Homily: First Sunday of Advent

First Sunday of Advent (Lk. 21:25ff)

We live in a time of great anxiety. We have wars that are being fought throughout the world. We have political strife in our own country. Discord is sown by leaders of different countries. All this seems very ominous. But if we listen to the words of Jesus in the Gospel there is a foreboding tone as well. Seems like things haven’t changed all that much through the centuries.

When Jesus comes to the end of his ministry in the Gospel of Luke he begins to prophesy about the future. He makes three predictions. In Luke 21:12-19 he predicts that his followers will undergo persecution for the sake of the faith. Christians will be ridiculed. Eventually, many will be arrested. In some cases, the followers will even be put to death.

In the second prophesy Jesus tells those who listen to him that Jerusalem will be destroyed. The predicted leveling of Jerusalem did take place in 70 A.D. A future emperor named Titus besieged the city of Jerusalem. He spent five months starving the residents into submission. He then tore down the whole city including the temple.

All this gloom and doom seems like a downer on this holiday weekend. The predictions we read are part of Apocalyptic literature. At first glance this type of scripture can be very scary, but it isn’t meant to be. Apocalyptic literature is meant to be reassuring. All prophetic writing can be alarming. We hear about terrible things that will happen to people because of their sinfulness.

But the prophets never let us wallow in fear. No, there is always that moment in prophetic writing when there are predictions of restoration. The prophets say a better day is coming.

And so, it is with Jesus’ prophetic utterances. We read his third apocalyptic prediction in the Gospel of Luke today. What does he say? He says when you see destruction all around you stand erect and raise your heads up because your redemption is near at hand.

Jesus speaks about being awake. Don’t fall asleep. We are reminded of Ephesians 5:14 where St. Paul writes, “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.” Staying alert is aways one of the major themes of Advent. Jesus is coming. The question is will we be actively living our faith when he comes.

Again, it is so easy to fall into discouragement. We see so many who are caught up in the concerns of the day. In the next few weeks how will we live? The clock is ticking as Christmas approaches. We are being reminded that we are starting the shortest possible Advent season. We are encouraged to go on a spending spree. Many people will borrow money so they might have the Christmas that they think is required. Some are still paying off the bills incurred from last Christmas. Is this the way to keep Advent well? Will our heads be held high when December 25th arrives, or will they be bent over from exhaustion?

What is the antidote to holiday exhaustion which is really spiritual exhaustion? All the great spiritual masters have the same answer. When we feel drained in our life we need to double down on our prayer. Prayer reawakens the soul from sleep. Prayer refocuses us on what the purpose of our existence is. When we neglect it, we quickly lose focus. Even on our busiest days this month we cannot neglect prayer. If all else fails, we can still engage in a prayer from the heart. If we just repeat a phrase that speaks of our faith in God throughout the day it can help. Can we say repeatedly, “Come Lord Jesus Come,” from minute to minute Can we say, “Jesus I believe in you?” Even those short prayers can refocus us on what is important as Christmas approaches. If we constantly remind ourselves that our savior has arrived, then hope pours into our soul.