1B Advent – Fr. Tony’s Homily
Fr. Tony’s homily for Sunday including illustrations, life messages, scripture commentary, and jokes.
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Fr. Tony’s homily for Sunday including illustrations, life messages, scripture commentary, and jokes.
Fr. Tony’s Homily (everything on one page)
The central theme of today’s readings is Jesus’ warning to us to be alert, watchful and prepared because Christ’s Second Coming, coinciding with the end of the world, can occur at any time. People, in general, used to have a paranoid fear about the end of the world. They expected it in A.D. 204, 999 and 2000. The title of a best-seller published in 1988 was 101 Reasons Why Christ Returns in 1988. An extremely popular film released in 1999 about Christ’s Second Coming was Omega Code, and another film released in 2005 was Left Behind. Excessive fear of the tribulations accompanying the end of the world led the followers of a religious cult led by Jim Jones (in 1978), and followers of another cult called Heaven’s Gate (in 1997), to commit mass suicide.
But Jesus, in today’s Gospel, gives us the assurance that we need not be afraid of the end of the world, Christ’s Second Coming and the Last Judgment if we remain alert and prepared. The Church invites us on this first Sunday of Advent to prepare for Christ’s Second Coming, first by properly celebrating during this Christmas season the fond memory of Christ’s first coming 2000 years ago, second, by experiencing Christ’s daily advent or coming in the Eucharistic celebrations, in the Holy Bible and in the worshipping community, and third, by preparing for Jesus’ Second Coming which, for us, will happen at the moment of our deaths or at the end of the World.
In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah prays for God’s active presence so that the Jewish community, returned from Babylonian exile, may remain faithful to their God.
In the second reading, St. Paul prays for the reconversion of Christians in Corinth who have misused their gifts and charisms and remain ill-prepared for Christ’s Second Coming.
In today’s Gospel, using the short parable of the servants and gatekeeper of an absentee master who could return at any time, Jesus instructs his followers to be alert and watchful while doing their Christian duties with sincerity. The gatekeeper and the household servants are expected to be ever vigilant because their master is sure to return. Although the time of his return is uncertain, but the reward or punishment is sure and certain.
The message of today’s Scripture is that we should live in the living presence of Jesus every day waiting for his Second Coming. We can experience Christ’s living presence in the Holy Eucharist, in the Holy Bible, in our worshiping community in our parish, in our family, in our own souls and in everyone around us. The early Christians experienced it, and that is why the mutual greeting among Christians was not “Hi!” or “Good Morning!” but the Aramaic, “Maran Atha” which means “Come, Lord Jesus.” This greeting acknowledged Jesus present in each of them and about to return. May God bless you and keep you ever prepared for Christ’s second coming.
More of Fr. Tony’s illustrations
A powerful symbol of God’s faithfulness is found in an ancient work of art in one of Rome’s most beautiful basilicas. The Basilica of St Mary Major was the very first Church in the West dedicated to the memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was constructed in the 400s, and many of its original mosaics have survived. A mosaic located on the triumphal arch high above the main altar, in the very focal point of the Basilica, depicts something very strange: a lavish, gorgeously decorated throne, which happens to be completely empty.
That empty throne is the perfect symbol for Advent. On the one hand, it reminds us of the Incarnation. Jesus, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, left his heavenly throne when, out of infinite love, he came to dwell among us here on earth and become our salvation. This powerful reference to the Incarnation is echoed by the Basilica’s most famous relic: pieces of the crib that Mary used for the baby Jesus. Every year thousands of pilgrims still visit those relics today. The location of the empty-throne mosaic – directly above the high altar – also reminds us that Christ continues his incarnation, by coming down to dwell among us at every Mass, in the Eucharist.
But the empty throne also reminds us of God’s other promise – that Jesus will come again to bring his Kingdom to fulfillment. Seeing the empty throne stirs our hearts with a desire for Jesus to return and to wipe away all our sorrows, forever. It makes our hearts ring with the same cry we heard in today’s First Reading and Psalm: “Rouse your power, and come to save us.” The empty throne is proof that God fulfilled one promise on the first Christmas Day, and will certainly fulfill another in the days to come.
There’s an amusing commercial on television in which a man is about to let go of his bowling ball as he eyes the pins at the end of the lane. Just as he is ready to release the ball, he gets lifted out of himself by two men in sparkling white suits and goes walking off across the lanes, through the walls of the building and onto a staircase surrounded by clouds. At first he doesn’t understand what in the world is going on but then it suddenly dawns on him. He has just died. He looks at the two white-suited men at his side and asks in disbelief, “Are you sure it was supposed to be me? I was working on a string of strikes!” Convinced there was no mistake, he goes off reluctantly and shrugs, “Gee, I guess I just wasn’t ready.” The point of the commercial is that one has to be ready all the time and for the sponsor that means having insurance, a “piece-of-the-rock.” That’s the way to be ready.
We’ve been hearing about the earthquakes in many parts of the world. Do you have a weather alert radio? What about health insurance/car insurance/house insurance? Do you have smoke and fire detectors…maybe also CO2 detectors in your home? Do you wear a seat belt when you are in a car? What about an alarm system for your home and business?
There are many ways that we are “watchful and ready” for things in this life – that we hope and pray will never happen. But what about our eternal life – our spiritual life with Jesus – that we KNOW WILL HAPPEN? Why is it that so many in our world do so much about this temporary physical world and so little with the spiritual, eternal world?
This weekend we begin the Church season of Advent with the three-fold reminder that Jesus came (Christmas), He comes (Word & Sacraments), and He is coming again (as Savior or Judge).
“In his book Man’s Search for Meaning, Jewish psychiatrist Viktor Frankl tells the story of how he survived the atrocities of the concentration camp at Auschwitz. Frankl says one of the worst sufferings at Auschwitz was waiting: waiting for the war to end; waiting for an uncertain date of release and waiting for death to end the agony. This waiting caused some prisoners to lose sight of future goals, to let go of their grip on present realities and give up the struggle. This same waiting made others like Frankl accept it as a challenge, as a test to their inner strength and a chance to discover deeper dimensions of freedom.”
Do you remember the movie Awakening? Robert De Niro plays the part of a patient who, for thirty years, does not move or speak. A particularly, sensitive and enterprising doctor tries out some new theories and lo and behold, the patient begins to move around, talk and feel. For a brief period he returns to this world and announces to those amazed folks around him that he is back: “I have been away for quite some time…. now I am back.” He becomes gradually aware of the love and concern that surrounds him and what is really alive inside of his heart and soul. –It is never too late to wake up. Morning is when you wake up. Advent is a nice time to wake up. Wake up to give an account of your stewardship. Wake up into a time for giving and sharing, a time that we are called to be thankful and prepare our hearts for the Christ child. Wake up and open your eyes in Faith to see God present and active in your life and in your world.
“The spiritual life is first of all a matter of being awake,” said Thomas Merton. A story comes to us from Eastern mysticism: A monk asked, “Abbot, what has God’s wisdom taught you? Did you become divine?” “Not at all!” “Did you become a saint?” “No, as you can clearly see.” “What then, O Abbot?” “I became awake!” — Advent is the time of a spiritual awakening to see and experience the presence of the Messiah in our midst. (James Philips in Pastoral Life; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
An Advent project of being alert and watchful in the spirit of today’s Gospel.  Every morning when we get up, let us pray, “Lord, show me someone today with whom I may share your love, mercy and forgiveness.”  Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, “Whatever you do in your family, for your children, for your husband, for your wife, you do for Jesus.” Every night when we go to bed, let us ask ourselves, “Where have I found Christ today?”  The answer will be God’s Advent gift to us that day. By being alert and watchful we will receive an extra gift: Christ himself. Let us remember the saying of St. Thomas Aquinas: “Without God, I can’t. Without me, He won’t.”
We are so future-oriented that we often forget the present entirely. We spend too much time trying to protect ourselves against future misfortunes. We save for a rainy day, to get married, to buy a home, to send the children to college, to retire in comfort and to protect ourselves against future misfortunes. But we need to be more spiritually wakeful and prepare for our eternal life because we can die any day, and that is the end of the world for us. Let this Advent season be the time of such a preparation for us.
“Maran atha” (Rev. 22:20) is an Aramaic (Syriac) expression that means: “Come, Lord Jesus.”  It was used as a greeting in the early Church. When believers gathered or parted, they didn’t say hello or goodbye, but “Maran atha!” If we had the same spiritual outlook today, it would revolutionize the Church and the lives of its members during this advent season.