Happy New Year

This year in our homiletics class we had to give a homily on one of the weeks of Advent or Christmas. I chose the first week of Advent to give my homily on. Seeing today is the first Sunday of Advent I thought I would share that homily with you.

First Sunday of Advent – Cycle C

1^st Reading – Jeremiah 33: 14-16

2^nd Reading – Thesalonians 3: 12 – 4: 2

Gospel – Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

Happy new year everyone. When I said that to my family this morning one of my children said, “Dad, it isn’t even Christmas yet.” Well, for us adults the preparation for Christmas started about the second week of September when all of the new Christmas stuff hit the stores and by now we have been so immersed in the “Christmas season” that many of us are looking forward to celebrating Ground Hog’s Day. 

But today is the first day of Advent and the official beginning of the Christmas season for us Christians. It is also the beginning of our liturgical year so it is New Year’s Day for the Church. How does the Church kick off our preparation for Christmas? First, we start dressing in purple and dreading the coming conversation of, “It’s not pink, it’s rose.”  What did we hear in the readings today? Did we hear about the Annunciation of Mary or shepherds tending their flocks at night? Was it about the wise men following yonder star? Those readings would have made sense. 

The Gospel today was about the coming of Jesus, but not the coming we would expect to hear going into Christmas. The Gospel was about the second coming of Christ at the end times. That is a very odd way of starting off the New Year don’t you think? We spend the first day of the year talking about the last day of time. What is the Church thinking?

Well, it is actually quite brilliant. The Church begins by telling us our destination. It is a destination all of us are going to reach one way or another.  Jesus warns us, “That day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth.” After today, the Church will spend the rest of the year showing us the best path to follow to reach that destination.

In the first reading today we hear God’s promise to send his Son. That is the source of our hope and joy. It gives us strength for our journey. Then we hear from St. Paul on how to be blameless before God on the last day, to strengthen our hearts for the road we all must travel. Finally Jesus tells us that the end day is coming and that it will catch many people off guard. He encourages us to be vigilant always and to pray we will have the strength to stand before him when he arrives. If Jesus were to walk through that door right now and go, "Surprise, I’m back!" how many of us would be blameless before him? I know I wouldn’t.

That is what Advent is all about. It is time we have been given, not to focus on the destination, but how we are growing in holiness along the way. Yes, Advent ends with us celebrating the birth of Jesus but our growth in holiness does not end with that celebration. Our growth is to continue for the rest of our lives.

So let us begin this new year by asking ourselves one simple question – What am I doing to grow in holiness? Let me offer three suggestions on how you can do this.  

One – Spend time with Jesus. 

Two – Spend time with Jesus. 

And three, can anybody guess it? Spend time with Jesus.

Spend time with Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Get to confession. Let him heal you and restore you to his full friendship. We cannot begin grow in holiness when we have a broken friendship with our Lord.

Spend time with Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Receive the body and blood, soul and divinity or our Lord. Allow Jesus to live in and dwell within you in the most intimate union we can have with our Lord on this side of heaven.

Finally, spend time with Jesus in Eucharistic adoration. You cannot fall in love with someone you never spend time with, so come spend an hour with Jesus when he is available for adoration here at St. Rita or any of our parishes that offer the opportunity. 

Do these three things as often as you can and you will grow in holiness. Then, when you reach the final destination you will be able to stand before the Lord with your head held high because you will know him, you will love him, and you will want to spend every moment of eternity with him.

Happy New Year everyone.