Happy New Year! You heard me right. Today we begin a new liturgical year with a new season, Advent. The fall colors of our sanctuary have given way to shades of winter as we count down the days to Christmas. There will be much to keep us busy until then, shopping, sending cards, putting up a tree and decorations, hanging lights, wrapping presents, hosting parties, watching a TV special or two, mailing packages. Soon, Christmas day will be here. With so much to get done beforehand, will we be too busy to heed the gospel message? That is, be watchful! Be alert!
This season of preparation for the coming of Jesus is too often swallowed up by the commercial trappings and manufactured cheer of Christmas. The Lord is coming, not as the baby Jesus, but as the risen Christ in a way we have yet to experience. That is the message of this Advent season. Jesus tells us, “You do not know when the time will come.” Many generations of Christians, especially in the days of the early Church, anticipated his coming with great fanfare, the rapture as come call it, but none of them ever witnessed it in their lifetimes. We are waiting for that which we have not yet seen.
Our face to face encounter with Jesus Christ most likely will come not in some rapture but at the end of this life and the beginning of the next. We have no clue when this will be despite what some Christians think. Death could come with the onset of a terminal illness but for many, death comes without warning, as it often does for some who suffer heart attacks or strokes.
“May he,” Jesus adds, “not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: watch!” Jesus is admonishing us to be attentive to what really matters in this lifetime: preparing ourselves for his coming. Are we being watchful? Taking advantage of the time God has given us to get ready for his son when he comes? Or are we putting off what matters, figuring there will always be another day?
Those of us who procrastinate are often prompted by deadlines. The post office posts deadlines for mailing cards and packages if they are to reach their destinations by Christmas, the IRS posts deadlines for filing income tax forms, and teachers post deadlines for turning in homework assignments.
The great jazz musician, Louie Armstrong, supposedly said, “Never mind creativity, man, just give me a deadline!” As he and many students well knew, there are times when a deadline doesn’t diminish inspiration, it is the inspiration.
Life seems for some of us to be one deadline after another. We thrive under pressure; a few of us are overwhelmed by the stress of getting everything done in a timely manner. But those of us who work with deadlines know what a blessing they can be because they give us a sense of urgency. Deadlines force us to make choices and choose a course of action. I have lost count of the number of times families have called with an urgency in their voice on behalf of someone who is dying, seeking the last rites to make things right with God.
The course of action we are urged to take right now can be found in the closing lines from Isaiah when he notes that we are the clay and God is the potter who desires to shape our lives. If you have worked with pottery, you know what I mean. A potter prepares the clay beforehand by pounding it with a mallet or by hand. As this is done, the clay begins to quiver and swell. Buried bubbles of air emerge, forming bumps on the surface. Until these bubbles surface, the clay cannot be properly formed.
Like clay, we have lots of bubbles within us that need to be hammered out. These bubbles represent our conceited opinions of ourselves and of how good we are. As Isaiah notes, we are sinful, but fortunately for us, God desires to free us from our guilt and shape us anew, giving us the wonderful sacrament of reconciliation as a means to experience divine forgiveness.
Advent is the time for a fresh start in deepening our relationship with God, especially if we have be negligent in our daily prayer life, broken any of the commandments, or refused to see Christ in others. If you cannot join us for daily Mass during this season, I invite you to take a copy of The Word Among Us, which contains the daily readings and meditations, but please, take only one per household.
Yes, there is urgency in the air as we prepare for Christmas, but let us not overlook what really matters. The dawn of Advent reminds us of the ultimate deadline: our impending encounter with Christ. Now is the season for us to embrace the love and compassion, the forgiveness and healing given to and received from family and friends. Advent invites us to realize that now is the time to make our lives what we want them to be, for tomorrow we may not have that chance.
Confronting us with the preciousness and fragility of our lives, advent forces us to make choices as to what values we hold dear. At the same time, we are assured of the mercy of God who is with us, regardless of the deadlines we miss, the challenges we fail, or the opportunities we squander. If you doubt that, then go back and reread the story of the prodigal son.
So, be watchful! Be alert! The appointed moment God has in mind for your divine encounter may when you least expect.