Let's Go, What Are We Waiting For

Kevin Gingras

December 20, 2020 - 4th Sunday of Advent

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122020.cfm

The other day, I was at a red light, trying to cross Route 44 to get to Church.  There were two cars in front of me and the light turned green - and nobody moved.  Now, I’m not known for the virtue of patience.  My first mildly aggravated thought was “LET’S GO - WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR!?”  Then, when my agitation subsided, I thought, “that’s a good question to ponder during Advent”, especially for today, the last Sunday of Advent.  

What are we waiting for?  Are we waiting for that perfect gift to arrive from Amazon that we got for Aunt Bethany and Uncle Lewis?  Are we waiting for time to finish decorating?  Are we waiting to be finished wrapping presents? Are we waiting to go get your ingredients for that perfect Christmas dinner? [Not that I’ve ever experienced one of those at home!]  I know that most kids, and some adults too are waiting for PRESENTS!

Christmas is just five days away!  Are we ready for Christmas?  If not - LET’S GO - WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR!?

Was Mary was ready when the angel appeared to her and proclaimed:

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Highest.

Mary didn’t need to be told LET’S GO - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR.  Mary simply replied:

Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word

Mary was ready for that first Christmas, even when things didn’t work out exactly as she had planned.  All her preparations revolved around her son and God’s son Jesus.  There is no better way to prepare than to make Jesus our primary focus right now.  

Over 2,022 years ago, this is what a lot of people were waiting for, a savior, Jesus, the Christ.  We hear a preview of what they were waiting for in today’s first reading from Samuel:

And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.'

Paul is trying to explain this to the Romans as he writes to them:

...according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages but now manifested through the prophetic writings and, according to the command of the eternal God, made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith, to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ.

There’s the key for us - all of this was “through Jesus Christ”.  Some of the Jews missed this even though it was right under their noses.  

With all of our hectic preparations are we missing it too? If that is true for us then, LET’S GO, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? We shouldn’t miss who Jesus is and even though this Advent season is almost over it isn’t too late to take some quiet time with Jesus. We are given extra Advent time this year my friends, use it wisely. Spend it in Adoration if you can.  If not, spend some quiet time at home, tell Alexa to stop playing Bing Crosby Christmas playlist, turn off the Hallmark channel, turn down the lights, silence your phones, turn on the Christmas tree and spend some time in prayer pondering Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the Holy Family, after whom are Church is so aptly named.  

If it helps read the Gospel of Luke, Chapters 1 through 3 or Matthew, Chapters 1 and 2.  Pay close attention to the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew.  Remember, Matthew was writing in Hebrew for a Jewish-Christian audience and Luke was writing for a Greek-speaking audience of Gentiles and Jews.  This is why the genealogies are different, they were for different audiences but either way, they are there to illustrate that Jesus was the savior promised in the Old Testament from the very beginning.  He’s our savior today as well.

Sure, this Christmas probably won’t be like any other we have experienced in our lifetime but try and count that as a blessing and not a curse.  Try to find that silver lining. Remember what Paul told the Romans:

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose

Usually, I end with a quote from a Saint but this time I will leave you with this quote from our very own Bishop of Fall River - Bishop da Cunha, who recently said:

But maybe because there will be less [family holiday gatherings] there will be more celebrating what Christmas is about. “That could be a source of joy and hope and peace for all of us.

Fear not!

December 15, 2019

Third Sunday of Advent
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121519.cfm


I’m going to start today by reflecting on the Theology of A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Seriously, bear with me as I explain.  I was reading a blog about this and it touched upon something I bet not many of us noticed.  I certainly never noticed it after watching it yearly for over 50 years.  When Linus is on stage, explaining what Christmas is all about to Charlie Brown and the others, there is a moment that is very subtle but says a lot.  As Linus says the words: 

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy…

The moment Linus says “fear not” he drops his blanket.  Linus never drops his blanket, remember the exchange when his sister Lucy tells him:

And get rid of that stupid blanket! What's a Christmas shepherd gonna look like holding a stupid blanket like that?

And to that Linus replies:

Well, this is one Christmas shepherd who's going to keep his trusty blanket with him.

The thing that gets Linus to let go of his trusty blanket is when he states that line from Luke talking about the good tidings of old where the savior that they had long awaited had finally come!

In the first reading the prophet Isaiah tells us:

Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense, he comes to save you.

He comes to save you.  Yes, you, not just me, not just that person sitting beside you, not just those of us serving here on the altar.  He comes, also to save that person in your family who is not here with you today.   This salvation is for all!  This Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday.  Gaudete means rejoice.  Yet we seem to live in a world filled with anxiety, darkness, and fear.  Why?  

One of the reasons is we seem to focus more on our earthly security blankets.  These cannot be trusted.  My major security blanket is stability.  I do not like change at all, I am “one Christmas shepherd who's going to keep his trusty stability with him” you could say.

I’ve been at my “starter” job for 30 years.  I’ve been in my first starter home for about 25 years now.  I've had my starter wife for 30 years!  Seriously though, I really probably shouldn't kid about the sanctity of marriage and I have indeed been happily married for all those years.  But anyway, I need that stability, that lack of change.   This fear of change almost kept me from the diaconate.  I knew my life would change, I’d have to take four more years of classes, I’d have to do well in those classes and then, who knows?  This fear brought darkness and anxiety.  I turned to the light of Christ to dispel that darkness!  I turned to prayer.  I turned to more time in adoration.  I turned to scripture.  These things became, for me,  the light that got me through that darkness to illuminate the truth of what God really wants me to do.

I remember when I was younger (but still probably older than I like to admit) I had a terrible fear of darkness.  My mind would conjure up all sorts of terrible nasty things that lived in that darkness.  Back then all it took was a light, any light, to dispel those unseen boogymen back to a place they couldn’t bother me and my fear would disappear.  You see, darkness has one weakness.  Light.  When in a dark room all you need to do is light a candle and the darkness is gone.  The darkness has no power over that candle, the candle, once lit cannot be beaten by darkness for that darkness ceases to exist.  We need to let Christ be that light that dispels darkness for us.  What dark areas of our life do we need to shed light on this final week of Advent?  

We must always remember that we are preparing to once again celebrate the coming of Christ, of God, of the word becoming Jesus the flesh.  It is kind of a big deal and is the best news to come to us while here on earth.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 522 states:

The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant". He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.

Prepare ye the way indeed!  Confession is a great way to allow us to prepare for this awakening.  Maybe spend an hour or more in adoration over the next couple of weeks meditating on scripture such as Luke chapter 2.  Put aside the shopping, the last minute hurried preparations and really discover the true meaning of Christmas so we aren’t asking what Charlie Brown had to shout out on that stage:

Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?

It’s about the humble beginnings of the birth of the man that came to earth to reverse the fall of Adam and grant us all salvation.  All we need to do is accept that gift and cherish it.  The birth of Christ is indeed the greatest gift we will ever receive at Christmas.

It’s what St. Athanasius meant when he said:

“He became what we are so that He might make us what He is.”

Santa Clause and Jesus

I've always been afraid to really try to enforce the belief in Santa Claus with my children.  My concern was that if they grew to the age of reason it wouldn't be difficult to figure out I had been lying to them for so long about Mr. C.  I didn't want them to question my trust.

As kids, we can easily believe all the magic and mystical things that our society has heaped upon this big fella named Santa Clause.  The huge sleigh filled with presents, the list that he checks twice, the fact that the big man sees us at all times, flying reindeer, presents around the world in one night.  We buy it all - hook line and sinker.

Then we come to an age where it stops making sense.  We realize that most of this doesn't seem real and we stop believing.  We forget Santa exists.  Sometimes as adults we refuse to dig deeper but when and if we do, we realize that "Santa" does really exist.  He was a man named Nicholas born during the third century in a village called Patara on the southern coast of Turkey.  He had wealthy parents who raised him a Christian and died while Nicholas was young.  Nicholas used his inheritance to help the poor and sick and suffering.  He served God well and was made the Bishop of Myra while still a young man.  Nicholas died December 6, AD 343 in Myra.

Now the same can apply to Jesus.  As kids it's easy for us to believe all the magic and mystical things that Jesus is all about.  The miracles, the Eucharist, the fact that he died to release us from OUR sins.  As adults sometimes this stops making sense and we are too busy with other things like parenting, work, social lives and everything else that takes our attention.   Sometimes as adults we refuse to dig deeper so we stop believing.  But there is a huge danger to that.  We must dig deeper and when we do we realize that Jesus did exist and he was indeed the son of God.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him, for anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Isaiah was predicting the birth of Christ long before he came to Earth!  Do we believe it?  Do we really think that this is just some crazy writings about a man who did exist but was perhaps delusional?  Maybe it is time to do some digging as adults to find out who this man Jesus Christ really was so that Christmas can take on it's original meaning to us and not become what society has heaped on it.

Isaiah 9:5-6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, Upon David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains By judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!

Luke 2:6-14 While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.

Take some time to slow down and ponder Jesus in this crazy busy time that is the weeks leading up to Christmas.  Focus on what is happening at Mass at Christmas and not those around you. Remember, the Christmas season BEGINS December 25th, it doesn't end.