Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away

This reflection was written for the First Sunday of Advent, based on the readings for the Traditional Latin Mass. Scripture for this reflection can be found at Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:37-4

Today we celebrate the first Sunday of Advent, and in less than a month we’ll be celebrating the birth of Our Savior, Jesus Christ, in Bethlehem. The streets of New York are all decorated for Christmas, Macy’s has their Christmas decorations in all their windows, the tree is up at Rockefeller Center, and all the commercials on TV and radio over the last few months have been pushing their products for you to be ready for Christmas Day! It’s all about pushing the commercial aspect of Christmas. We hear of Santa Claus and the Elves up in the North Pole preparing for Santa’s trip on Christmas Eve. Music on the radio is playing things like Rudoph the Red nosed Reindeer and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. We see on TV the movie “Miracle on 34^th Street where it points to Santa as the reason for Christmas. Yet, there’s no mention of the real reason for the season: the birth of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago. Jesus has been taken out of the season and commercialism, and the sin of greed has replaced the Lord. The real miracle is not on 34^th Street, but here on 37^th Street at Holy Innocents and at all Catholic Churches where the real reason for Christmas is Celebrated on the Altar. At every Holy Mass the priest brings us the real reason for Christmas: Jesus Christ, body, blood, soul and divinity. Jesus Christ is at the heart and center of Christmas.

In our readings for today’s Holy Mass, we hear from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, chapter 13, telling us that it’s time to rise from sleep. In this letter to the Romans, Paul is concerned about our salvation and is calling us to live a life worthy of our call as Catholic Christians: “Let us therefore cast off works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Paul knew of all the things in the world that would take our attention away from serving God. Paul reminds us to live our lives as followers of Jesus Christ by not rioting or drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities…” We are called to turn away from all the distractions of this temporal world, and we are called to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord, through His Holy Church, has given us ways of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ through the Sacraments. We have baptism, which washes away our sins, Holy Communion to be able to receive our Lord, body blood, soul and divinity, and the Sacrament of Confirmation where we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  It is through these sacraments that we can put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Also, we are called to make the regular use of the sacrament of confession to always remain pure and focused on our salvation. It is through these sacraments that we receive the strength to remain focused on the fact that Jesus came into the world for our salvation. We are not to focus so much on the commercial aspect of this season, but on the spiritual aspect that Jesus came into the world for our salvation.

In the gospel for today’s Holy Mass, we hear the Lord encouraging us to focus on the end times. The Lord talks about seeing the Son of man coming in a cloud with “great power and majesty.” During this time of preparation for Christmas Day we are to be reminded that we are to remain focused on the fact that this time on earth is brief, and that we are to focus on the fact that it will all come to an end. We do not know when, but we are to live out our daily lives in readiness. Our time before the Lord will happen when we least expect it. We are not to live in fear of the end, but to live a life in anticipation of the Lord’s coming by always remaining focused on following his commandments of Love of God and love of neighbor.

Throughout this period of preparation for the celebrations of the Birth of the Lord, we need to be as diligent in the preparation of our souls for the ultimate meeting of the Lord, whether it’s at the end of the world, or our own eventual meeting of the Lord at the end of our own lives. We know not when either will occur. So, as we prepare for Christmas gifts and Christmas parties, we need to prepare for our own ultimate meeting with the Lord.

Further, during this time of chaos in preparation for the Celebration of Christmas, we are to make quiet time for the study Scripture and do spiritual reading to be open to what the Lord is calling us to do in this life. We are always to be open to God’s Holy Will in our Day to Day lives.

We, as Christians, are instructed to be watchful and ready, living in anticipation of Jesus's return by sharing the good news and living lives of faithful anticipation. Throughout this month in preparation for Christmas, and for the rest of our lives, we are to be true examples of what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ. We, like John the Baptist, are called to always point everyone towards Jesus Christ and encourage people to repent and to embrace Jesus as the Messiah.

During this time of Advent, in preparation for the birth of Jesus, and for the eventual end times that Jeus talks about, let us always live our lives in joyful anticipation. Let us all be examples of what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ in a world busy with greed and selfishness. Let us always point towards Jesus Christ, our savior.