Rev. Paul A. Hottinger Commitment to God’s Values First Sunday of Advent/C December 2, 2012 9:00 AM Jer 33:14-16; 1 Thes 3:12—4:2; Lk 21:25-28, 34-36 (Hope will address the problems of this world, but also it will look beyond the present age to the more glorious one prepared for those who love God.) “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.” Global communications have changed the way we perceive the world. This gospel doesn’t seem too remarkable now, but back in the days when we were only aware of what was going on around us, our perception of nature was quite a bit more benevolent. For example, no one would be worried about global warming if the only thing you knew was that the temperature was a little warmer in December—that would not be of concern. Nor would anyone have known around here what happened on the east coast in that tremendous hurricane last month. Nor would we have heard of the tsunami in Japan and all the problems associated with that or the one in Sri Lanka a few years ago. These would not have been part of our perception of life. But now disasters are commonplace in our minds. In Real Time we see what’s happening all over the world all the time. And it seems like no season of the year escapes some catastrophe somewhere. Well, indeed the study of geology shows chaos and upheaval have been more the rule than the exception on this earth for four and a half billion years, and this is still a relatively quiescent period—relatively, relatively calm in comparison to many other periods. Not only have some species been completely wiped out, but at two times almost all life on earth was totally extinguished—almost totally; a little remained and what happened was life reorganized itself; it rebounded better, than ever, more complex, more remarkable. That’s how nature works. The history of salvation is similar. The Bible tells us periods of great spiritual flourishing are followed by decay and disintegration. And decay and disintegration is followed by even greater periods of spiritual flourishing. And this is the background of Jesus’ remarks in today’s gospel. He is saying it is perfectly right for you to be very concerned about your own lives and the life of your children and your society and indeed the whole world, but there is not cause for worry or anxiety. And there is a difference. We are part of this earth, but not just part of this earth. Through faith God has begun in us a new life. And this life shares the likeness of God’s life and, therefore, is eternal. So on the one hand, we share with God concern for his own creation, for its well-being, for the salvation of all people, but on the other hand, we have to keep in mind that our lives and the goal of our lives extends way beyond the earth and way beyond what we know as time. Scripture puts it this way: God is creating a new heaven and a new earth. And it’s already started in the first coming of Christ, the first advent of Christ. But it’s not finished. And what it will be “eye has never seen, ear has not heard, nor can anyone imagine,” but we know that God promises that it will be infinitely greater than the present universe, which is already quite marvelous and wonderful. Commitment to God’s Values Now we have to face the fact that human choices have a lot to do with what goes on on earth. And because of this believers have to be spurred into the kind of action that God approves of. And that includes a heartfelt commitment to the values of God—a commitment to the values of God, not just an agreement with the values of God, a commitment to them! And how do we know what they are? That’s what Jesus is about. Jesus shows us in his life what God values. And we also have the testimony of the saints through the ages. They also embody the values of God. So it’s imperative that every single one of us, every single believer, lives in such a way that we really give witness to that. St. Teresa of Avila said, “God has no hands or feet but ours.” God’s work won’t be done without us. Now while many may give into despair when they look at the host of troubles facing our planet, our human society, in us faith will nurture hope. In fact, one of the distinctive features of Christian faith is that it nurtures hope. Hope will both address the problems of this world and the difficult tasks involved in preserving it, but also it will look beyond the present age to the more glorious one prepared for those who love God. Advent then is a time of preparation, not for the holidays, but for the events the holidays originally signified: the receiving of God’s great gift, who is the Christ. By committing ourselves to Christ we assure our belonging to God and allow God to work intimately within us so that we will resemble Christ more fully. So the goal of God is not simply to get us to be good—we already are good—or to get us to do good things—we already do good things. But the goal of God’s grace is to transform us from within to make us resemble more and more Christ himself. And this is a great blessing and a great gift. And this is how we prepare the way of the Lord. 2 Commitment to God’s Values Rev. Paul A. Hottinger Silence and Prayer First Week of Advent Monday, December 3, 2012 8:15 AM Is 2:1-5; Mt 8:5-11 (St. Francis Xavier) (Faith is a personal gift that must be personally responded to.) “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.” Indeed, it is often among people of faith, that is, groups and families and communities of faith, that there is very little faith. And the reason is, of course, that faith cannot be given to people; it can only be offered. Faith is a personal gift that must be personally responded to. For this reason, this centurion becomes a great symbol of faith from outside of the house of faith. And Jesus says, “I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.” And we see what this means even today. People of all kinds of religions and traditions and cultures are working for peace, are working for justice, are working for the very goals that Jesus himself worked for and died for. And yet sometimes, those brought up in the house of Christ himself are indifferent to these great goals and to these great purposes and intentions. Furthermore, we also can see in our world that many religions, including our own, can be used for bad purposes, wrong purposes, for violence, division, to overcome others, and so on. Now in this time of Advent, we need to be praying that the prophecy that was read in the first reading from Isaiah becomes fulfilled in our own day. It surely can be. Nothing holds us back from the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah except our unwillingness or indifference to it. And we can also be sure that never has any religion become abused in silence. When we pursue silence and prayer, God is present to us and God uses us for God’s purposes. When there is no silence and there is no prayer, then we use God for our purposes. Therein lies the difference between doing God’s will and doing our own, working for peace and working against it. We can meditate on that in this beginning of Advent. Silence and Prayer Rev. Paul A. Hottinger Childlikeness vs. Skepticism First Week of Advent Tuesday, December 4, 2012 8:15 AM Is 11:1-10; Lk 10:21-24 (St. John Damascene) (Personal knowledge of God) Today’s gospel story from Luke gives some light to a perplexing problem: the seeming contradiction given by so many indications of Scripture going all the way back to the psalms and to the prophets, indicating a universal will of God for the salvation of all, contrasted with our experience that many people don’t seem ever to be touched by the grace of God in any conscious way, nothing they can talk about. They seem to be confused and/or clueless about God and sometimes “God” is just a word, and this even applies to those baptized and catechized. What do words convey? They surely don’t convey power of themselves. Something else has to be going on, and that something else of course is the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit seems to be selective. “Seems to be” selective, I say, because Jesus indicates here: “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things”—the Father has hidden these things—“from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.” That is worth thinking about.