First
Sunday in Advent C.
A fire broke out back stage in a very crowed theater. One of the actors who was dressed as a clown ran out on stage to warn the audience. “Fire, fire!” he shouted. “Leave the theater in a hurry, please…please leave the theater very fast!” The crowd thought that it was a joke. The louder the clown shouted “fire!” the more the audience laughed and applauded. People were impressed by the look of horror on the clowns face. He was a very fine actor in a very well known theater. Everyone was having such a good time that when they realized that there was indeed a fire roaring through the walls and ceiling of the theater it was too late. Many people died of smoke inhalation that day. They could have been saved if they had listened to the clowns warning.
“Jesus said, “Be
watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. Watch
therefore. You do not know whether the
master of the house is coming in the evening, or at
At 53 years of age John D. Rockefeller, the legendary head of Standard Oil, was the richest man in the world. He was a shrewd and very controversial businessman, envied by some and hated by others. His wealth could not shield him from the death sentence given him by his doctors. Rockefeller was told that he had less than a year to live. His hair and eyelashes fell out. He could only eat milk and crackers. He couldn’t sleep and got very thin. Tossing and turning in his bed one night as he sensed death approaching, Rockefeller remembered the words of warning spoken by Jesus about the danger of storing up treasure on earth rather than in heaven. He got up out of his sick bed determined to work as hard at giving his money away as he had at making it. All at once countless people began to benefit from Rockefeller’s generosity. Research grants funded by Rockefeller developed cures for malaria, diphtheria, and tuberculoses. Rockefeller money also led to the discovery of penicillin, the first of the great miracle drugs. Giving had an immensely powerful effect on Rockefeller’s life as well. In the process of giving away much of what he had Rockefeller recovered his health. He lived another forty four years and died at the age of 98. Taking the warning of Jesus seriously not only paid off in heaven for Rockefeller. A more generous and healthy way of life began to pay off immediately in better relationships with other people and a better, more spiritual relationship with himself.
While I was cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my family, TV treated me again to the fascinating movie ET and the little creature from outer space who had been left on our planet by mistake and wanted nothing more than to go home. ET had befriended a little boy and his friends. The scene in which ET and the little boy separated as the space creature boarded the flying saucer to take him home was sad and moving. Going home means leaving some things and people behind. But there is no place like home. The whole Advent – Christmas season reminds us that “home” is a very powerful reality. Jesus came to teach us that we will not live here, in this world, forever. This is not our lasting, eternal home. We are here for a very important reason. We are here to care for planet earth and the human race, God’s children, as we await the return of Jesus in glory. The good that we do here and the mercy and the kindness we show to others are the ticket for the journey home. This week we had three funerals of very well known people in our parish. It feels like a whole generation in our parish is going home. Next Saturday my family will be moving my mother from an assisted living apartment to a memory care unit at St. Therese’s. I have already watched my mother move from our family home, to her retirement home, to assisted living, and now to memory care. Whether I like it or not, my mother is moving another step closer to going home.
The Christmas season is about home and family. The warmth of the season flows from people coming together for the Christmas holiday. Christmas with its family warmth and gifts is only a preview of the great family homecoming for which we were created and toward which we are all moving. While our eternal home is beyond the changes of this world, it is not far away. Even now, home is where our heart is. Home is the place we share with God and with those we love in the depths of our heart. No one can ever take our true and eternal home from us because it is not outside of us the way that material things are. Our lasting home is deep within us. Advent is a time for coming home again to Jesus and receiving him again into our homes and our hearts.
Christmas without Jesus is empty, just as a heart without
Jesus will never be at home. Mother Teresa left us many beautiful words about
the home Jesus wants to have in our hearts. As we begin Advent this holy woman teaches us
about coming home to Jesus. She says: “I worry
that some of you still have not really met Jesus –one-to-one- you and Jesus
alone…. Have you seen with the eyes of your soul how He looks at you with love?
Do you really know the
living Jesus – not from books but from being with Him in your heart? Have you heard the loving words He speaks to
you? Ask for the grace; He is longing to
give it…Be careful of all that can block that personal contact with the living
Jesus. The devil may try to use the
hurts of life, and sometimes our own mistakes – to make you feel it is impossible
that Jesus really loves you… Jesus loves you always, even when you don’t feel
worthy. When not accepted by others,
even by yourself sometimes – He is the one who always accepts you. Only believe – you are precious to Him. Bring all you are suffering to His feet –
only open your heart to be loved by Him as you are. He will do the rest.”
At the beginning of Advent we hear again the words of
Isaiah, “O, Lord, why do you let us
wander from your ways…Oh that you would rend the heaven and come down.” With open hearts we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus, Come.”