Homily - 1st Sunday of Advent
- Year B,
Buzzword - Hope: "Hope springs eternal in the human breast". So wrote
Alexander Pope, English poet and essayist in his essay on Man. The theme of hope
and expectation is central to the liturgy as, during Advent, we prepare to
celebrate Christ's first coming. This event set the stage for the fulfilment of
the divine Plan of Salvation. But Advent also speaks of Christ's second coming
when judgement will be made on how this plan has been accepted by people.
Promise and acceptance and judgement - three pivotal pillars of Christian
thinking.
Isaiah: 63:16-17,19; 64,1-7: Following the conquest and destruction of
Jerusalem and the deportation of the Jewish people into exile, Isaiah utters his
cry of anguish and hope -"Return, for the sake of your servants, the tribes of
your inheritance".
1 Cor.:1:3-9: Paul encourages the Corinthians to recognise the gifts and
favours they have received from the Lord and to use these gifts so as to be
ready for the return of the Lord.
Mark 13: 33-37: Stay awake so as not to be taken by surprise; for the
Lord may come when least expected.
Point 1: Two responses, among others, stand out in every person's
life. There is expectancy, and there is disappointment. We are disappointed when
our expectations are not met. So much of our lives is spent in waiting for
things to happen - as children we wait to be fed; we wait to commence school; we
wait to graduate and to commence earning; husbands and wives spend a good deal
of their time waiting on, or for, each other; we wait for the big opportunity,
the big promotion - one power ball! But it rarely happens the way we would have
it happen. It is then that the second response, disappointment, enters the
picture. This sense of disappointment does not have to be soul destroying, but
it frequently does have a drastic effect on a person's thinking. Relationships
may become strained as a result of moodiness. Marriages are put at risk; parent
- children relationships become strained. In very extreme cases, depression
leads to self destruction. And this sense of disappointment is not only found in
those who, to all intents and purposes, have succeeded in climbing the ladder of
success, but yet are still dissatisfied.
Point 2: Why is this so? Could it be because it is SOMEONE, not
SOMETHING, that is missing? The religious person's answer is "Yes"! Association
with the Infinite alone offers satisfaction to the total aspirations of the
human, finite, being. And, for the Christian in particular, association with the
Infinite is achieved through Christ. In his "Confessions", St. Augustine summed
this up for us with this statement - "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and
our hearts can never rest until they rest in You".
Conclusion: This theme of Hope is central to this season of Advent.
But it is not just a time when we look back to the great event of God's presence
and action among people. We are being asked to realise that God is not only a
God who has acted in the past, and acts in the present in history and sacrament; He is also God of the future. This image of Christ who is to come
again "to judge the living and the dead" is there to help revive in us the hope
that can inspire and support us in the disappointments that so often invade and
depress the spirit. Advent is, above all, a time for asking God to stir up in us
a deeper conviction that He is in control of the future, as He has shown Himself
to be in the past.
Scriptural reference: "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you
disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall praise Him again, my help and my
God" (Psalm 42:11)
Compiled by Fr. Noel J. Tobin