STAYING AWAKE, STAYING ALIVE IN CHRIST!
The word Adventus in Latin means, ‘arrival or coming’. The Advent spirit of waiting and longing for Jesus reminds us of our daily call to holiness. Jesus is not just asking us to prepare ourselves to celebrate the Christmas season, when He first came into the world, but is also asking us to be ready for His Second Coming. This is when the world will end and we will all be called into His presence to be judged. In today’s Gospel (Lk 21:25-28 & 34-36), Jesus clearly warns us that there will be advanced bewildering (confusing) signs in the sun, moon, stars and the weather, in order to warn us to get spiritually ready. ‘Nations will be bewildered by the clamour of the ocean and its waves’ If we continually misinterpret the symptoms of a world possibly in the process of ending, by simply calling it climate change, then we are ignoring its true meaning. We must listen to Jesus or else we will end up experiencing a second death beyond the grave. Jesus controls the weather and the order of the universe. The bewildering weather is a sign for us to repent for our sins and convert our lives to the way He intended us to live them. He made us to be a holy nation and not allow our hearts to be overly distracted by the cares of life or coarsened with sexual debauchery and drunkenness. We are to stay awake, praying at all times and avoid the devil’s temptation to escape from the true meaning of life. Pray for the grace to survive the trials of this world.
GOD CREATED US TO LIVE BY HIS STANDARDS – NOT OUR OWN
Sadly, many souls refuse to repent for their sins, and persist in rebelling against the divine will of God set out for them. They make no effort to be saved from going to hell. St. Paul asks that we make more and more progress in the kind of life that God wants us to live (1Thess 3:12-4:2). Jesus came into the world to teach us how to prepare for the Day of Judgement, in order to be found worthy to enter heaven someday. If we reject this divine invitation given to us on earth, then we have no one to blame but ourselves, if found unworthy to enter heaven. When Jesus comes in a cloud with power and great glory, we must be found blameless in the sight of our God and Father. His second coming will be ‘sprung on us suddenly, like a trap’. To be prepared is to be full of anticipation for that moment. To be holy is to enter into Holy Communion with our Creator now, by going to Mass every Sunday. St. Augustine said to Jesus, ‘You have made us for Yourself O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. Only God can satisfy an empty heart because, He created it as a part of His home on earth. To live our lives without Him does not make spiritual sense. Advent highlights the colour purple, because it signifies repentance for our sins, reminding us to go to Confession at this time. The first Advent candle lit today, represents HOPE (TRUST) in the Resurrection to Eternal Life. Jesus is warning us that our earthly existence is fragile and only temporary. We should be more serious about all things eternal. God bless, Fr Brendan.