Sunday word, 03 Dec 17

Advent Sunday1 Year B (03 Dec 2017)

Is 63. 16b-17, 19b; 64. 2-7; Ps 80; 1Co 1. 3-9; Mk 13. 33-37

Homily of Fr. Paul Panaretos, S.J.

Telling Time

We mark time in various ways. Clocks and calendars come first to mind: seconds become minutes; minutes become hours; hours become days; days become months, and so on. We mark seasons—and not only four annual divisions. We also mark seasons of our lives: infancy; childhood; youth; adult years; middle years; senior years. Turning points dot every life, too: significant events and experiences of all sorts.

Jesus and his Jewish ancestors and contemporaries marked time in an additional way: according to a previous calling and a future accounting. It began with Abram: God called him to move to a place God would disclose; God promised: I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.¹ God entered into a covenant with that future people and gave them 10 words to live by: the commandments.² 

After many turning points the people felt a need and hunger for a messiah—a prophet like Moses³ and a leader like David.⁴ Jesus satisfied their need and hunger. Jesus called people to follow in his steps and to live the pattern of his life. Filled by the Spirit Jesus was raised by God and entered God’s living presence. This is what Jesus’ followers in every age expect. The grounds of our expectation is living as disciples of Jesus: each of us is called by Jesus to live as his disciples as faithfully as we can until his glorious return.

Marking time between two advents of Jesus is a related way we tell time: between his first advent to live a human life like ours—God in our flesh and blood; and his second advent when he will sum up everything⁵ and present a new creation to God.⁶ Telling time this way may not help us keep our usual daily schedules and follow our routines. It does bring us closer to Jesus and lets us inhabit the gospels in ways our usual telling time cannot. Telling time this way follows the coordinates of God and helps us grow more firm in faith, joyful in hope and active in charity.⁷ As we tell time according to God’s coordinates we live more as Jesus and his disciples lived, as Jesus urged: What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’ By Watch! Jesus means to live the gospel way.

In your daily 15 minutes with Jesus this week

• Pause in the bright love of our triune God who faithfully creates us each moment.
• Ask the first disciples to present us to Jesus.
• Chat with him: praise Jesus for embodying God in human flesh, bone and emotion; thank Jesus for calling us to join him and his mission.
• Ask Jesus for the grace to run the Christian life in an eager, self-effacing way: that is, to live marked by the gospel way of firm faith, joyful hope and active charity.
• Close saying slowly the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus gave us his words as our guide to be alert, ready to welcome him at his glorious return.

___________

1. Genesis 12.1-2.
2. Exodus 20.1-17.
3. Deuteronomy 18.15.
4. 2Samuel 7.8-16; Psalm 89.
5. Ephesians 1.10.
6. 1Corinthians 15.28.
7. Roman Missal, “Solemn Blessing and Prayers Over the People, I.1,” Solemn Blessing for Advent.

Link to this homily’s Spiritual Exercise

___________

Wiki-image Jesus exhorts his disciples PD-US; by Dietmar Rabich Phacelia tanacetifolia in the hamlet Börnste, Kirchspiel CC BY-SA 4.0