Homily for the First Sunday of Advent: November 28, 2004

Given by the Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton.

Jesus speaks about the days before the flood when the people “were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” They were living their ordinary lives when they were caught by surprise in the great flood. “So will it be,” Jesus says, “at the coming of the Son of Man.” The Son of Man will come in all his glory and as our judge when we least expect his arrival. Therefore we must be alert; we must be ready. We do not know the hour of His coming at the end of time and we do not know the hour of our death when He will come in a most personal way to us. So we must be prepared.

The Season of Advent is a time for us to “awake from sleep” and to “conduct ourselves properly as in the day.” All liturgical celebrations, if they are to be authentic, must reflect real life. If we sing every Sunday during Advent “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and do not make the necessary changes in our real, daily lives, the hymn will ring hollow.

The great problem with ordinary life is that so many people live as if God did not exist. They have little conscious awareness that God is alive and present in the world. Unfortunately such attitudes often affect Catholic people also. I knew a few years back a Catholic businessman who obtained a fraudulent loan which was invested in a less than honest venture for income that further was not reported for income tax purposes.

The prophet Isaiah spoke: “Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” This is what Advent is all about. We prepare for the liturgical and spiritual coming of Christ in Christmas, and the coming of the Son of Man in our daily lives by allowing ourselves to be instructed by God and by walking in His way. We find the teachings of God in the Scriptures and in the living Tradition of the Church.

This past week I was speaking with a senior vice president of a major bank in the world who has just finished reading Pope John Paul II’s encyclical on labor from a few years ago which speaks about the dignity of work and the even greater dignity of the working person. He is making every effort to follow the papal teaching by ensuring that the working person is not treated as a commodity but with all proper dignity and respect when decisions are made. Likewise he is very active in his parish. I raise this as an example of living in the presence of God and the reality of God.

To “conduct ourselves properly as in the day” is to live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We live in the presence of God when the Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide in daily life.

“So too,” Jesus says, “you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Last Update November 28, 2004