1st Sunday of Advent
Cycle B
December 3,
2017
The Preciousness of Time
From my
ministry as a priest, and from my family and personal life, I have heard some
very good wisdom.
I have
heard statements from persons who have lived with cancer or other life-threatening
diseases. And I have heard statements
from those who have survived a coronary infarction or a stroke.
Their
illnesses have taught them an invaluable lesson. They say that every second that flashes on
your watch and every hour of the day is precious.
These
persons explain how you learn to prize people.
They explain how you come to understand that others can be as fragile
and as fearful as you have been.
Every
walk in the woods becomes an encounter with the sacred. Every hour spent with your spouse and
children and friends becomes special.
Every
moment spent with another person becomes too important to waste on put-downs
and pettiness, or on judgment and rejection.
You don’t quarrel anymore; you discuss.
Joy,
peace, and reconciliation are the driving forces in your life. Paradoxically, even though you have had the
life-threatening illness and deserve compassion, you develop compassion and
empathy for others.
So, many
of those who have had these illnesses can help the rest of us to realize that
our time is finite and limited, that “later” is “now” and that “tomorrow” is
“today.” They can lead us to cherish
every moment we have.
Advent: Watch
Advent,
the season that we begin this weekend, presents the same theme.
Advent
alerts us to how finite and limited our time is. It confronts us with the reality that our
lives are precious and fragile.
I find
it interesting that in today’s brief gospel parable, Jesus uses the word “watch” or “watchful” four times. I
guess he doesn’t want us to miss the point.
Watch
I am
seeing four ways of watching or being watchful in response to Jesus using that
word four times.
First,
we are to watch out for the long term of life.
We are
not to lose ourselves in any one season, including this Christmas season, or in
any one comfort or problem. Instead, we
are to watch out for the long term of life and the kind of person we will want
to be when the last chapter of our life on this earth has arrived.
Then we
are to watch out for the big picture, the broad perspective of things.
We are
not to get boxed in by a narrow vision of life and of the world. Instead, we are to watch out for the big
picture, the broad perspective –God’s own perspective – of the well-being of my
family and my community and also of others whom I only know from the news.
We are
to watch for how God comes to us each day.
We are
not to be insensitive to the truth that God comes to us in everyday ways. Instead, we are to be watchful for how God
comes to us in an affirming comment from your employer or simply in the
starkness of winter.
And finally,
we are to watch for how I can bring God to others.
We are
not to miss opportunities to do good and then be guilty of what we call sins of
omission. Instead, we are to be watchful
for opportunities to attend Mass on an extra day or maybe to lend a helping
hand at a local soup kitchen.
Conclusion
So, this
watchfulness is our Advent calling and our way to be prepared and ready
for the second coming of Christ.
