A Slightly Awkward Start to Advent

 

Welcome home . . . and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I write that, of course, because today is the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the new Church year. 

WE HAVE A HEAD START!

Have you noticed how many people are saying that they can’t wait to put the disastrous year 2020 behind them? Well, there is a sense in which you and I get to do just that, ahead of everyone else. What I mean is that although it is still 2020 according to the secular world, today we begin the 2021 Church year!

The fact that we have our own starting date for the new year emphasises a special truth. It’s a bit like the way my passport says that I am a citizen of Australia, but the reality is quite different. Writing to the small Church community in the Roman colony of Philippi, (and to all of us who have been baptised) S. Paul says:

‘our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Philippians 3:20)

On top of that, the writer to the Hebrews says,

‘Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come.’ (Hebrews 13:14)

These are powerful words. They remind us that our life in this world is not all there is, and our real citizenship in whatever country whose passport we carry is totally secondary to our true identity! 

PILGRIMS ON A JOURNEY

The early Christians in the hostile Roman Empire understood that, as we see in the second or third century Letter to Diognetus, in which a Christian, Mathetes, writes to a man of considerable rank:

‘Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life . . . With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign. 

‘And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labour under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country . . . They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven.’ 

Or, as S. John Vianney, the Curé d’Ars, put it in 19^th century France, 

‘Our home is heaven. On earth we are like travellers staying in a hotel. When one is away, one is always thinking of going home.’

During this season of Advent we experience again the reality of being a ‘pilgrim people’ travelling home TOGETHER. In other words, we are not a bunch of rugged individuals who just happen to be on the same path and can’t avoid bumping into each other from time to time. We are a real community of faith and love on pilgrimage together, supporting one another. During Advent we are on pilgrimage to Bethlehem. But we are also on pilgrimage to our true home, and part of that journey is to reflect on the sobering themes of judgment and mortality, while acknowledging - as we dare to do every day at Mass - that because God became Man, both heaven AND EARTH are absolutely crammed full of his glory.

THIS MORNING - UNDERSTATED AND SUBTLE

For me, personally, this morning felt really awkward. For nearly all my life I have experienced the start of the Church year on the First Sunday of Advent being overwhelmed by Charles Wesley’s amazing hymn, ‘Lo, he comes with clouds descending . . .’, focusing straight away - as do the Scripture readings, not so much on the coming of Jesus to Bethlehem, but on his coming in glory at the end of the age.

This morning, however, the last Sunday of this present ‘lockdown’, I celebrated alone at the High Altar. In a strange quietness I blessed the Advent wreath and lit its first candle before getting on with the Mass. I must confess that in my mind I was thinking how it was happening like this in so many parishes around the world, in contrast to the usual burst of triumph, and the children swarming around the Advent wreath for its particular ceremonies.

Of course, I regained my composure when at the end of Mass I was able to enthrone the Blessed Sacrament on the Nave Altar as the focus for the personal and private prayer of those who would come and go throughout the morning.

NEXT SUNDAY - BACK TO MASS!

But the lockdown will finish at the end of Wednesday this week. Praise the Lord! That doesn’t mean a FULL restoration of worship. But it does mean that Holy Mass can be celebrated in the way we did from the beginning of July until the end of October . . . socially distanced, sanitised hands, face coverings, special precautions in the giving of Holy Communion, no congregational singing, and no morning tea at the end. That all looks a bit draconian, doesn’t it. But it worked before, to the glory of God and for the blessing of his people, and it will work again! The choir will sing anthems during the preparation of the altar (half way through Mass) as well as while Holy Communion is being given. Also, next Sunday’s Mass will include the lighting of the second candle on the Advent wreath.

It does seem as if the Government is wanting some of the things we associate with Christmas to be able to happen, so next week (i.e. the PCC having met this coming Wednesday night) I will announce the actual mechanics of obtaining (free) tickets for our Christmas Eve services. Remember, tickets will be FREE, but in order to ensure the safety of all, ADMISSION WIll BE BY TICKET ONLY. I’m sure everybody understands why this is important, and that it is much to be preferred than to cancel Christmas services. However, I would like to hear from any who do not feel comfortable coming out to Christmas Mass this year, but who still wish to receive their Christmas Communion. I will make arrangements to bring Holy Communion to you at home.

So, ‘Mass with a Congregation’ will resume on Thursday 3rd December, at 10 a.m. Then, as usual, Friday (7.30 a.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m.), leading into a wonderful celebration next Sunday, for the Second Sunday of Advent (8.00 a.m. and 9.30 a.m.)

PREPARING WITH EXPECTANCY FOR THE COMING OF JESUS!

The custom of lighting candles on the Advent wreath reminds us of God promising right from the time of our original rebellion, that one day he would conquer evil - you remember, through the seed of the woman crushing the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15) - and restore the relationship of love for which he created the human family in the first place.

The popular service of Nine Lessons and Carols, with its selection of readings moving progressively through the Old Testament - the Jewish Scriptures - reminds us of God’s long and patient preparation in the sludge of real human history for the coming of Jesus. In fact, it has been said that the theme of the Old Testament is ‘waiting for God’.

So, during the season of Advent, at the daily Mass, the Church has us read bits of the Old Testament to do with God’s promise to intervene human history so as to bring about – as we heard last Sunday - a kingdom of justice, love and peace. Our prayers are uttered in the language of the Old Testament, expressing that deep longing for the age to come that was reaching a climax in Jewish culture by the 1st century AD..

Even though the first coming of Jesus has already taken place, the Church encourages us to put ourselves spiritually into that period of expectant waiting for him to come. We identify ourselves with the long flow of history through which Jesus entered our world, recognising the light of God shining through the Patriarchs, the Prophets, John the Baptist, and Our Lady Mary, who are the high points of his revelation. During Advent we wait expectantly for the birth of Jesus at Christmas, along with those who two thousand years ago longed for his coming. It is good for us to be touched with the joy of that expectant waiting.

But, as we have noted, the Church mostly wants us to await - just as expectantly - that final day when Jesus will return in glory. And as it was important for people to be prepared for his first coming at Bethlehem, so we are encouraged in the New Testament to be no less prepared for his ‘second coming’.

But we have a problem!

So many times over the last 2000 years people have announced, ‘The end is nigh,’ and they have turned out to be wrong! (Remember how Jesus himself said that would happen. He warned of the futility of trying to calculate or predict the End - Matthew 24:36!) The sad reality is that partly as a reaction to extreme sects who have claimed to know exaclty when the End will come, modern Christians tend no longer to be ‘expectant’ about the second coming of Jesus. So, our faith has shrunk and become passive - a shrugging of the shoulders, the idea that he just might come one day  - but we don't live as if we really think there's a possibility of that happening in our lifetime!

If we really love the Lord, and his love and power are real to us, we will have an expectancy in our hearts, an anticipation born of faith. This is not just a ‘cheery optimism.’ It has to do with a deep day to day growth into his love. 

Most Sundays at Mass, in the words of the Nicene Creed, we profess our belief that 

 

‘He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.’

We used to finish by saying that 

‘we look for the resurrection of the dead.’ 

But because the original language has in it the idea of ‘looking ahead with expectancy’, the latest (2010) translation has sought to convey that more adequately in English. I don’t know about you, but I now have a real sense of excitement in my heart as the Creed comes to its close with the words:

‘I LOOK FORWARD TO the resurrection of the dead  and the life of the world to come.’

OUR ADVENT RENEWAL

Part of our Advent spiritual renewal this year ought to be recapturing that sense of expectancy if we feel we have lost it. So, let’s make sure that our walk with God is in good shape. 

Let’s examine our hearts to see where we’ve become slack. Let’s open them up to the love of the Lord again, and possibly use the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Let’s also ask ourselves if we are growing in our ability to relate to others - especially in the Church family, and if our shared lives are beginning to reflect the love and reconciliation at the heart of the Gospel.

May we all be renewed in the love and joy of the Gospel on our Advent pilgrimage together.

The Bishop of Quincy’s Advent Pastoral Letter

Today I share with you the Advent Pastoral Letter to the clergy and people of the Diocese of Quincy written Bishop Alberto Morales OSB:

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

Pax!

“Come thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.”  (Hymnal 1982, 66)

Advent, unlike any other season of the Church year, presents us with the already, but not yet nature of Christ’s Church. During this season, we take the time to look back on past victories, especially as we prepare to celebrate the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as he came to live as one of us to offer himself as a sacrifice for the debt that we could not repay. But, also, especially at Advent, we look ahead to the final victory that will be won when Christ returns as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to claim that which belongs to Him.

As a diocese, it is good for us to take some time to look at where we have been over the past year, as we prepare for the year to come.

This has been a year of many victories, most notably the new ministry opportunities that have presented themselves to us. We received four new congregations at our Synod in October, which brings the number of congregations that are members of our Synod to 27. This is important as we look back, as there were 23 congregations in the diocese in 2008. We also have many congregations looking to go through the process to enter our synod in the next year. We now have congregations that stretch from southern Florida to northern Wisconsin, and from Nashville, Tennessee to Montrose, Colorado. This is no longer “little Quincy”. I am encouraged by the Spiritual growth that has come along with, or perhaps led to, the physical growth of the diocese.

Looking forward, I see further expansion of the Diocese of Quincy as we become even more diligent in our efforts to build the kingdom of God, by “preparing the way of the Lord”.

When we gathered in October I set the theme of the Synod as “building up the kingdom”.  I said in my address that I would like this theme to resound throughout the Diocese.  That in order to build up the kingdom the focus of our preaching, teaching and training must be the message of the kingdom of God as it was proclaimed by Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:15)

While we will return to this imperative over and over again, at no time during the church year does it ring more true than during Advent. What does Christ mean by the coming of the Kingdom?  He means that finally the cries of the marginalized and despised by the world will be answered; finally, God’s justice for all the disinherited of the earth, the poor, the oppressed, the weak, the defenseless will be realized. But the kingdom of God was not just a message of hope for the poor and marginalized by learning that they were loved by God.  Christ came to liberate them from their misery.

Jesus exercises a liberating activity with his miracles and exorcisms.  They are none other than “a sign that the kingdom of God has come” (Mt 12, 28).  They are manifestations of the divinity of Christ. From the name of the season, they are Epiphanies.

Jesus promotes solidarity among men. He fights separation in society and as a counterpart, reaches out to those who have been marginalized by society: he speaks to them, eats with them, defends them and praises them.  He implements a new collective conscience of solidarity.

Jesus denounces every action, attitude or structure that maintains men divided. He condemns the rich who only seek their own comfort.  He calls the rich farmer “foolish” for selfishly rejoicing in the abundance of his crops.(Lk 12, 16-21)  He condemns the rich man who could not share with the needy (Lk 16, 19-31).  And in the name of the Father he calls “cursed” those who do not take care of the vital necessities of his neighbor (Mt 25, 41-45) ““How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! (Luke 18, 24) for “no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.” (Mt 6, 24).  According to Jesus, the only way to make just the unjust riches is by giving it to the poor (Mt 19, 21: Mk 10, 21; Lk 18,22).

How can we as a Church, as a Diocese make present the Kingdom of God in the society in which we live? We must announce the Kingdom of God among men.  Like the Seventy, the people of God are heralds of the kingdom sent forth as lambs among wolves to proclaim the Good News. The Church constitutes on earth the seed and beginning of the kingdom. It must become a reality wherever God is reigning by means of His grace and His love.

How can we be an obstacle to the work of building up the kingdom?  By being static, not forward thinking and considering what church we are leaving for those who follow.  By being content with not doing anything.  By pretending that we have nothing else to do.  In thinking that others will do what is our own responsibility to do.  By breaking bonds of communication with each other.  By not resolving old animosities.  By blaming everything on someone else and not accepting our own sins and faults.  When we forget about the importance of the petition we make practically every day: “may your kingdom come”, kingdom of peace, justice, of life and truth, kingdom that will only be achieved by the hardworking.

We must be about the work that Christ has laid before us as we pray the prayer of the ancient Church, “Come, Lord Jesus, come!” As a diocese, we need to learn a lesson from those who design automobiles. As we drive we notice that cars have big windshields, but small rearview mirrors. We need to consider where we have been, that is important. But, our primary focus needs to be on where we are going. We must focus on moving forward with the work that Christ has placed before us, or we will surely crash, like a driver who spends too much time fixed on his rearview mirror.

My prayer this Advent is that this diocese will sing the hymn mentioned above with preparation and anxious expectation. That we will be constantly preparing for the kingdom of God to come, while being the incarnation of that kingdom in our world.

In Christ and Benedict,

+Bp. J. Alberto Morales, IX Bishop of Quincy

All you need to know about Advent in 2 minutes!!!

Waiting and expectancy

The following passage is from WAITING IN HOPE, an article by Elizabeth Ruth Obbard, a Carmelite sister who lives as a solitary at the Carmelite friary at Aylesford, Kent. She is the author of numerous books including Every Pilgrim's Guide to Walsingham. The entire article is HERE.

We all need times of waiting and expectancy in our lives in order to savour the joy of fulfilment. We need to live with the night and darkness before we can appreciate the coming of dawn. And this is written into nature if only we have eyes to see and hearts attentive to life's mysteries. The expectant mother must wait nine long months before she sees the face of her child. The seed must be buried and broken open in the dark earth before it can emerge into the light of day as a new green shoot. A project needs to mature from the stage of being a mere idea hidden in someone's mind to finding practical expression in reality.

We all have times of Advent in our own lives, just as in the liturgical season of Advent we remember the waiting of Israel through the ages, and the waiting of Mary as she carries her child in her womb. We are sure she will bring him forth once again on Christmas day for our contemplation, and we are ready to relive once again the story of the shepherds and the birth at Bethlehem. It is all so familiar and yet all so new each time Christmas comes round. And every year we are invited to reach a more profound depth in our own lives as we contemplate the birth of the Son of God among us.

The Carmelite writers love to dwell on the fact that we must wait until God's time for fulfilment. It cannot be rushed. We cannot wrest from God in a moment what God desires that we wait for. This is so that we realise that all is gift, 'all is grace' (St. Thérèse).

This cycle of waiting and birthing is not just a past incident in the life of a Jewish maiden who lived long ago in far away Palestine. It is a story that is re-lived in our contemporary world whenever a child is conceived, whenever there is a cry of joy at a long awaited birth, whenever there is a longing for liberation from tyranny, whenever there is a gleam of hope and a striving for something beyond the obvious and immediate. And it happens whenever we ourselves rise to the challenge to bear Christ in our own flesh and offer him to our contemporary world; whenever we become, with Mary, Christ-bearers and Christ-sharers.