First Sunday of Advent

Scripture for the First Sunday of Advent can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112915.cfm.


"Be vigilant at all times and pray..." (Luke 21:36) The words of Jesus in today's gospel for the first Sunday of Advent seem to be a bit strong and jarring. We have come to expect that Advent is a time to prepare for the coming as an infant in Bethlehem. After all, isn't Advent supposed to be a quiet, gentle time? Yet in the gospel we hear the Lord describing worldly anguish and the catastrophic roaring of seas and waves!


Jesus is not only speaking about  the end of the world. He is also describing a beginning, the final and complete establishment of the new, redeemed creation. When everything seams to have collapsed, people will see the Son of Man coming in great power and glory. Before the new world comes, the old has to be cleared away. The Lord says, "When these things begin to happen, stand up straight and raise your head, because your ransom,  your redemption, is near at hand." (Luke 21:28)


That is why this reading is given at the start of Advent. Each year, Advent is a new beginning, a chance for a fresh start for the soul and spirit. We read the Hebrew prophets, like Jeremiah in today's first reading, who look to a new future for the people. Through Jeremiah, God promises a new bud on the family tree of David and he will be the Messiah. God's promises and God's covenant were not dead. There will be a new beginning with Someone greater than David.


It's possible that sometimes we feel like the people in Jeremiah's time. We feel that the great promises are dead and past. We might become especially cynical when we see the behavior of other Christians. Then comes Advent, we light the candle on the Advent wreath and we notice at this time of year something odd. Deep, half-forgotten stirring come to life inside us, to get in touch with friends and family, to set things right, to be at peace inside and out.


Maybe our first thought is that those are just memories of the good old days when we were children, echoes of Christmas past. Year after year, commercial advertising flavors this season with a wistful backward glance, nostalgia for childhood, for times of simpler living  and closer families, for old traditions and for Christmas long ago.


But in realty, Advent is not about nostalgia but about the future. Those stirrings inside us are not just memories but expressions of the drive, the search, and the need to fulfill something deep and holy that exist inside us. Over time they become neutralized. We become cynical and hard-nosed but during Advent they start to come through again. It is like cleaning off old brass and beneath the tarnish is the brightness, signs of the new creation we can be in Christ.


Our world has certainly changed from years ago. But as St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Thessalonians, who were going through a time of persecution and conflict, the Lord is with us today. Today, we need to find new ways to express community, to show faith and to  strengthen the bonds of family, friends and faith.


During this time of Advent, don't waist time reminiscing about the past. As a result, you will then miss the opportunities for a personal renewal that are present today. Advent is not about what was but about what can be. Advent is not a time to just wait for Christmas to happen but a time to prepare for Christmas and the coming of Christ into our life with new power.


Advent is a time not simply to imitate how our parents celebrated Christmas but to decide how we will celebrate Christmas this year. Advent is a chance to leave time, to find time, to create time for those deep stirrings of Christ's grace to grow with whatever has changed in our life.


Take this time during Advent to apply the Lord's words to ourselves when we begin to notice deep within ourselves the desire to forgive, the urge to pray, to renew the commitments we made, we should look up because those things are the stirrings of deeper life, deeper truth, deeper love that we can come to be in our life.


Advent reminds us that what is at hand for the watchful and prayerful follower of Christ is not disaster but redemption. Advent is about a new day and new life in Christ not just for the world but for each of us.

The Solemnity Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

The Scripture readings for Christ the King can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112215.cfm


In spite of the fact that we fought a war with England to become an independent country free from the monarchy and royal rule, we can still understand the concept of royalty. We are free, but we are not without responsibilities towards our country along with enjoying the rights guaranteed  us in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. But the Solemnity of Christ the King takes us beyond all that, for Christ's kingdom is not of this world.
Today we celebrate what we often call the "kingdom of God." But to understand that properly, we need to let go of our preconceived notions of what a king and a kingdom are, turning to the Scripture for a new definition.
In our first reading from the Prophet Daniel we hear the end of a longer vision in which Daniel sees the nations of the earth depicted as wild animals. These beasts emerge from a great sea - a symbol of evil. They have come to oppress God's people. But in the vision, we see a Son of Man approaching the throne of the Ancient One. As this Son of Man approaches God, he receives dominion and power that will last forever. It is an everlasting dominion that cannot be overtaken by evil. Jesus' rule or dominion is for all time.
In the book of Revelation, John takes the notion a step further. He tells us that Jesus' dominion is one of love and forgiveness.. Jesus, our eternal king, is the one who has freed us from our sins by his blood. He is our savior. Beyond that, he has molded us into a kingdom of priests for his God and Father - priests  who offer the perfect sacrifice of the Eucharist in praise of God. Again, John emphasizes that Jesus' dominion will last forever and that all people -even those who killed him - will see him as King.
Finally, in our gospel from St. John, we hear the story of Jesus' conversation with Pontius Pilate. It is a conversation that John carefully crafted so that Jesus, as king, declares the true meaning of kingship. His is a kingdom that does not threaten the powers of this world, for it is not of this world. Jesus is truly a king, but not one as the world defines a king. He is Lord of heaven and earth.
What this means for us, for those baptized into Christ, the powers  of this life are secondary to the rule of Jesus. Our first and most important realty is that Jesus is the Lord of our lives and this takes precedence over any other allegiance.
Further, it means that we have to keep our focus  on the Gospels and the Church that Jesus gave us so that we can get true direction for our Christian lives. We cannot look to any other source for our ultimate guidance.
Finally, it means that we are highly privileged to be able to claim membership in God's kingdom where we all serve as "priests" offering fitting praise to God. Offering the Eucharist is not simply an obligation; it is a right, for we are a holy nation, a royal nation, a people set apart for God.

The Solemnity of Christ the King marks the end of liturgical cycle of feasts and celebrations. We start anew with Advent and Christmas. But first we stop  and celebrate the fact that all of this means that we share in the glory of our God. As you approach the Eucharist, remember that we are plunged once again into the mystery of Jesus' death and rising, and then rejoice in and relish our dignity as sons and daughters of a loving God who has gone and will go to all lengths to show his love for us and share his life with us.  

HOLY MASS ON THE SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Vatican Basilica
Wednesday, 1 November 2006

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Our Eucharistic celebration began with the exhortation: "Let us all rejoice in the Lord". The liturgy invites us to share in the heavenly jubilation of the Saints, to taste their joy. The Saints are not a small caste of chosen souls but an innumerable crowd to which the liturgy urges us to raise our eyes. This multitude not only includes the officially recognized Saints, but the baptized of every epoch and nation who sought to carry out the divine will faithfully and lovingly. We are unacquainted with the faces and even the names of many of them, but with the eyes of faith we see them shine in God's firmament like glorious stars.
Today, the Church is celebrating her dignity as "Mother of the Saints, an image of the Eternal City" (A. Manzoni), and displays her beauty as the immaculate Bride of Christ, source and model of all holiness. She certainly does not lack contentious or even rebellious children, but it is in the Saints that she recognizes her characteristic features and precisely in them savours her deepest joy.
In the first reading, the author of the Book of Revelation describes them as "a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues" (Rv 7: 9).
This people includes the Saints of the Old Testament, starting with the righteous Abel and the faithful Patriarch, Abraham, those of the New Testament, the numerous early Christian Martyrs and the Blesseds and Saints of later centuries, to the witnesses of Christ in this epoch of ours.
They are all brought together by the common desire to incarnate the Gospel in their lives under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, the life-giving spirit of the People of God.
But "why should our praise and glorification, or even the celebration of this Solemnity, mean anything to the Saints?". A famous homily of St Bernard for All Saints' Day begins with this question. It could equally well be asked today. And the response the Saint offers us is also timely: "The Saints", he says, "have no need of honour from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs.... But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning" (Disc. 2, Opera Omnia Cisterc. 5, 364ff.).
This, then, is the meaning of today's Solemnity: looking at the shining example of the Saints to reawaken within us the great longing to be like them; happy to live near God, in his light, in the great family of God's friends. Being a Saint means living close to God, to live in his family. And this is the vocation of us all, vigorously reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council and solemnly proposed today for our attention.
But how can we become holy, friends of God? We can first give a negative answer to this question: to be a Saint requires neither extraordinary actions or works nor the possession of exceptional charisms. Then comes the positive reply: it is necessary first of all to listen to Jesus and then to follow him without losing heart when faced by difficulties. "If anyone serves me", he warns us, "he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honour him" (Jn 12: 26).
Like the grain of wheat buried in the earth, those who trust him and love him sincerely accept dying to themselves. Indeed, he knows that whoever seeks to keep his life for himself loses it, and whoever gives himself, loses himself, and in this very way finds life (cf. Jn 12: 24-25).
The Church's experience shows that every form of holiness, even if it follows different paths, always passes through the Way of the Cross, the way of self-denial. The Saints' biographies describe men and women who, docile to the divine plan, sometimes faced unspeakable trials and suffering, persecution and martyrdom. They persevered in their commitment: "they... have come out of the great tribulation", one reads in Revelation, "they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rv 7: 14). Their names are written in the book of life (cf. Rv 20: 12) and Heaven is their eternal dwelling-place.
The example of the Saints encourages us to follow in their same footsteps and to experience the joy of those who trust in God, for the one true cause of sorrow and unhappiness for men and women is to live far from him.
Holiness demands a constant effort, but it is possible for everyone because, rather than a human effort, it is first and foremost a gift of God, thrice Holy (cf. Is 6: 3). In the second reading, the Apostle John remarks: "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are" (I Jn 3: 1).
It is God, therefore, who loved us first and made us his adoptive sons in Jesus. Everything in our lives is a gift of his love: how can we be indifferent before such a great mystery? How can we not respond to the Heavenly Father's love by living as grateful children? In Christ, he gave us the gift of his entire self and calls us to a personal and profound relationship with him.
Consequently, the more we imitate Jesus and remain united to him the more we enter into the mystery of his divine holiness. We discover that he loves us infinitely, and this prompts us in turn to love our brethren. Loving always entails an act of self-denial, "losing ourselves", and it is precisely this that makes us happy.
Thus, we have come to the Gospel of this feast, the proclamation of the Beatitudes which we have just heard resound in this Basilica.
Jesus says: Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed those who mourn, the meek; blessed those who hunger and thirst for justice, the merciful; blessed the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted for the sake of justice (cf. Mt 5: 3-10).
In truth, the blessed par excellence is only Jesus. He is, in fact, the true poor in spirit, the one afflicted, the meek one, the one hungering and thirsting for justice, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemaker. He is the one persecuted for the sake of justice.
The Beatitudes show us the spiritual features of Jesus and thus express his mystery, the mystery of his death and Resurrection, of his passion and of the joy of his Resurrection. This mystery, which is the mystery of true blessedness, invites us to follow Jesus and thus to walk toward it.
To the extent that we accept his proposal and set out to follow him - each one in his own circumstances - we too can participate in his blessedness. With him, the impossible becomes possible and even a camel can pass through the eye of a needle (cf. Mk 10: 25); with his help, only with his help, can we become perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect (cf. Mt 5: 48).
Dear brothers and sisters, we are now entering the heart of the Eucharistic celebration that encourages and nourishes holiness. In a little while, Christ will make himself present in the most exalted way, Christ the true Vine to whom the faithful on earth and the Saints in Heaven are united like branches.
Thus, the communion of the pilgrim Church in the world with the Church triumphant in glory will increase.
In the Preface we will proclaim that the Saints are friends and models of life for us. Let us invoke them so that they may help us to imitate them and strive to respond generously, as they did, to the divine call.
In particular, let us invoke Mary, Mother of the Lord and mirror of all holiness. May she, the All Holy, make us faithful disciples of her Son Jesus Christ! Amen.

© Copyright 2006 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana