HOMILY ADVENT SUNDAY 01 – C
Stand Secure; Be Holy; Work for Justice and Pray Always
(Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25; 1 Thes 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36)
*************************************************************
Happy New Year! Today, the first Sunday of Advent is the first Sunday of the liturgical year C. So again, Happy New Year.
Strangely, as we begin a new liturgical year, today’s readings continue the apocalyptic tone of the last few Sundays of Year B. Nevertheless, they do give us a clear message for the season of Advent: Stand secure; be holy, work for justice and pray always.
In 1976, I visited the Madonna House Apostolate or Marian Workers in Cumbermere, Ontario, with my brother Roger. Luckily, the foundress of this lay movement, Catherine van de Hueck Dougherty, was still living. Although she was very blunt, outspoken and crusty, I found that she certainly lived this Advent message.
She was very confident in her apostolate and her faith and stood secure before the Lord. Her commitment to serving God and walking closely with the Lord was evident in her Byzantine spirituality, and especially in her prayer life. She wrote a book entitled Poustina, the Russian word for dessert, by which she popularized this 24-hour retreat on bread and water. It was during her poustinias that she did much of her writing, sharing her faith in Jesus Christ and his Spirit with her community and countless others.
The Marian Workers, as they are called, are a community of vowed men and women who strive to work for justice through their apostolate of reaching out to the poor through thrift stores and soup kitchens throughout Canada and even into Russia.
Stand secure; be holy, work for justice and pray always – this message was lived not only by Catherine, but also is being lived in an impressive way by all those involved in this growing apostolate.
This message is especially found in today’s Gospel. We are told that we are to be aware, and to be ready for the second coming of Jesus, the Son of Man, who will return with great power and glory. Although that day is unexpected, we are not to worry, as we are to be ready and stand secure, confident in our relationship with the Lord, and with all God’s people, especially the poor.
There is a story told about an elder Oblate brother who was playing pool in the community recreation room. When asked what he would do if he knew that the end of the world would happen that night, he paused, and then replied calmly, “I’d keep on playing pool.” He had no need to change anything, because he knew that he was already living that message from today’s readings: Stand secure; be holy, work for justice and pray always.
That best way that we can be sure that we are ready is to pray always and to work for justice. That can mean for us to truly live this year of faith, by entering into a new evangelization of bringing others to Jesus, as best we can. Doing this assures us that we will be ready and able to stand secure before the Son of Man, having served him in the guise of the poor here on earth.
The first reading from the book of Jeremiah informs us that Jesus will be the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel and Judah, raised up as a shoot from the house of David. He, who is justice to all nations, is a reminder to us to strive for justice in all our relationships. Biblically, justice is to walk in a right relationship with God, with all our brothers and sisters, with our selves and with all of God’s creation. Doing this assures us that we will be ready and able to stand secure before the Son of Man.
The Eucharist we share today is a faith-filled meal where God’s love is made present to us through word and sacrifice. It fills us with God’s Spirit and empowers us to stand secure before the Son of Man; it makes us holy; is our greatest prayer, and sends us forth to work for justice in our service of all God’s people.
So, once again, Happy New Year and may God bless us all.
