1st Advent 2013
Where are you coming from? Literally? What direction did you come from
to get here today? North, South, East, West? Fom near or far, from
Brighton, Newton, Milton? Or from further away? Perhaps your journey to
this place began in California or Texas or even Europe?
You may have come to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends and
you’ve been travelling. You may have been on a journey. And here you are
in this place. Like the image of people of all nations streaming to God’s
holy mountain in the vision of Isaiah, you the people of God have been
journeying to come to this place from many different directions.
And how are you here in this place? Did you come rejoicing to St Ignatius,
echoing the words of the psalm? “I rejoiced when I heard them say, let us
go to the house of the lord…” And now your feet are standing within our
doors, St Ignatius?
When someone in the family said, “It’s time to get ready for Mass at St
Ignatius”, did your heart leap with joy? Were you as excited about beginning
this Advent season here in St Ignatius as you may have been about Black
Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Sunday/Monday… sales?
Advent is a time of joyful expectation. What a beautiful image to begin not
only this Advent but the first of the three year cycle of our lectionary. We
begin cycle A today and the very first image we have in our lectionary is of
people streaming to the place of encounter with God, with joyful and
hopeful hearts.
This past week Pope Francis issued an Exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel”.
It really is a remarkably encouraging letter from the Pope, who asks us to let
ourselves “Believe the Good News that is so filled with Joy that we help to
transform our world.” Francis is concerned that so many have lost the sense
of Joy that is at the heart of the Gospel.
What is this joy that Francis is speaking about? First of all, it’s not a passing
feeling. You may or may not “feel” joy today. You may be too stuffed to
feel anything. You may not feel joy because you are grieving the loss of a
loved one. You may not be joyful because of personal problems that are
weighing you down. It’s almost impossible to feel joy when life is crushing
you with its burdens.
The Joy that Francis speaks of at the heart of the Gospel is not a passing,
ephemeral joy that comes and goes, but a joy that is meant to permeate our
very being. It’s the joy that comes from being deeply in love and beloved.
This is a joy that comes from being in Christ, and with Christ:
I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed
personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him
encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one
should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is
excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.1 The Lord does not disappoint
those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to
realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms.
This encounter with the Risen Lord who loves us and embraces us as we are
is the source of our joy. To be in relationship with Jesus Christ is what our
faith is primarily about. And from this relationship with the Lord everything
else flows. Our desire to love and serve others as he did comes from this
“heart-felt knowledge”. That’s what this joy is… not just a feeling but a
heart felt knowledge.
I have a friend who is thinking of being baptized. This person does not think
he has this “heart-felt knowledge” of Jesus. He is waiting for Jesus to call
him and ask him to be with him. I pray that he will hear that call.
Advent Joy. Let us go rejoicing! There is a difference I believe between
Advent Joy and Christmas Joy. Along with Advent Joy comes Advent
anxiety. You hear it over and over in the scriptures. Salvation in Christ is
already here but not yet complete. It’s the anxiety we have when we worry
about how things will turn out when deep within we know “all shall be well”.
God is with us through thick and thin, in ups and downs, highs and lows, in
time and out of time.
OK. I’m out of time.
Where did you come from? Where are we going?
Transformed by grace, each of you becomes an us. We are sent to bring the
joy of the Gospel to all we meet.
Reflection for the week: What will I do each day to come closer to Christ
who loves me as I am? How will I let the joy of being loved as I am be my
“heart-felt” knowledge?