Deacon Steve's Homily, First Sunday of Advent - Jesus is worth waiting for

Good morning!  Well Advent is upon us and Christmas is only 24 days away. The retailers are complaining because there are less shopping days then there normally are between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Despite what our culture has to say, Advent is not about Christmas shopping.  What is Advent all about? We read in paragraph 39 from The General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar:

  “Advent has a twofold character: as a season to prepare for Christmas when Christ's first coming to us is remembered; as a season when that remembrance directs the mind and heart to await Christ's Second Coming at the end of time. Advent is thus a period for devout and joyful expectation.”

My friends, Advent is a period where we are called to look ahead to the coming of our Lord and Savior. We are called during this season to remember what Jesus Christ means to all humanity.  During the first 2 weeks of Advent we look ahead and focus on the 2^nd coming of Jesus at the end of time.  It’s a time, unknown to all, that we can only anticipate.  During the last 2 weeks of Advent we focus on the upcoming birth of Christ, on Christmas itself.

We hear in our Gospel, Jesus’ words “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” The time that Jesus is speaking of is his Second coming.   We need to be ready, we need to be alert, and we need to wait. Being watchful and alert requires some effort on our part.  We need to be a people of hope, a people who long for Jesus. 

In longing for Jesus, we prepare ourselves spiritually to meet Him.  We cleanse ourselves, turning away from sin, while seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness.  Think about it, if you are about to meet someone for the first time, someone that is quite special to you, don’t you clean up and put on your best clothes?  Most people do. Shouldn’t we do that for Jesus, too? I can’t think of a better way to meet Jesus then to be prepared and to be cleansed. Paul points out in our 2^nd reading,

‘Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.’

Paul is telling the Romans that the time is now. These words are true for us today – ‘it is the hour now’ for each of us to prepare for Jesus coming.

Because we don’t know when Jesus will come again, we need to be a patient people

waiting for that glorious day, ready and eager to meet him. Today, waiting is a word that most people don’t want to hear.  We expect things to happen quickly.  We live in a culture that says ‘why wait when you can have it now?”  Most people today don’t want to wait to pay cash for something, rather they ‘charge it’ now and pay for it later.   Most of us, especially me, don’t enjoy long waits at the restaurant waiting for a table to clear.  Most of us don’t like long lines at the checkout counters at stores.   We don’t like to wait in lines at the amusement parks, theaters, or ball games.  We have become a people who expect things to happen quickly because we don’t want to wait.  

Sometimes though, waiting for something to happen is better than receiving it immediately. This brings to mind a childhood experience of mine.  My brothers and sisters would always wake up early on Christmas morning, and as soon as Mom and Dad awoke we would open our gifts.   Later in the morning the entire family would go to mass. Those were magical days. 

One year, though, Mom and Dad decided that we would open our gifts after we went to the 7:00 mass on Christmas morning.  I was probably 9 or 10 years old at the time. There were rules, though.  First of all, we couldn’t sneak into the basement early where the tree and the gifts were. And secondly, while at mass we had to behave; otherwise we would have to wait till the evening to open our gifts.

WOW – that seemed as though it was the longest mass that I had ever attended.  All through mass I kept wondering what gifts were under the Christmas tree for me.  Was I going to get the toy that was at the top of my list? The anticipation was at an all time high.  Fr., I hate to admit it, but my mind wasn’t on the Liturgy that morning. I couldn’t wait to get home.   In fact, when we did get home, I ran from the car to the front door and, from the front door to the basement to see all the gifts under the Christmas tree.  What a wonderful sight it was!  What a memorable Christmas that year!

As I reflected on that Christmas, it was obvious that the wait that I had that morning actually heightened the experience of opening the gifts.  I learned a valuable lesson that year. I learned that waiting builds anticipation.  Anticipation builds appreciation.  And appreciation builds joy and thankfulness.   

My friends, this Advent season we need to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus through prayer, reflection, and the sacraments.  As we prepare ourselves this Advent, let’s remember that in ‘watchful waiting’ we can be ready to meet our Savior.   Let’s remember that waiting builds anticipation; anticipation builds appreciation, and appreciation builds joy and thankfulness for our Savior Jesus Christ.  May this Advent season be the most memorable of all!   Because, my friends, Jesus is worth waiting for!

God Bless you all!