble nature we are created, faith in God and faithfulness to God shall be a starting place of comfort and strength to avoid fears, failures, trials and temptations in life. That’s what very beautifully shared by Pope Francis, “Our fidelity is nothing more than a response to God’s fidelity. God who is faithful to His word, who is faithful to His promise, who walks with His people carrying out the promise close to His people. Faithful to the promise: God, who continually reveals Himself as a Saviour of His people because He is faithful to His promise.” Yes, God is always faithful. The only way we can repay God for his faithfulness is to remain firm in the faith that we profess and be faithful to God’s love and laws. Let us completely engross ourselves in faith and faithfulness to God, God will definitely make our efforts worth it and make our living as Christ’s followers successful in life.

3.     Be watchful to Jesus’ coming:

Being watchful would mean that one stays alert and is constantly vigilant. It is like a non-stop sleep. The best way to describe being watchful and alert in life is like a good watchman or a woman, who genuinely watches over the house of a master in their presence or absence safely and securely. In the gospel reading, Jesus warns his disciples to be watchful, by presenting the episode of a man going on a journey, leaving his servants to watch over, work and be alert. As they are expected to be alert to the call of the master, at the coming of the master and be committed to the master of the house, such should be our attitude to Jesus our Master, when he comes to meet us. We need to be watchful to Jesus’ calling, coming and be committed for a genuine encounter with Jesus. Indeed, it is very difficult to predict what could happen the next moment in our lives. It can end up in tragic or it could end up in magic with a surprise gift from God. But we all need to be alert and awake for such surprises in life. Just as we keep ourselves awake and are alert, when we want to do important thing or go to important place, so  also we need to be alert and awake to meet Jesus, who comes to manifest God’s love for us.

Today what can avoid unforeseen accidents, calamities, punishment, in our lives is watchfulness and wakefulness. When we are watchful, God shows us his goodness in different ways, through different persons, places and times. Being watchful or alert would also show one’s readiness and willingness look out for thing that are about to happen. Perhaps distractions and deviations are everywhere and it is an undeniable fact; it is very easy for us today to be preoccupied with lots of things as we engage in multi-tasks or multi-layered works or concepts but being aware and alert of circumstances and people around us would make us better, our performances would be better and results too would be better. Let us not wait until the last moment for things to happen and then take precautions to solve an issue or a problem rather prepare ourselves with plans and precautionary measures, so that we could avoid the danger of being lost or being punished. The advantage of being watchful or alert is that we obtain multiple opportunities to improve or to face or to win over any situation.

Such is the clarion call of Jesus today in the Gospel reading from the Gospel of Mark to be watchful and alert to meet the Lord, who is to come into the world.  Let us be for sure, once we acknowledge the presence of God in our lives, we will be faithful to God and be watchful at all times, because acknowledging God’s presence in our lives is the foundational platform that shapes, supports and strengthens to grow in intimacy with God and to grow in love for God.  But what fails our attempts to be watchful and alert is our daily lethargy and lukewarm attitude. We become lethargy for all good things, very specially matters pertinent to spirituality and spiritual realm.

That’s why very beautifully Pope Francis tells us, “Advent is the time we can be shaken out of our lethargy and awakened from our slumber to be vigilant always. We can ask ourselves if we are alert and vigilant, and if we recognize God’s presence in daily situations, saying that if we are unaware of this reality today, we will be unprepared when He arrives at the end of times.” Yes, let us get rid of the spiritual lethargy that holds us back from moving close to God and let us take into consideration as well the over emphasized attempts to exaggerate spiritual matters. What God wants of us is watchfulness and alertness to his coming and his presence in our daily lives. Let us be watchful, so that we don’t miss to encounter Jesus, who comes to energize life and empower life in fullness of peace and joy.

RESPOND:

Do we acknowledge the presence of God in our lives both in ordinary and extraordinary events of life?

Do we remain firm in the faith that we profess in God and show our faithfulness to God’s fidelity?

Do we keep ourselves watchful and alert to encounter Jesus and avoid the fear and suspicion of missing Jesus’ encounter with us?

Let us acknowledge the presence of God, show our faithfulness to God’s fidelity and be watchful and alert to encounter Jesus, who is to come into the world. Amen.

 God bless us all! Live Jesus!

Fr. Ramesh George MSFS

rameshvkmsfs@gmail.com

9500930968