The Advent-Christmas miracle is that Jesus chooses to be born again in 2018 in our own hearts.

First Sunday of Advent  C  2018

We affirm in the lighting of the Advent wreath that we are an Advent people.  We are given the gift of time – four weeks – to prepare for the coming of Christ into our lives.  The Advent gift we seek to use wisely is the gift of time.   May the Advent wrath be a symbol of hope as we await for the light of Christ to overcome the darkness of our world.

For Advent isn’t about commercialism.  Advent isn’t about busyness.  I confess that we are reluctant to schedule parish events in December.  People are too busy.  There is too much to be done in preparation for Christmas.

In truth, Advent is about spirituality.  It is about being in touch with our spiritual center.  God is with us.  “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  The Advent season invites us to reset our spiritual calendar, to readjust the choices in our lives to be sure they are consistent with the priorities of Christ.  We seek to move beyond the darkness of fear, anxiety, and sin and to live in the light of Christ.

In today’s Scriptures, the prophet Jeremiah proclaims to a discouraged people that “the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel.”  The prophet Jeremiah is a prophet of hope and mercy that God’s promise will be fulfilled.

What discouragement in your life are you in touch with  --  what person or situation causes you to be restless or sleepless at night – what now is separating you from the love of God or separating you from being connected to an important person in your life – what is causing to think there is too much on your plate just now, these all are Advent moments in which we await the light of Christ to overcome the darkness of our lives.   The Advent prophet Jeremiah assures us that God’s love will not fail, and God’s love will be our final answer.

The Advent message of hope may be more difficult to see in today’s Gospel for it contains a stern warning to us.  Jesus says: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in disarray, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.  People will die of fright.  Additionally, beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and do not be overwhelmed by the anxieties of daily life.”

But the core message of Advent remains:  watch and wait for God, not with a sense of fear, but rather with joyful hope.  Sometimes we Christians tend to think that Jesus came to sing us lullabies:  that when things are comfortable, the Lord is with us, and when they get turbulent, we’ve lost the Lord -- like the disciples on the stormy sea.  Today’s Gospel tells us otherwise.  Yes, the sea of our heart sometimes is turbulent, fearful and anxious.  Even in these times, God is with us in the present moment and in every day of our future.  We are and will always be the recipients of the merciful love of Jesus.

The Advent season is a season of waiting.  In the story of our lives, the season of Advent may be considerably longer that four weeks.  As we deal with illness, as we grieve over the loss of a loved one, as we deal with the demons and addictions of our life, as we seek for an inner peace in dealing with a hurt that seems to paralyze us, Advent may seem like an eternity for us. 

Yet, the Advent grace is to trust and hope that God’s love is stronger than our deepest fears and God’s love for us will never fail.

When a person is aware the end of his or her life is near, this can be terrifying or it can be a gift -- terrifying in the sense of bringing to an end the life the person has known and treasured or it can be a gift when in faith a person is ready to go home to God and experience the fullness of life.

Can the same be said in any of life’s challenges:  illness, breakdown in our family life, dealing with a demon or sinfulness in our life.  All of life can be terrifying or all of life can be a gift.  Are we able to trust that our God is with us and the experience of the cross in life can be the very source of our salvation?

To wait for the Lord who comes means to wait and watch so that the Word of Love enters inside us and focuses every day of our lives.   Advent calls us not only to welcome the coming of Christ, but to incarnate it in our lives.  We are to be the light that illumines the world.  What does it mean for us to incarnate the love of Christ into our lives and how are we to be the light that illumines the world?

We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  If we know Jesus in our hearts, we will readily witness to the Lord’s mercy in the lives of others.

We are missioned to share the light of Christ that is within us and in so doing we will bring joy and hope into the lives of those around us.  The Advent-Christmas miracle is that Christ chooses to be born again in 2018 in our own hearts and we are to give birth to the presence and the light into our family, our neighborhood and into our world.