We are not there yet; watching and waiting for the Lord

Homily for Advent - 1st Sunday Year B 2014-2015

 Isaiah 63:16-17, 64:1.3-8; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:33-37

Introduction

“Are we there yet?”  When your child keeps asking this question from the back seat of the car, are they not expressing what we all experience in life, but we are too grown up to admit.  None of us likes waiting at the doctor’s office or at the DMV office; we don’t like waiting in traffic or in line at the Black Friday sales.  Human beings expect things to happen not in the future, but by yesterday.

And yet, the Christian life is itself essentially about watching and waiting.  We watch and wait for Jesus, who comes us to us from the Father.  How can we wait patiently and fruitfully, but still with enthusiasm?

Scripture and Theology

In her wisdom, the Church gives us various seasons of the Church year, with each season giving us something special for our faith.  The Advent season, which we begin today and will end on Christmas eve, teaches us how to wait.

The people of Israel waited, sometimes patiently, sometimes not so patiently, for the first coming of Jesus.  And true to his word the Son of God, came down to earth and became one of us, at Bethlehem on Christmas Day.  And from that day onwards, the world has not been the same.  Moreover, as the song tells us, “man will live forevermore because of Christmas Day.”  That is why Christmas is such an important celebration for us Christians.  But this is enough about Christmas, about the first coming!  In about four weeks time, we will have more than enough time to focus on the Lord’s birth and what his first coming means for us.

During Advent we focus on the second coming.  Like the people of Israel waited for the Lord to come the first time, we Christians wait for him to come again.  In the gospels, Jesus promises in very clear terms that he will come again.  He even uses parables to make the message loud and clear:

·        He compares his coming to that of thief coming in the night.

·        He compares his coming to that of a bridegroom for whom 10 virgins wait.

·        He compares his coming to a master returning from a long trip.

In today’s gospel, for example, he tells his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.”  Jesus is like a man travelling abroad, leaving “his servants in charge, each with his own work.”  That is exactly what Jesus did when he returned to the Father on Ascension Day.  He left his work in the hands of the Church.  He left a job for each of us to do: some are deacons, priests and bishops, others are mothers, fathers and single lay people, others are religious men and women.  In other words, our waiting cannot be idle.  We must be found doing something, when Jesus returns “whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.”

I learned something about waiting when I was growing up.  When my parents separated, I often had to help look after my three siblings, when my mother went on errands or simply to work.  At first, like any self-respecting teenager, I chose not do what my mom asked me to do; rather, I played the whole day, bossed my siblings around and each day invented new ways to be naughty. I would then try to guess when mom might be returning and get ready for her by destroying all evidence of my mischief.

Now strategy this worked sometimes, but sometimes it did not.  And I soon realized that playing Russian roulette in this way required too much energy and anxious planning.  I realized that it was much easier simply to do my chores and do the right thing always.  That way, I did not have to worry if mom came back earlier than usual.  And so, besides the rewards she gave me for finding everything in order, I received another reward for being good.  I spent my time watching and waiting with peace of mind.

Advent is a time for us Christians to get ready, to watch and wait for the Lord’s coming with peace of mind, as we ask: “Are we there yet?”

Christian Life

That is why it is unfortunate that today, even among us Catholics, we completely skip over Advent.  We move from Thanksgiving straight on to Christmas.  If we want to enter into the true Christmas spirit, we have to celebrate Advent; for Advent is a time to prepare well for Christmas – for we are not there yet.

Of course we have all the practical preparations to consider.  Where am I having Christmas dinner this year, grandma’s or the in-laws?  What about that Christmas shopping list – where can I find that latest gadget for my nieces and nephews and I might add, for my favourite priest?  And the decorations – they are not going to get put up by themselves, are they?   Yes, we need to do all these things – but is this really the extent of our preparations for Christmas?

Let me suggest that out of our busy Christmas preparations, we curve out some time for actually celebrating Advent.  There are actually some truly Catholic Advent symbols that could help us prepare.  They are not as glamorous as the Christmas ones, but nobody ever said that waiting is glamorous.

·        There is the Advent wreath, the empty manger and the Jesse tree, all pointing to the waiting and watching for the birth of the Lord.

·        We also have some customs for the feast of St. Nicholas on December 6, the feast of St. Lucy on December 13^th and of course the feasts of Our Lady on December 8 and on December 12.

·        Even at Mass, you will notice a few Advent things: the vestments are the colour purple, we don’t sing the Gloria, and the wreath has five candles which we keep lighting one by one until Christmas Day when we light the big white candle in the middle.

As important as these external signs and symbols of Advent are, even more important is the preparation we make to ourselves.

1.    Although Advent is not strictly speaking a penitential season like Lent, yet any waiting for the Lord must involve some conversion on our part.  We do this best when we examine our souls to check the health of our relationship with God, with one another and with our very selves.  And if there is something terribly amiss, we go to confession and therefore get clean as we wait for the Lord’s coming – for we are not there yet.

2.    Many parishes also hold parish missions and Advent days of prayer and study – we go to them, to be nourished by God’s Word to prepare us for his coming, for we are not there yet.

3.    And then of course as Christmas draws nearer, we make those immediate plans that I spoke about.  And just as we have learned to keep Christ in Christmas, we also remember to keep Mass in Christmas.  Our preparations for and our celebration of Christmas must include prayer.

Conclusion

But the watching and waiting we do during Advent is only practice, dress-rehearsal.  Learning to prepare well for Christmas teaches us how to prepare for when the Lord will call us, and for when he will return.  That long term waiting is something we do all our lives, and not just during the Advent season.

On Christmas Eve, perhaps after going to Mass, ask yourself:  Have I waited with the enthusiasm of a child who asks “are we there yet?” but also with the patience and hope of the adult Christian who prays: “Come Lord Jesus, Come Lord Jesus.”