FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT: Year B. November 27, 2011

Isaiah 63:16-17, 64.  1 Cor 1:3-9  Mark 13:31-37

1. Brother Paschal Jordan, a Guyanese Benedictine has said that with this Sunday, we enter the fragile season of Advent. It is a fragile season for several reasons.

• In the first place it is a season of anticipation and hope. But how can we do that when we know that Christmas is over 2000 years old. The manger has disappeared, the angels have returned to heaven, the Shepherd and their sheep, and the wise men are long since dead and gone. So what is the expectation?
• In the second place, a time of expectation is a time of quiet reflection, quiet awe. You can ask any pregnant woman! But every radio we hear, every store we visit, every step we take, we hear Santa Claus with his reindeer and cheerful to some, irritating to others, cry: Ho-Ho-Ho.
• In the third place, our Advent is a fragile season, because of mixed messages. On the one hand it is a time of penance, reconciliation and John the Baptist telling us that every valley will be filled and every mountain laid low. On the other hand we hear Advent is not Lent, it is not an Ash Wednesday call “to turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel” but rather “be still, for the Lord is near.

2. Nevertheless the anticipation is one of being Alert, of being watchful and that is always coupled with an element of fear. Mark’s Gospel reminds me of that popular band, The Sting. 

Every breath you take

Every move you make

Every bond you break

Every step you take   I’ll be watching you!

However, the watchfulness of God is one of unrequited love, compassion and tenderness. It is more in keeping with Psalm 139. The spirit is a phrase that we hear so often in the Bible, “Be not afraid.” And so we are called, to be Alert, but be not afraid.

3. The Anticipation and alertness has been the spirit of the readings of the last four Sundays of November.  It is apocalyptical in nature. The end is near! However Isaiah seems to put the blame for our sin, for our failure, for our breaking bonds – on the very person of God. He tells God,

• You have covered your face
• You were angry
• You hid yourself

• Left alone, we were bound to fail, to stray, to sin. So come Divine Messiah and let your face shine upon us and we will be saved.

 So our being Alert, our Anticipation takes on a certain joy and peace that the mystery of Bethlehem will bring to us. Paul gives us in the second reading of today’s liturgy a paradigm, a model for this state of being Alert.

• In the first place there is a spirit of gratitude. We are thankful that God has so loved us that he sends us Jesus Christ. Of all the graces, we can receive from God, this the grace par excellence.  One of the shopping ads would say, “who could ask for anything more?”

• In the second place, we are alert with a spirit of strength. The beautiful song says, “If God is for us, who can be against, the spirit of God has set us free!” No matter the difficulty, no matter- the sickness, no matter the stress, we have strength. One does not need a multivitamin nor strength from a store.

• Finally, we are alert without fear, but with joy. It is the joy of Job who would say after all his tests: “I know that my redeemer lives, and I shall see his face.” So often people in their 80 and 90 will say to me, “What if I have forgotten to confess a sin of my youth.”
• I repeat what Paul says in that second letter, God only remembers that you are called to a fellowship with his Son, Jesus. Since you are God’s Child, you are unique, unrepeatable, irreplaceable – here on earth, and much more so in heaven.

The angels will rejoice when you get there – but do not be in a hurry to depart from here.

It is with this spirit of gratitude we enter the fragile season of Advent.

It is with joy and hope we celebrate this fragile season of Advent.

We might suppress the Alleluias in Lent, but we sing it with joy in this fragile season of Advent.

God bless you all.