4th sunday of advent C

Little Arlene has a very busy father. He is a dot-com technocrat who makes a lot of money but has little time to be with his family. Every night, however, Arlene insists that her father read her a story before she would go to sleep. This continued for some time until the man found a "solution." He bought Arlene a colourful kid's recorder/player and made an audio of her favourite stories in the story book. Whenever, therefore, the child asks him to read her a story he would simply push the button and play back the recorded stories. Arlene took that for a few days and then revolted and refused to accept the stories on the recorder. "Why," asked the father, "the recorder reads the stories as good as I do!" "Ya," replied the little girl, "But I can't sit on his laps."

One thing that is associated with the celebration of Christmas everywhere is giving. Christmas is the feast of giving. Christmas is the one time in the year when everyone is sure to give and receive a present, even if be only a Christmas card. People spent a lot of time and money shopping for the perfect Christmas gift. We put up Christmas trees to surprise family members with our gifts and to be surprised with theirs. Santa Claus is the perfect symbol of Christmas because Santa is the one who gives and gives and never gets tired of giving. Christmas is a feast of giving even from God's point of view. For at Christmas we celebrate the mystery that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16). God gives, and the people of God give, and that is Christmas.

If Christmas is the feast of giving, then the question of what to give and how to give becomes very important. After all what is worth doing is worth doing well. How can we improve on the quality of our giving? How can we improve on the quality of our Christmas celebration? Today's Gospel reading helps us to answer some of these questions.

In today's Gospel we read the story of Mary visiting with Elizabeth. What gift did Mary bring to Elizabeth? We are not told that she brought foodstuff, although she might as well have brought some. We are told she brought just one thing: herself. She gave Elizabeth the gift of her very presence. And, dear friends, this is the best and the hardest gift of all. It is easy to send flowers, it is easy to send a parcel, but to give the gift of ourselves, to make out the time to be with somebody, that is the gift that many people long for but do not receive at Christmas. Arlene's father gave his little girl a costly tape recorder and made tapes for her, but he did not give her himself, his presence, his time. Following Mary's example in today's Gospel story, we must, in addition to the flowers and parcels, give of ourselves, our presence, our time. We must find the time to visit and be with people. This is the greatest gift because its value cannot be calculated in terms of money.

Another point we can make out of Mary's gift to Elizabeth is that one should give not according to one's convenience but according to the needs of the receiver. It was not convenient for Mary to travel the lonely, dangerous road from Galilee to the hills of Judea. It was certainly for her an uphill task. But Elizabeth needed a helping hand. She was six months pregnant and would no longer be able to go and draw water from the village well, to look after the crops in her garden and the animals in her farm, she would no longer be able to go to the market to do her shopping. So Mary, as soon as she learned that Elizabeth was six months pregnant went with haste and stayed with her for about three months, meaning, until she gave birth. Mary gave to Elizabeth what she needed when she needed it. That is the perfect gift.

Do you know one thing everybody needs today? Everybody needs encouragement. Everybody needs the interior peace and joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. This is what Mary's visit did for Elizabeth. Mary's visit was an inspiration to Elizabeth. When we visit people this Christmas, let us try to bring some inspiration into their lives, let us seek to bring them closer to God, and let us try to share with them the Spirit of God in us, the Spirit of consolation, of courage, of peace and joy, just as Mary did.

3rd sunday of advent C

What's It All About?

Christmas is coming!

"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall call His Name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High"

Luke 1:31-32

Christmas is almost here. It is time for us to get off our treadmill of "hurry, hurry, hurry" and ask "Why? What's it all about?"

A man asked God, "What does a billion dollars mean to You who are all powerful?" God said, "Hardly a penny." Then the man asked God, "And what are a hundred thousand centuries?" God answered, "Hardly a second." Then, O Lord, give me a penny!" the man pleaded. "In a second," God replied.

"Stop and Listen," was the title of this New York Times 1971 Editorial:

You go out in the evening and look at the sky and see the stars, slowly wheeling not only through the night but through the seasons, the years. Star-patterns unchanging throughout your lifetime -- the same constellations, the same Pole Star and Dipper and Eagle and Swan. And you see the moon progressing in all its phases, from the thinnest golden crescent of a new moon to the fat, silver roundness of a full moon. Moonphases have been know to man since he first looked at the night sky. You see sunrise and sunset, varying by a few minutes day-after-day. Time, the passage of the seasons, the lunar months, the solar year. Time hasn't changed a noticeable fraction of a second in ten million years. The first man who stood on two feet and watched the sunrise and had a glimmering wonder about time, knew the same span of daylight that we know today. Grass grew as deliberately then as now, and the berry ripened in its own time. But somewhere along the way man began to count not only the days, but the hours, the minutes, the seconds. Time was unchanged, but man was caught in his own time-traps. The very echoes came to say, "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" And only now and then did anyone stop and ask, "Why?" and "What for?"

Again, I say, it is time for us to get off our treadmill of "hurry, hurry, hurry," time to break loose from our mindless time-traps, time to take a fresh look at our helter-skelter way of life and ask, "Why? What's it all about?"

A man consulted with his pastor about a certain problem he was having. "How can I help you? What seems to be the trouble?" the pastor asked. "I feel all hollow inside; my life is empty," the man replied. "Can you tell me why?" the pastor asked. The man bowed his head and said, dejectedly, "The woman I love turned down my marriage proposal." The pastor tried to lift up the man's spirits. "You mustn't feel that way," he said, "surely you know that a woman's 'No!' often means 'Yes!'" But she didn't say 'No!' the man replied, "she said 'Phooey!'"

There are persons with that hollow, empty feeling about life who characterize our Age as "hopeless." They say that if nuclear bombs don't wipe out modern civilization, then environmental pollution will and, anyway, so what! Aren't we all doomed to extinction the second we are born?" Life for them is nothing more than ...

A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in,

A minute to smile and an hour to weep in,

A pint of joy to a peck of trouble,

And never a laugh but the moans come double.

And that is life!

We have come together today to declare that that is not life. We have come together to hear the Advent Message that life needn't be empty for us -- ever! We have come together to acknowledge that we are not abandoned. The Spirit of Advent breaks through to soothe our frazzled nerves; to restore our confidence in things to come. Because the Advent Message renews hope in God's promise of eternal fulfillment, it recharges our batteries, renews our zest for life, reawakens us to the reality that the Coming Kingdom already is being realized in the here and now. And the reason for our hope is made clear in today's Gospel Lesson, in words spoken by the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary:

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall call His Name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High (Lk. 1:30-32).

Because of the Christmas Event, we know that God is with us. We know that the Kingdom of God is at hand and we can celebrate Christmas, hopefully and joyfully. As the Apostle Paul has written, "I am sure of this much, that he who has begun the good work in you will carry it through to completion."

God, who is with us in Jesus Christ, will finish His work of creation according to Plan. God will keep His promise to us of eternal fulfillment, sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ. God's Will "will be done on earth as it is in heaven," and there is nothing man or devil can do to thwart it. No evil force, no nuclear holocaust, no environmental disaster, nothing can prevent the ultimate realization of God's Plan for our fulfillment in His Kingdom of Love.

If the architects of a better world (and that certainly includes us) are not motivated by a profound sense of awe and reverence for the Divine Architect, then dream of a better world becomes a nightmare. The work of "building a better world" requires the use of mankind's highest ingenuity, but not as a substitute for Divine guidance. We do not deny that man has the capacity to change the world, but the question remains: Change it into what? For better or for worse? The answer depends always on whether or not we submit our human plans and specifications to the judgment of the Divine Master Plan.

Our Christian Hope is not based on fantasy or wishful thinking. It is based on the Message of Advent which informs us that there is a work to be done: God's work. Advent informs us that the Coming Kingdom will be fulfilled according to God's Plan. Advent informs us that we have been commissioned by God to share in the responsibility for carrying that work to completion.

"My prayer," St. Paul has written, "is that you may learn to value the things that really matter ... that you may be found rich in the harvest of justice" (Phil. 1:10,11). That is the work of a lifetime.

Have no fear; God is with us; Christmas is coming. For us the signs are everywhere: in our tinseled homes, in the gaily decorated shops and streets, the gift wrappings, the greeting cards, the closets with secret presents. The glint of anticipation in children's eyes, and the Santa Clauses, all bring us the same good tidings: God is with us! Christmas is coming!

Christmas is coming to put our fears and tremblings to rest under a new wave of hope in the promises of God.

Christmas is coming to banish all fear that our values are without meaning and purpose.

Christmas is coming to transform the fearsome image of self as a speck of dust or a drop in the ocean, to that of a child of God -- a uniquely beautiful child of God.

Christmas is coming to quicken our faith in the awesome reality that god became one of us to tell us that He loves us.

Christmas is coming to remind us all that to discover the meaning and purpose of our life we must love one another as Jesus has loved us.

It's time to take a fresh look at our helter-skelter way of life and ask, "Why? What for? What's it all about?" Take a good look, because Christmas is coming -- to give us the answer!

2nd sunday of adventC

The Lord Of History

We dare not give up on our God, who never gives up on us

"... and He went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance"

Luke 3:3

A farmer owned a very beautiful horse of which he was very proud. One day he drove him into town and carefully tied the animal to the hitching post in front of the general store. Two thieves, passing through the town, spied the handsome horse and decided to steal it. They also decided on a clever strategy to carry out their plan. One of them untied the horse and rode swiftly away. The other remained by the post. When the farmer emerged from the store and saw that his horse was gone, he was about to shout for help when the conspirator walked up to him. In a sad, low tone he said, "Sir, I am your horse. Years ago I sinned and for my sins I was punished. I was changed into a horse. Today my sentence is over, and I can be released if you will be so kind." The farmer was dumbfounded, yet touched by the story. So he sent the man away wishing him luck in his new life. Several weeks later the farmer went to a fair in a neighboring town. Great was his surprise to see his own horse for sale there. After gazing long at the animal to make sure that his eyes did not deceive him, he walked over and whispered in the horse's ear, "So -- you've sinned again!"

When we sin again, even though we don't turn into a horse, our humanity is diminished. And we are called to repentance, which means to restore our lost humanity, to transform ourselves into the fully human person God wants us to be.

In today's Gospel, John the Baptist heralds the coming of the Messiah, "preaching a baptism of repentance." Jesus began His public ministry with words that echoed John's. "From that time on," Matthew tells us, "Jesus began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand'" (Mt. 4:17).

Jesus' message, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," is an emphatically historical message. It says that history is moving with a purpose; history is moving toward a meeting with the coming Kingdom when the whole of creation will be renewed. The works Jesus commanded -- cure the sick, raise the dead, heal the lepers, expel demons -- were real acts, to be performed within the everyday world plagued with disease and evil. Jesus offered no alternative to history. Rather, he called men and women to confront history; to advance history to its Kingdom destiny.

Unfortunately for our world, we sometimes want to escape from history. History -- the everyday world where things happen -- is filled with uncertainty, troublesome change, shattered hopes. Sometimes we try to use religion as an escape from history -- a safe haven from the real world. Some otherwise devout Christians tend to belittle the everyday world, as though it were somehow unreal ,as though the only reality that matters lies beyond the boundaries of history, securely insulated from time and change. But this is not the message we receive from Jesus.

"Why did God choose to make such a world as this?" someone complained to a friend. "I could make a better world than this myself." "That" the friend replied, "is the very reason God put you into this world to make it a better world. Now go ahead and do your part."

An anxious mother was complaining to a friend about her children. "They don't seem to appreciate all their father and I have given them." "Maybe," said the friend, "you have tried to give them too much to live with and not enough to live for."

When John went into all the regions about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance, he was telling his followers that the Messiah they had been waiting for was near at hand and, therefore, it was time to change. John did not simply proclaim the coming of Christ, he called for a response. He called for a whole new attitude and approach to life. And when they asked him to elaborate on the kind of change that was needed, he said to them, "He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise" (Lk. 3:11).

A college football coach was faced with the possibility that his star player might be declared academically ineligible, so he pleaded with the math professor not to flunk the athlete. "Tell you what, coach," said the professor, "I'll ask him a question in your presence. If he gets it right, I'll pass him." The athlete was called in, and the prof asked, "What's two and two?" "Four," replied the player. Frantically the coach cried out, "Give him another chance! Give him another chance!"

We dare not succumb to the temptations to escape. We dare not succumb to the immediate satisfactions of a consumer-society's golden calves. We succumb only to Him who walked step-by-tedious-step to the Cross, where He offered himself totally to His Father. The faithful God who raised Him from the dead is today keeping the Covenant still. We dare not give up on our God who never gives up on us -- who always gives us another chance!