Advent Homily

I remember when I was a young kid in Peru, there was a watchman at my house throughout the night. He walked around the property all night, making sure no one broke into the property. At daybreak he’d approach my parent’s bedroom window, report to my father and leave. We needed a watchman since the police could provide very little security in a city where crime and terrorism were gaining strength.

I have oftentimes wondered how much this man longed for the morning to arrive. He spent all night vigilant, watching and waiting. I am sure that the one thing he waited for with greatest anticipation was daybreak. Just imagine how he waited for the first rays of sunlight. The first signs of light meant he could return home to his family.

As certain as daylight comes for the watchman, we know for certain that the Lord will come.

And just as it would be absurd for the watchman to fear the arrival of daylight, it would be absurd for us to fear the arrival of Jesus Christ. We must not wait in fear, but rather filled hope and anticipation.
Throughout history fear mongers have struck fear in people’s hearts regarding the return of Jesus Christ, but Saint Paul invites us to wait patiently and with confidence: “the Lord is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance… conduct yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting and hastening for the day of the Lord. Be eager to be found without spot or blemish before Him, at peace.”

The day of the Lord, the coming of the Lord, is a moment of joy and fulfillment, not of fear and despair. Every single one of our hopes and desires will be fulfilled on that day. Isaiah writes that at the Lord’s coming every valley will be filled in, every mountain made low and all rugged land be made plain. In other words, at the Lord’s coming, all things will be set aright and creation will be renewed. Why fear this moment then? The early Christians waited joyfully, and so must we.

This season of Advent is a time of waiting and preparing for the remembrance of the Lord’s first coming at Christmas, while at the same time, it’s a time of waiting and preparing for the second coming of the Lord at the end of time. Advent is about the two comings of Christ, the first which has already happened and the second one which has been promised.

This season of Advent is a time for us to renew the urgency of the Gospel and that there is no room for complacency.

At every Mass, after the Our Father, we ask the Lord to grant us the grace to peacefully and joyfully wait for Jesus Christ, free from sin and all distress. How do we achieve this? How do we remain watchful and vigilant for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, as vigilant and faithful as a watchman?

First of all we remain watchful by following His law of charity: To love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We must be witnesses of the love of Christ at all times in word and deed so will be found without spot or blemish.

We remain watchful by seeking the Lord at all times with as much desire as the watchman waits for daybreak. We must especially seek Him when we need His mercy as we prepare the way of the Lord within our very hearts: by going to confession, mending broken relationships, by seeking mercy and reconciliation.

We remain vigilant by finding hope in all things and in all situations, even when things are difficult. We remain watchful by keeping a hopeful expectation of the future, trusting that the Lord is with us and that He will deliver us from all distress.

We remain vigilant by living every day as if it were our last, always ready to meet the Lord Jesus. One day each one of us will take his or her last breath, so we must be prepared for that day. We must live at peace with all, live reconciled, especially with God.

As we wait for his second coming the Lord strengthens us at every single Eucharist. At Mass, the Lord comes to us by giving us his Body and blood… do we come each Sunday prepared and eager to receive Him? He gives Himself as food for the journey as we move towards Him: He not only is the destination, He truly is the Way.

In the Eucharist Jesus gives us a taste of things to come. Let us ask Him to guide us this Advent season, that our hearts may be ready to receive Him at this Eucharist today, and most especially, that we will be prepared to receive him at His coming.