Advent Reflection: Finding A Light of Hope in a World of Darkness

And so it begins: our annual journey toward the Incarnation at Bethlehem, toward the Christ Child who is also the King of Glory. Each Advent is about new beginnings, yet this year, after a brutally antagonistic election and its aftermath, that seems just a little beyond reach.

Personally, I am tired and rather discouraged that the battle for decency, justice, human solidarity and peace seems so much more difficult these days. For now, at least, it looks like many of humankind's baser instincts have been unleashed upon our nation - from all sides of the political divide.

That's why I read that marvelous Collect in the Roman Missal for the First Sunday in Advent differently this year:

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming,
so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Resolve. For me, that is a strong "ask" this year. Negativity cannot be allowed to triumph. Injustice, hatred, prejudice and anger cannot be allowed to triumph. Most of all, fear cannot be allowed to triumph.

I want to run forth to meet Jesus, but my heart is too heavy for that sort of eagerness right now. Lord, grant my heart wings and give the strength to stand upright in your light.

What are the righteous deeds God asks? The core message of the Gospel certainly calls us to love our neighbor. But today, who is our neighbor? For me, my literal neighbors are the Mexican-American family across the hall, the white-like-me single mom and her teenage son next door, the Muslim family down the hall, the East Indian and Eastern European families upstairs, the maintenance guys who only speak Spanish... Yes, these are all my neighbors. Broader than that, however, my neighbors are my "friends" online - people of all races and orientations - on all sides of that very contentious political spectrum.

What righteous deeds will make me worthy to possess the Kingdom? Jesus has defined them in Matthew 25 and the Tradition of the Church has interpreted these as the Works of Corporal Mercy:

To feed the hungry.
To give drink to the thirsty.
To clothe the naked.
To welcome the stranger.
To visit the sick.
To visit the imprisoned.
To bury the dead.

This year, this list seems to present an even bigger challenge. It seems to me that if we profess to follow Christ, we should not only perform these acts on a personal level, but also stand firmly against those who, out of self-interest, desire for financial gain, and prejudice wish to abandon the very people who most need our help.  Should we not speak up when the disabled are mocked, when the elderly are threatened with loss of the "entitlements" for which they have worked their entire lives, when refugees are refused asylum, when women are insulted and assaulted because of their gender, and when all immigrants come under suspicion? Should we not speak up when the rich are rewarded for being rich and the poor are penalized for being poor? And should we not speak up against these forms of injustice just as loudly as we have spoken up.in the name of God for the rights of the unborn?  As the song says, if I don't do that, what good am I?

This is not mere politics. This is a fight for Christian principles against a climate of self-interest and self-righteousness. This is resistance against a culture in which many no longer see justice for all as necessary, because some are more valuable than others. It is a fight to preserve the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all, not just for some.

I want to be able to present Christ with righteous deeds, but today, the responsibility seems particularly heavy. Lord, lift me up and strengthen me to serve and advocate for the "other" - those who are unfortunate, different and rejected.

As I light the first candle on my home Advent wreath tonight, I will most ask for hope. Hope that I might be a light in the darkness. Hope that I will not lose heart. Hope that other people of good will will likewise work while the night is upon us so that when the dawn of the Son of Justice arrives, we will be able to say we fought the good fight in his name.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Choose Your Advent Attitude: RESOLVE to Run to Meet Christ

In the Collect for today's Mass we heard - for the 5th year in a row - words which are by now becoming familiar:

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming,
so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom."

The key to all this is that we are asking God for something called "resolve." Just what IS that?

According to the Miriam Webster Thesaurus, resolve is

firm or unwavering adherence to one's purpose
Synonyms decidedness, decision, decisiveness, determinedness, firmness, granite, purposefulness, resoluteness, resolution, resolve, stick-to-itiveness
Related Words doggedness, obduracy, obdurateness, obstinacy, obstinateness, perseverance, persistence, persistency, stubbornness, tenaciousness, tenacity; certainty, certitude, confidence, sureness; alacrity, eagerness, gameness, readiness; backbone, fortitude, grit, iron, pluck, sand
Near Antonyms doubt, incertitude, indetermination, uncertainty; aversion, disinclination, indisposition, reluctance, unwillingness
Antonyms hesitation, indecision, indecisiveness, irresoluteness, irresolution, vacillation

This is a great summary of what we are asking of God. We want to avoid all doubt and uncertainty, but instead to have the firmness of purpose to be ready to be ready for Christ, no matter what happens. In a world torn by conflict, hatred, bigotry and war, this is a pretty tall order. We are really asking for the same kind of certainty that recent Christian martyrs slain by ISIS have had. They died rather than deny Christ. Could we?

Not without the grace of faith. In the end, it is this for which we ask. Faith is not something we decide we will have. So, we ask God to send us the sort of confidence, that dispels the darkness of a world in a nighttime of fear and uncertainty, We ask this at Mass, because it is through the Eucharist that we can be transformed from people of fear to people of faith, from people of hesitation to people of eagerness.

We need Advent light now more than ever: to stand on tiptoe in anticipation of the dawn of what Jesus and the Prophets called "The Day of the Lord." This Advent, don't slump with fear and uncertainty. Instead, as we heard in today's Gospel reading, "stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand." (Luke 21:28) This should be your Advent attitude.  Raise your heads and look for the dawn.

Hashtag Advent Calendar - Spiritual Discipline or One of Life's Little Indulgences?

This morning, I noticed that #adventcalendar is trending on Google+.

Since it takes thousands of posts from all over the world using a hashtag to cause something to "trend," I was curious, so I checked out the posts. As I scrolled through the first 50 or so entries, I saw not one mention of Jesus. Not one. What I saw were references to "countdown to Christmas." The advent calendars depicted, whether homemade or commercially produced, were almost all of the sort where one gets a small reward - a little toy or a piece of chocolate - every day.  Not one with a Bible verse, story or biblical figure.  In short, advent without Jesus.

Some of these "advent calendars" were from companies with daily prize giveaways - one even advertised their giveaway app to spread Christmas joy with prizes ranging from gift cards to a Kindle or a TV. Commercialization pure and simple...

There is even one from a real estate agency, showing a ready-to-move-in house for each day! Or, you could win a cruise from a cruise company. It makes sense that the hashtag is #adventcalendar with a small "a."  This is a totally self-indulgent and consumer-oriented secular activity related to waiting for the big gifting day. It's about getting stuff as you wait to get stuff - or it's another advertising ploy. (Oh, and over on Twitter, a hashtag #adventcalendarproblems has emerged for those disappointed with their daily result!)

On the bright side, briefly, earlier today, #Advent (with a capital "A") was trending as well, but has since dropped off the list. Entries under that have some of the secularized calendars, but many more references to Jesus and spirituality, so there is some hope that shreds of the original Advent traditions remain in some quarters. And, as Martha Stewart always says, that's a GOOD thing!

Preparing Catechists and Families to Form Catholic Kids for Advent

Yesterday I had the privilege of giving a workshop on Advent for catechists at one of our regional catechist in-services.  Almost 50 people attended my session, where I provided them with an overview of the meaning and symbols of Advent and ideas to teach them and share them with families of their students.

One of the truths I tried to communicate is that nothing we teach kids about Advent will make much difference unless their families are keeping Advent... so parent connection is key. Otherwise kids will see the season as only something we do in church - while the rest of the world celebrates a premature Christmas.

Here are the slides for my presentation - and below find links to the Pinterest board with classroom and home activities and the master for a parent take-home letter with tips for family Advent practices.

Advent Adventures: Bringing the Season to Life for Children and Youth from Joyce Donahue

Pinterest: Advent Ideas & Crafts for Classrooms and Families

Parent Letter

Other Advent Resources - Videos and More on The Liturgical Catechist

A New Liturgical Year: Another Chance to Get it Right

We are now in the Year of Grace 2014. Another Advent - another new liturgical year.

2014 Liturgical Year Calendar
from Liturgy Training Publications

Last night at Mass, my pastor, Herb Jones, OFM, preached about second chances - the new liturgical year as another chance to get ready to meet Jesus - at Christmas, and, by inference, when he comes again. Interesting... I had never looked at it quite that way.

As I get older, I admit I have been more likely to make resolutions each Advent than for the secular New Year on January 1st. Usually this takes the form of and intention to be more regular about prayer or something spiritual. And usually, by the end of the first month or so, those good intentions have gradually slid back to the status quo.

This year, I think I need to step back and explore being more intentional about my use of time in general. Chronically over-committed and over-scheduled, whenever I have open time my reaction is often to waste it - hanging out on social networks or watching TV shows I don't really even like. Whenever I escape the tyranny of doing things for other people and organizations, I think I over-react by doing the most irresponsible things with the open time, which leads to more stress and guilt because necessary personal tasks often go unfinished - books I really want to read are unread, there is a general untidiness about my living space, and I am often nearly or just a little late for work and events... Since I most value completion over process, the presence of such chaos is unnerving.  Changing this will not be easy, but all change begins with awareness of the problem.

What most needs to be changed about your life? What keeps you from being ready for Jesus? What do you need to become aware of ?

Are You Running Toward Christ Yet?

For the past two Sundays, in the Collect prayers of the new Roman Missal, we have heard that we are to be  in a great hurry to meet Christ at his coming. There is no mistaking the message when it appears two weeks in a row:

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming, so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to possess the heavenly kingdom.  (First Sunday of Advent)

Almighty and merciful God,
may no earthly undertaking hinder those
who set out in haste to meet your Son,
but may our learning of heavenly wisdom
gain us admittance to his company.  (Second Sunday of Advent)

So, the obvious question this Advent how eager are you?  Are you running forth to meet Jesus?  Are you setting out in haste to meet him?  If not, what is holding you back?

Advent is a call to re-prioritize our lives - to allow ourselves to be transformed by the Eucharist to become people worthy to meet Christ.  The Prayer After Communion for both weeks has suggested what that means:

...for even now as we walk amid passing things,

you teach us by them to love the things of heaven 

and to hold fast to what endures. (First Sunday of Advent)

...that through our partaking in this mystery

you may teach us to judge wisely the things of earth

and hold firm to the things of heaven. (Second Sunday of Advent)

In this invitation to God to transform us, we ask to learn how to let go of earthly things and give greater value to eternal things. Interestingly, we are taught in two ways to appreciate the things of heaven - by the earthly, passing things themselves, and through the Eucharist.  We learn what is most valuable by realizing what is not - and the Eucharist helps us do that.

Next Sunday, (often called Gaudete because of the emphasis on joy) we celebrate "with solemn worship and glad rejoicing" "the joys of so great a salvation" that Christ brought us through his Incarnation. It will be easier to do that if we allow ourselves to value the things of heaven more than the "priorities" of the busy December that the world looks at as the "Holiday Season."  

We know what they world expects of us this time of year - to spend money and time to buy the "perfect" gifts, prepare the "perfect" holiday party or dinner... What does Jesus expect? That we prepare ourselves to celebrate his Incarnation and make ourselves more "perfect" to meet him at his coming - as a baby in Bethlehem, as a King at the end of time. We do this best by preparing room for him in our hearts today. For most of us, that means something else has to move over. Teach us, Lord, to prioritize our lives to do just that.

Rejoicing in a World That Has Forgotten Joy

Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.
In all circumstances give thanks,
for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.  (1 Thes: 16-17)

 On this, the Third Sunday of Advent, the apostle Paul issues us a challenge to be joyful and prayerful - in all circumstances. That, frankly, can be difficult as the holidays approach - especially for those who grieve.

Many of you know that two and a half years ago, I lost the most significant person in my life. I am, however, not the only one. Many people have experienced deep and painful loss and face the coming of Christmas with some degree of depression.  A time of year that is traditionally focused on family, love, and being with people we care about, can only tap into memories and regrets about the person or persons who are no longer with us. For people of faith who grieve, this time of year can be particularly painful, because the relationship with God may be somewhat conflicted.  In the larger context, I believe we live in a world where many people are not only unhappy, they have forgotten, or perhaps seldom, if ever, experienced true joy.

There is a real difference between happiness and joy. One is temporal and temporary, the other runs deeper. A person can, I have found, be unhappy about the circumstances of life, but still have an underlying sense of joy that stems from something deeper.  For me, that is from knowing that even if I find it hard to trust God after my experience of great loss, I know instinctively that God has never truly abandoned me and is simply waiting for me to sort it all out.

For people of a secular bent who have little or no sense of the presence of God, superficial, temporary happiness based in possessions (which can be lost) and people (who may either fail us or die)  may be all there is. Those who do not have an experience of the love of God, if they lose someone or something significant, have only themselves and their relationships with others to rely on.  All of those things are fallible. As Teresa of Avila said: "God alone is enough."

The readings today call us to pray anyway - to pull ourselves out of ourselves and look ahead to the coming of one who is greater than we are and to have faith that in the end, everything will indeed be alright. Only that kind of faith can bring true joy. In the meantime, we are called to hope. Here are two songs, appropriate for this Sunday that for me express this  perfectly:

New Missal: Advent - Time to Put on Your Running Shoes!

This weekend, as parishes around the U.S. begin to use the new Roman Missal, we will discover very early that there are differences - beyond the people's responses.  The Collect for the First Sunday in Advent is a real eye-opener:

Grant your faithful, we pray, Almighty God,
The resolve to run forth to meet your Christ\
with righteous deeds at his coming, so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom
Through our Lord....

Hmm - running forth with righteous deeds... this is a far cry from the previous translation's admonition to prepare our hearts "so that Christ may find an eager welcome at his coming."  Gone is the passive sense that we, like the wise and foolish virgins of the parable, are simply waiting for the Bridegroom to show up to start the celebration.  Missing is that whole "preparing the way" thing. Instead, we have a visual image - we are gearing up to run toward Christ as if we are long-lost lovers. Kind of like this:

This is a big change. One that will have me, at least, re-evaluating my image of Advent as a quiet time of preparation. Time to get those righteous deeds ready and put on my running shoes!

Prepare! Prepare!

Advent will once again be upon us tomorrow night. Another church year draws to a full close - and with it the admonition to ready ourselves for the coming of the Lord.  Our God, who once came among us clothed in human flesh, calls us to remember, to embrace Him fully in the here and now, and to ready ourselves for the End Times, as if they would come today (which they could, if it were God's will).

This song, for me, captures perfectly what Advent is all about.

 May your time of preparation for His coming be truly fruitful and blessed.

Diving into Advent - How Deep Can You Go?

I have known for a long time that Advent should not be something to dip one's toe into with the proverbial "cautious optimism." Instead, it invites us to take a leap of faith and dive in head-first. On the feast of Christ the King last weekend, we took a long look into the future, and today on the First Sunday of Advent, we simultaneously look back 2,000 years toward that first Christmas, and ahead to the End-Times -- while actually living in our own physical present.

The three comings of Christ in Advent (St. Bernard of Clairvaux) - in the manger as a baby, at the end of time as the King/Judge, and in our hearts here in our lifetime make it necessary for us to immerse ourselves in "God's time" - kairos - that three-fold reality that bends our human perception of time. It's fitting, really, because as we begin yet one more round of the Church Year, we need to be reminded that the Liturgical Year is the human equivalent of  "God's Time" - or as close as we can experience it in our human lifetime.

The celebrant at  Mass at my parish this weekend put it simply - Advent is an opportunity to "start again" - to try one more time to do everything in our life "better."  More than that, I see it as an opportunity to become "better" - to enter more deeply into conversion - to walk with Christ through His year... and become more like him - in HIS time, not ours.  It is an acknowledgment that our time is really His. As such, it represents an opportunity to reconnect with Jesus' teachings - what it means to be "of" the Reign of God ("Kingdom") and not of the world - what it means to treat others in such a way as to be counted among the sheep and not the goats at the Last Judgment (Matthew 25).  It is a time to prepare the way of the Lord by doing our level best to live worthily of what he asked.

The conventional method to is to live a moral life, to treat others well as we encounter them, and to live in piety and charity. The fully-immersed Christian who dives into Advent, head-first, heedless of self and caution, goes even deeper. When Jesus says "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" he does not merely imply these basics.  The "rich young man" of Luke 18 was told - yes - live the Commandments, by all means -- but then do more. Give up everything for the poor and follow Jesus. Over and over, Jesus invites us to put our hand to the plow and not look back (Luke 9:62)- to do the work of justice, to deny ourselves, and to serve without counting the cost. That is the Way of Jesus - risking everything for the Gospel message. It is the "hidden" coming of Christ that St. Bernard describes that comes from doing God's Word. It is only when we do that fully that we will receive consolation, he says.

So, bottom line - Advent and the new Liturgical Year represent another chance to enter fully the scary challenge to trust God enough to drop our needs for security, control and predictability in life in favor of challenge, uncertainty and the possibility of losing our lives in order to gain them.To be ready for the Lord's return is to choose to do all we can possibly do at any given moment, taking into consideration who we are, where we are on our spiritual journey, what our gifts and talents are, and what life-situation we find ourselves in.

How deep will YOU go this year? Toe-dip again? Will you, like many of us, start out with good intentions, but slow down and return to "normal" eventually?  Admittedly, this is not an easy challenge - but it is one we have to face every year at this time of new beginning.

Looking Behind, Within and Ahead With Joyful Hope

Busy time of year, as the Church Year winds down. Tonight, after serving as song-leader for one of our parish religious education Masses, I was part of our parish liturgy planning committee's final preparations for Advent and Christmas.  A discussion we had about our seasonal focus led me to some more profound thoughts about liturgical time.

The conundrum of Advent is that we wait, all the while knowing full well the promise has already been fulfilled -that we have already been set free from sin and death.  Our hope is celebrated in the memory of what was, but also in what is and will be (the three comings of Christ in Advent - in the manger, in our hearts, and at the end of time.)  Certainly this is complex. As Christians, we know "the rest of the story" and that should color Advent as a period of reflection on the meaning of "being ready" for Jesus then, now and in the future.

When we get to the Christmas season, the dynamic takes on a particular urgency: Incarnation means we, as the spiritual descendents of those who encountered the Living God in the flesh are called to be human according the example of Jesus. The celebration is not so much for the coming of the Baby Jesus, but for the descent of God, who has come to walk on earth with us, taking on flesh to experience human life, frailty and ultimately, Paschal Mystery. We celebrate, in Incarnation, the seeds of  Cross and Resurrection. In the already-not-yet of liturgical time, we encounter the Christ who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow - whom we cannot understand in human terms... and we are asked to emulate him - to be disciples willing to do what Jesus did - to die to self in order to conform to God's will - and to live the call to help build the Reign of God by compassionately caring for our less-fortunate brothers and sisters.

Now, the largest conundrum of them all: how to help people understand this in a culture drenched in secularism and consumerism, where the primary narrative of Advent/Christmas has been effectively erased from the public forum. Nativity scenes and Christmas carols have been replaced with Santa, elves, reindeer and shopping. Our traditional sacred celebration of these seasons can seem arcane to children and youth attending public schools where holiday songs have replaced sacred carols and whose wish lists consist of gifts costing hundreds of dollars. In my experience, many young people actually have not heard the full story of the birth of Jesus - or at least they have not put the pieces they have heard together.

Many adults, in their insatiable search for "the perfect" Christmas and just the right gifts, meals and other Christmas trappings, may be so focused on those details there is little room to consider any higher spiritual meaning to the season. If their family has a tradition of going to church, they do so, but often as a habit. That's why we have the "Chr-Easters"- those who only attend on Christmas and Easter - as part of their family ritual for celebrating the "holidays."

Our challenge as catechists is to keep the story of Incarnation and its meaning alive in a culture trying its level best to deny it. Certainly when those pews are more full at Christmas-time, parish leaders and clergy have an opportunity to extend hospitality and evangelize. However, I believe the greatest way we evangelize is through our own personal witness.  We need to embody the Christ we celebrate at Christmas - to become living disciples actively engaged in fulfilling the promise of the Incarnation to change the world for the better by infusing it with what God desires for us - a world of peace, justice and plenty for all people.