Advent is Starting

 

Bishop Barron’s sermon today, the first Sunday of Advent, was on waiting.  It’s been almost 20 years since I retired and began this blog, and the world has changed.  Worldwide, poverty has dramatically dropped (especially in India and China), and government control in our country has increased.  Many things now seemed better, because “we got what we wanted,” and with the internet and government focus on giving us what we wanted, the powers in control grew more rich and more powerful --- which is what they wanted.  But Advent reminds us to trust, a radical change is coming, which is what our heart really wants.

Today’s chapter in a book I am reading was titled “Anxiety and Distress are Useless.”  The short chapter has many Scripture references, but I especially liked the closing quote: “But above all, preserve peace of heart.”  (Sr. Margaret Mary Alacoque)

Many in our culture today do not have peace of heart, despite having more of “what they want.”  As Bishop Barron noted, being in control and getting what you want only makes you ask for more.  There are many causes of our present situations and usually no simple solutions.  We can’t change the world, but we can change ourselves.  Living out the faith, hope, and charity of Jesus will impact those around us, and achieve Sr. Margaret’s words.  Her words and the blog’s title summarize how we can minimize the impact the culture has on us.  If you become, or hear others become anxious, about ANYTHNG, STOP!  Do not argue, do not worry, do not be anxious.  Trust in Jesus and in His words, and do as He commanded: “love as I have loved,” This is Advent, a time of waiting.  Things will get better.  Have patience; wait.  God is in control, not us.

In many ways, Jesus lived at a time much worse than ours, and as God He could have changed everything.  Instead, He said do not be anxious.  God is in control, then and now.      

The Lord Hears the Cries of the Poor

 

Certainly, Jesus urged a focus on the poor, but although in the Gospels many people cried out to Him, the Gospels never mention anyone crying out for money.  It’s been my personal experience that most poor people aren’t crying out for money, although they might benefit from things money could buy, or by my standards they might.

Once we were helping fix a poor woman’s dilapidated house, when a volunteer noted that “she has a bigger screen TV than I do.”  I asked the woman why.  She said it was due to an inheritance, “and I wanted it.”  I said: “but you have no food, and your house is falling down.”  She didn’t respond to that because I hadn’t asked a question, and she perceived “what is” as just being “what is.”  It was the way she lived.

Jesus came and changed “what is,” and by His life showed a different way of living, with a different focus.  “Love as I have loved (God and neighbor), and you will have eternal life.”  The world is focused on self and things for self, but Jesus did not teach getting things for self, but of a total giving of self.  He didn’t create rich people, or powerful people, or beautiful people --- all of which God could do.  He never forced anything on anyone, but now people could “choose” eternal happiness. He showed them how, and then demonstrated the results by rising from the dead.

Those who like their lives, of money, power or beauty, find it hard to let go of that focus on self.  And so, they rarely cry out to God, even for an eternal life which will bring them immensely more joy than these earthly things --- but just not yet.  It’s ironic that people buy options on future events for a monetary payback, but they don’t want to option for eternal payback.  Because it’s not money, it seems to be a payback they just can’t bet on, because they can’t feel it --- until He comes again.

Jesus never said to eliminate the poor to His disciples, but to tell them how to get eternal life; they are much more open minded to listen.  Perhaps that’s why surveys show the happiest people on earth are in the poorest places, which readily accept Christianity.  They have nothing earthly to give up now to gain an eternal happiness.      

Be a Shining Light

 

As is often the case, as I read tomorrow’s Gospel (Lk 11:27-36) and Fr. Bartunek’s reflections in The Better Part, my soul was touched.

 

Jesus is trying to convince us to be like the sun, instead of desiring only to receive, which makes us like a black hole.

 

What a wise reflection!  Often our “Godly” thoughts are about our need to get more of Christ, to understand the light of His teachings, and then put them deep into our hearts.  That sounds like a good thing to do.  But if that is all we do, we are just like a black hole, sucking it all in.  As Bartunek notes, Jesus, who is the Eternal Light, wants us to be like the sun.  Jesus came to show us how to be like the Eternal Light, which is (as He explained) to love God and neighbor with all our heart.  That is acting as He created us to be, in His Image.

We shouldn’t just let His teachings change our hearts, but exude that change in our lives, so others can see the light.  Whether you seriously take or “have a right to” everything you want while in this world, we were not created to just be like black holes, sucking it all in.

I so often notice the bright shining sun these days, the peek in the morning, the radiance all day, and then it seems I always notice the last peek at night.  And on many cloudy rainy days, there always seems to be one small opening in the heavens, where I saw the sun shining. The sun reminds me of God, and His love for me.  But just watching His beauty isn’t good enough. 

We were made to be a shining light.