Sacred Heart Parish

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1ST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

  1. Jesus Christ came into human history to gather us into the peace of God’s kingdom. Christ Jesus comes now in word and sacrament to strengthen us in holiness. These two events – one historical, one sacramental-historical – are foundational for our Catholic faith. In history Christ lived his mysteries of dying and rising for our salvation. In sacramental mystery Christ invites us to join him in his mysteries – now made really and truly present for us in sacramental mystery.

  2. The new church year of prayer begins today. We can call the new liturgical year – Christ and ourselves in his mysteries. In fact, a wonderful name for the Catholic Church is precisely “Christ and ourselves in sacramental mystery”. As we begin this new year of prayer, it’s realistic for each one of us to say – this may be for some of us the last one we will experience. A good question for each one of us to ask at the start of a new liturgical year is – Who is this Jesus risen in glory, our contemporary, and why should each one of us seek to follow him in the world of this time?

  3. We know of course what the Church says about the Lord Jesus – He is mighty God and Prince of Peace; He is the Son of God and Son of Mary; Word made flesh and splendor of the Father. He is the pattern of our life forever; he is the promise and image of what we shall be someday; Son of God, he came to destroy sin and death; Word of God who delivered us from the fear of death. All this, of course, is true. But the question I’m suggesting this morning is more existential – Who is Christ Jesus for me?

  4. Many decades ago, a biblical scholar wrote an interpretation of the Old Testament under the title of “The Two-Edged Sword”. He followed with a second book – an interpretation of the New Testament – under the title “The Power and the Wisdom”. This is what he wrote in the Preface to the latter book: “The place of the New Testament in the Church is not entirely like the place of the Old Testament. Most Catholics think they are somewhat familiar with the New Testament; and while they find Paul obscure at times, they do not have the same uncertainty about the New Testament which they feel about the Old Testament. “In the composition of this book, I experienced a growing conviction that the thing with which we believe we are familiar is not the New Testament; it is a conventualized, popular understanding of the New Testament. The simplicity of the New Testament can be deceptive. We have lived with it so long that its explosive power has become sweet reasonableness. More than the Old Testament it has been rationalized into harmony with a way of life which is often a compromise between the world and the Gospel.” The Danish writer, Soren Kierkegaard, chastised the Lutheran Church of Denmark: “They are changing the strong wine of the Gospel and turning it into lemonade”.

  5. One cannot follow what one does not know, and one cannot love what one does not first know. Do we know the Lord Jesus and do we will to follow him? The writer Flannery O’Connor introduces us to a character who never missed going to his fundamentalist church each Sunday, but who never accepted the preacher’s message. He would say – “We don’t want that Jesus around here; he’s always causing trouble. He’s always putting the bottom rung on top.” Just think of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel or the Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s Gospel – “To you who hear, I say, ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you; give to everyone who asks of you, do to others what you would have them do to you. Stop judging and you will not be judged; stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.’” The Lord Jesus is always putting the bottom rail on top.

  6. Who is the Lord Jesus for me? In 1970 Pope Paul VI said to the poorest of the poor in Manila Bay – “All things, all history, converge in Christ. As a man of sorrow and hope, he knows us and loves us. As our friend, he stays by us throughout out lives. At the end of time, he will come to be our judge. He will be the complete fulfillment of our lives and our great happiness for all eternity.” So once again – the Pope says – “I repeat his name to you, Christians, and I proclaim to all who hear – Jesus is the beginning and the end, the alpha and omega, the hidden key to all of human history and the part we must play within it.” How are we to answer the question – Who is the Lord Jesus for me? At the beginning of his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius of Loyola says to the reader – “Imagine Christ the Lord present before you upon the cross and begin to speak with him by asking how it is that though he is the Creator, he has become one of us and has died on the cross for us? In gratitude should we not say to ourselves – What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I to do for Christ?