1St Sunday of Advent, Year A

November 30 & December 1, 2013 + JMJ +

1st Sunday of Advent, Year A

Focused on Jesus

We know from experience that opposites enhance one another. My favorite candy is chocolate covered pretzels—salty and sweet—or better yet, the Moose Munch bar, made from chocolate covered caramel popcorn—irresistible! A beautiful painting also needs the right interplay of light and dark, of empty space and fullness. Man and woman too enhance each other’s perspectives of the world by viewing the same reality from often opposite viewpoints.

This same balance of opposites is present in the season of Advent. On one hand we remember the first arrival, or advent, of Jesus Christ, in simplicity, as a tender, lovable baby in the arms of Mary. On the other hand, we look forward to the second arrival of Jesus Christ in majesty as the powerful, fearsome judge of the living and the dead. These opposite perspectives—past and future—enhance our understanding of Jesus in the present. In fact, the experience of Advent teaches us that we will only understand the past and foresee the future if we remain focused on Jesus in the present.

Take the example of the Temple. The prophet Isaiah speaks of the day when the Temple mountain will become the destination of pilgrimage for all people. People will receive the Word of the Lord from Zion, the holy mountain. Based on that prophecy alone, we would expect the Temple to last forever.

Of course, the Temple was destroyed. Did nobody see it coming? Josephus, a Jewish historian in first century, says there were at least seven signs of the Temple’s destruction in the final years before it fell. These signs were often mighty, including a comet, an audible voice, as from God, saying “Let us remove hence,” that is, “Let my presence leave the Temple,” and a prophet who for four years beforehand cried out “woe, woe to Jerusalem” (The Wars of the Jews 6.5.3). Josephus laments that few understood these signs, but saw them instead as good omens.

We know, however, that the Christians in Jerusalem understood. They were able to foresee the future destruction because they remained focused on Jesus in the present. They were not “taken” by the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, as Jesus prophecies for others in the Gospel, but they left the city before it was destroyed, and were saved.

By remaining focused on Jesus in the present, these Christians also understood the past. They realized, from the words of Jesus, that the Temple was no longer the place of sacrifice. Jesus had given the once and forever sacrifice of himself on the cross, and the offerings in the Temple were no longer necessary.

Unlike those first Christians, we have 2,000 years of perspective—2,000 years of experience watching nations rise and fall, watching God work miracles of [Type text] [Type text] [Type text] conversion, and watching God’s master plan for the conversion of all nations to faith in his Son Jesus Christ unfold. Still, we will fail to read the signs around us unless we remain focused on Jesus in the present. In a homily last Thursday, Pope Francis remarked that the persecution of Christians is a sign that Christ is drawing near. Like Jesus, the pope gives no date or time, but he points out that as persecution spreads, so Christ’s second coming draws ever closer. Pope Francis does not need to give a concrete sign because he realizes that only those who remain focused on Jesus can foresee events to come.

Pope Paul VI called Advent a time “of devout and expectant delight” (Approval of the Universal Norms On the Liturgical Year 39). I want to propose a challenge to all of us. We need to live this Advent as if Jesus will return in glory on Christmas day. Think of how much we would change our lives, how much attention we would give to Jesus if we knew with absolute certainty that he would return on December 25th of this year. But that is exactly what he is asking us to do: “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Matt 24:44).

Pope Emeritus Benedict made a good point about this preparation. “What is meant by ‘vigilance’” is “not neglecting the present, speculating on the future, or forgetting the task in hand, but quite the reverse—it means doing what is right here and now… To be vigilant is to know that one is under God’s watchful eye and to act accordingly” (Jesus of Nazareth part II page 48).

If we live our lives focused on Jesus in the present, we will understand the past and foresee the future he has in store for us. This Advent let us confess our sins in the holy sacrament of Reconciliation, prepare our minds with spiritual reading to better receive the Word of God in Holy Scripture, devoutly receive Jesus in Holy Communion, and gladden others by kind deeds and words. “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord!” “Let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day.” Let us welcome Jesus into our lives this year.

Rev. Eric Culler