1st Sunday of Advent 2018 - Recognizing Jesus' Advent

There was an old Benedictine Monk, who, through a life of prayer and penance had searched for Christ for 50 years. One night, before the monk went to bed, he said to the Lord in prayer, “Lord, I have been waiting.  I have been waiting my whole life to hear you and see you and meet you.  I have been longing to sense your presence all my life, but I never have, and I’ve become discouraged” Some of us might be able to relate to that. 

The monk then heard the voice of Jesus say, “I will come to you tomorrow.”

The old monk could hardly sleep he was so excited.  And when the sun rose that morning he waited in his room for Jesus who had promised to come to him.  The chapel bells began to ring for morning Mass, and he thought to himself, well, I can’t leave my room because Jesus is coming and I might miss him.  There was then a knock on his door, and the old monk sprung up to open it. But it was one of his brother monks, who asked, “are you alright?  Mass is starting!”  The old monk said “You go ahead and start without me.  I have something of great importance to do.”

A couple of hours later, another monk knocked on the door, and said, “Come on, it is your day to bathe the sick monks and change their sheets and to feed them their soup and bread.”  Again, not wanting to leave his room because he might miss the coming of Jesus, he said, “I can’t come, you’ll have to cover for me.”

It was getting late, and the old monk began to get worried when there was a knock on his door. Thinking Christ had finally come, he opened the door and a man stood there with his wife and three children.  The man said, “excuse me brother, but there is a snow storm and we are seeking refuge, could you find us a room?”  And the monk said, “I’m sorry, I wish I could, I’m just too busy, and I can’t be distracted.” And he closed the door.

Midnight came, and the old monk was distraught and frustrated and upset because he felt that the Lord had not kept his promise.  So in prayer he said, “Lord, you told me you would come to visit me today and I’ve been waiting all day and it didn’t happen.” 

The same voice he heard the night before said, “What do you mean? I came to you three times today, I came in the Eucharist, I came in the form of your sick brothers, and I came as a family needing your help, but you did not recognize me.”

Just like that monk who didn’t want to leave his cell, we often fail to recognize the many ways Jesus wants to enter our life.  We can miss him when he comes at Mass because we’ve failed to leave our worldly distractions at the door and prepare well for this sacred time.  We can miss Him in those we are called to serve if we do not look to our neighbor’s needs outside of ourselves. Sometimes, we say, “Lord I want to meet you, but only on my terms”

In the Gospel, Jesus was teaching his disciples to remain vigilant for his coming at the end of time.  “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life.” Carousing, drunkenness, and anxiety.  These things can cause us to miss the Lord’s coming, not only at the end of time, but also in the course of our everyday Christian living.

Carousing and drunkenness can lead to our missing the Lord’s coming.  Overindulging the appetites of the body can make the mind heavy and dull and unfit for the spiritual and religious life. When we overindulge the flesh, the needs of the spirit seem secondary. But the opposite is true. We must cultivate the spirit daily through spiritual reading, meditation, prayer, and service.

Of course, we know too well how anxieties about worldly matters can lead us to miss the Lord. Being overly concerned with worldly things, even good things like family and professional responsibilities, can lead us to skip our spiritual duties entirely or neglect the quality of prayer and meditation that we should be cultivating.  How often have we made that excuse: I’m too busy to pray. I’m too busy to go to Mass, we have company coming over, the kids to get to sports practice. All the while, it is precisely when we feel we don’t have time to pray, that we need prayer all the more. The devil uses the temptation of worldly matters to keep us from spiritual goods.

The month of December is filled with many temptations isn’t it? Temptations to eat and drink too much, shop too much, worry too much, pray too little, study God’s word too little. All these temptations arise, just as Jesus is desiring to enter into our lives more deeply.  The devil cannot stand Advent.  Because Advent can be a powerful life-changing season, where we grow in peace, hope, love, and joy.  So the devil bombards us with temptations, to obscure the work of God, to lead us away from the sort of life-changing prayer and service Jesus wants for us.

The busyness of December can distract us from the true meaning of Christmas so, “take heed” as Jesus says today. This Advent, we need more time in prayer, not less.  More time in quiet reflection on the promises of Scripture, not less.  Take heed, not to let the busyness of December, keep you from recognizing the ways Jesus wants to come into your life this Advent and this Christmas.

Don’t let the world tell you how to prepare for Christmas, allow your Catholic faith to guide these Advent weeks that you might be filled with true joy, joy which the world cannot give, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.