1st Sunday of Advent: Homily

Some have asked to have copies of my homilies. The following is what I have prepared as some of the thoughts I will attempt to express during the homilies at the 5:15 pm and the 10:30 am Masses this weekend.
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The peace of the Lord be with you. Once again we begin the season of Advent. Okay For you, I hope, this is indeed a special time, this season of Advent. I know for most of us it is a time of hustle and bustle that easily wears us now. To say that Advent can raise us up above the stress that December always brings may seem to you to be the statements of someone who isn’t raising children or managing a household. Today I would like to refute that belief. If we take just a little time, we can allow the specialness of the season of Advent to touch our hearts, to enliven our spirit and to bring us a genuine sense of calm and peace.
We know that Christmas day is a time for children as well as the child in each of our hearts. I think as well we might say that the season of the year we call Advent is a time for children. A sign of this reality is easily found in all of commercial publications we have been receiving in the mail recently. What is the first thing in those commercial publications? Of course it is the section about children’s toys and gifts. Even before Thanksgiving, to the chagrin of some, but to the great joy of young children the toy is and gifts of Christmas appear in department stores, on television commercials and in the catalogs that we received at home. Well can I remember spending most of December and the later part of November scanning the catalogs over and over again. It was an exciting time. It was a time when my heart and I’m sure the hearts of most of you were filled with great expectation and great hope. We had to have ready everything that was necessary for the arrival of old Saint Nick or, as we call him, Santa Claus.
And as we grew older, it was almost painful to realize that Santa Claus truly cared more for children than for us adults. Perhaps, as we grew older, we came to believe more than ever before those famous lines “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”
Take the time to talk with a young child about their thoughts these days. As soon as they begin to share their thoughts about the upcoming visit of Santa Claus, look at their face and eyes. Bright, wide and filled with excitement: this is what you see. Think back to your own childhood. Think back to the wishes and hopes that you held in your heart during these days of Advent. What is it that makes this month before Christmas so special? Was it not the experience of hoping and knowing that Santa Claus would come and visit you in the quiet and darkness of Christmas Eve, quietly sneaking into your home, eating the cookies and drinking the glass of milk, and hopefully leaving many, many presents. That Christmas Eve night could not come quickly enough. How difficult it was to sleep well the closer Christmas eve came.
Well then, what should Advent time be for us adults? How can this season of preparation for Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, be for us adults a time that can be as exciting and hope filled as it is for our children?
These days of Advent are actually a time for us to page through the catalogs that God sends to us every day. During these days of Advent we should be paging through the catalogs of all that God has done for us and told us that he does do for us through his son, Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We know that Jesus, the giver of the gift of new life, has come, some 2000 years ago. We know as well that he brings us the gift of new life every day.
With just a little effort I truly believe that we can stir up within our own hearts a similar excitement that our children experience awaiting the coming of Santa Claus. In the Gospel reading for today’s liturgy, we read thoughts that are perplexing and frightening. What Luke is seeking to teach us, what Jesus says time and time again, is so very simple. His message on December 25 is the same today, tomorrow, in January and February–every day of our lives: we are a blessed people because Jesus Christ is our Redeemer.
During a season when we think so often not only of ourselves but others who are unable to enjoy fully the season of Christmas, we should rejoice every day with the awareness that our salvation is God’s gift to us. It is a gift freely given time and time again. As adults, it is a challenge for us to unwrap that gift with the same excitement and enthusiasm as our children tear open the gifts of Christmas. Our salvation is not something we earn. We should want to unwrap that gift every day ... and we can do that. It is not difficult.
As you unwrap the gift of your salvation each day, it is a time to have serious talks with God about our lives. Advent is a time for us to put the God-presents in order. Advent is a time for us to bring ourselves to the sacrament of reconciliation, to gain for ourselves a genuine peace of soul.
The sacrament of reconciliation is for all of us a remarkable opportunity to remind ourselves that our lives have not always been perfect. As difficult as it may be, Advent is also a time for us to come before our God as sinners. Again, as we page through the divine catalogs that God sends us, we should be making ourselves ready to give God a special gift: the gift of accepting his call to us to be reconciled, to be forgiven.
Let us use the example of the excitement of our children during the pre-Christmas days to be the key that opens up for us the very positive experience that forgiveness can give to us.