First Sunday of Advent 2024
One of the most obvious signs that our Western culture was at a crisis point, and sliding or crashing in the wrong direction happened about forty years ago when the Advent season, which begins this Sunday, was turned into a pre-Christmas season. As time passed, it became even more clear (as we learned that the day after Thanksgiving was called “Black Friday” by retailers) that as far as the “world” knew, the only real meaning of the next twenty-four days is “get in on these great Holiday deals.” Then, of course, the Holy Day became just another profit-making holiday, and the word “Christmas” (Christ’s Mass) started to seem illegal, or at least rude when used in polite company.
But the Church refused to buy into that “progress.” In fact, way back in the 1970s, Catholics and other Christians started using a new Lectionary on Sundays that, as decreed by Vatican Council II, “a more representative portion of the holy scriptures will be read to the people in the course of a prescribed number of years.” So now we go through all three of the Synoptic Gospels in a three-year cycle and hear the Gospel of John on critical Sundays. This year, we will hear St. Luke’s Gospel, the last of the Synoptics. For many of us, Luke is our favorite.
Like last Sunday, today’s pericope looks at statements made by Jesus not long before His arrest and passion, as Christ focuses our attention on the “last days.” Horrible signs will be seen in heaven and earth, and unbelievers will be overwhelmed so much that they will “faint dead away.” But for those who have lived in Christ, with faith and love, those signs will be like the budding forth of spring. St. Paul advises us to prepare for that day (or any day we may die) by increasing and abounding today “in love to one another and to all men” as Paul did. So the “end of the world” seen by Jeremiah the prophet will be not the collapse of physical systems and death, but the attainment in creation of its “final end,” its goal in Christ Jesus. We know the victory is His, and our victory is in Him, so we need not fear anything. Nothing should frighten us. Maybe things will surprise or even shock us, but nothing should provoke true fear.
December should also be a time of planning for next year. We should be able to plan for many family activities and commitments. One of those commitments is our giving of time, talent and treasure to Church and charity. We in the West are coming out of profound financial strain. Prices have gone up for many items by 20-25% in the past four years. Some of us, like those on Social Security, have gotten a boost in our fixed incomes for next year. And better, if your retirement savings are in equities, you have seen some nice improvements in their average value. So let’s all look at our tithing and see if we can help our church and other charities cope and fulfill their missions, maybe with a 5% increase in our monthly donations.
Remember, through our lives God has never been outdone in His generosity to us, so how should we respond to His daily largesse? Certainly not by playing a modern-day Scrooge.
