Fr Billy Swan
Dear friends. There are two great powers at work in the world all the time - love and fear. We see it at the get go in the Garden of Eden in the first book of the Bible. Adam and Eve were created to love and trust. But they sinned. And why? Not because they were bad people but because they were afraid of losing out on greater powers than they were given.
For us today, there are people who fear for their lives in the Middle East and in Africa. There are people living in fear of eviction, homelessness and facing another Christmas alone. There are people afraid of being found out and shamed if they are leading a bad life. There is a natural fear we have of illness, mortality and of change. Many of us hate change because we fear what change brings.
In the Gospel for this First Sunday of Advent, Jesus’ words are scary. He talks about great signs in the heavens, whole nations in distress and people literally dying from fear. Thankfully, his words end with hope for he tells those who believe in him and who expect him that when these things happen, we are not to be afraid. We are to stand with confidence before him when he comes.
With these words Jesus is saying that in order for his kingdom to come and so that the world might be set right, there has to be change. What Jesus urges us is that if our hearts and lives are united to him and his kingdom, then there is no need to be afraid for we will be part of a better future. We see this in the first reading where Jeremiah tells us of a people dwelling in confidence, not in fear, in a city called ‘The Lord-our-integrity’. Here is the key to our resistance to fear – to live a life of integrity united to the God of integrity. In the Second Reading to the Thessalonians, St Paul urges Christians to live in readiness for the coming of Christ, to expect it, wait for it and long for it. Then in the Gospel, Jesus urges us to ‘stay awake’, to be focused and ready for his coming whenever that will be.
One of the greatest dangers of the Christian life is to drift, to be complacent and to remain uncommitted. This happens if we think that Jesus was just another historical figure of religious guru. Yet no other person before him or after him promised to come back again as judge at the end of time. This our faith and the faith of the Church – Christ has died, he is risen and he will come again.
Forgetting this truth pushes us into complacency. Jesus warns us about this several times in the Gospel, often with the image of sleep. To be asleep is to be complacent, to drift and to go with the flow. In today’s Gospel he says the same thing by warning our hearts away from compensations, comfort and everyday concerns as important as they are.
Advent is about a new beginning, turning a new page and consciously preparing for the coming of Christ into our world and into our lives. This Advent, we are preparing to welcome the Jubilee Year of 2025. A jubilee year is a time of God’s favour, of forgiveness, of celebration and of joy. It is also a time of hope as indicated in the theme of this jubilee year: ‘Pilgrims of Hope’.
As we begin Advent, the Gospel empowers us to overcome all our fears, to trust in the Lord-our-integrity and yet to be ready for Christ when he comes. For he is our confidence and our hope.
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