What Are You Doing?
Where did the year go? It seems like it was just January! But here we are, at the first Sunday of Advent!
Advent is a season of the year in which the Church is “waiting”. Not waiting in lines in stores (though we will); not waiting on orders from Amazon.com; not waiting on the next sale. Advent is a time of waiting…for Christ!
And I think it’s interesting that the culture’s focus goes, so early, to all the warm-and-fuzzy Christmas images, of the baby Jesus (if they can stand Him), and snowmen, reindeer and candy canes. It’s interesting, because as Church, we spend the first half of Advent focused on the second coming of Christ, which is not going to be a warm-and-fuzzy event at all. And the themes are a little…cautionary, to say the least. “Keep watch! The Son of Man will show up like a thief in the night! Don’t get caught sleeping!” The first half of Advent is all about being prepared for the Last Judgment, not soft and cuddly stuff!
And being prepared for Christ’s return should be the focus of every Christian life. But how we are waiting…and what we are doing while we are waiting…that’s far more important than just “watching and waiting”.
Isaiah describes, in today’s first reading, a people who have “wandered” from God’s ways. And the prophet prays that God will return, and that God “might meet us doing right!” Isaiah describes Israel in extreme terms: you are angry, and we are sinful; all of us have become like unclean people, all our good deeds are like polluted rags”. He is describing a people that has turned its back on God, and yet Isaiah still acknowledges that God can help them get back on track!
The Gospel isn’t any more comforting; it’s short and sweet, but still kind of threatening: Be watchful! Be alert! Don’t let me come back and find you sleeping! Watch!
But see…these aren’t happy, feel-good readings; we can be tempted put a big “Doesn’t apply to me!” stamp on it, and stop listening. Or we can hear them and say “Yep, Got it!”, check the box, and still stop listening.
It really isn’t the stuff of touchy-feely Christmas Cheer.
But there is more to these readings than scary words. Look back to the parable Jesus used in this Gospel: “It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.” Brothers and sisters…the master left His servants with work to do. And what did Isaiah pray? “Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways!
A few of us might be total reprobates, the worst of the worst; if you are, and you’re here…Thanks be to God! There’s hope for you! But honestly, most of us aren’t evil people. We are just making our way through the world the best we can, with gifts we have, trying to do right.
But Jesus isn’t talking just to the best of us. Isaiah isn’t talking about just the worst of us. They’re both talking to all of us.
What do I mean? Well...if we are traipsing along in life, making it to Mass, but not much more, thinking that the sin in our lives isn’t really that bad...we are wrong! Likewise…if we are sitting in the church every day, praying, reading the Bible, and figuring everything is OK, but doing nothing more…we are wrong, too! God needs more than that out of us!
I know…it’s Advent, Christmas is coming…and I am bringing everyone down! Besides, what do I expect? I mean, if you’re coming to Mass, isn’t that a good thing? (Yes!) If your kids are involved in Youth Ministry, or Religious Ed…isn’t that a good thing? (Yes!) And if you’re spending time in Adoration, or praying the Rosary, or the Divine Mercy Chaplet, or reading the Bible…isn’t that good? (Yes!)
But brothers and sisters…God has armed us to do even more! And He did that because the work He left for us to do wasn’t about doing our own thing, or even about saving our own soul. It was about doing things, using our talents, to bring forth fruit for the Kingdom! And how do we do that? We do it by working wherever God calls us to, according to our state in life, to lead other people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!
So, you come to Mass? Invite your neighbor! You’re involved in a Bible study? Ask about helping to start one for the young adults or the youth! Your kids are in Youth Ministry? Suggest they invite a friend (even a non-Catholic one)!
Do you know any Hispanic members of your parish family? Meet some! Or spend time with the folks you already know! Join the Knights of Columbus; work with St. Vincent de Paul. Buy a devotional for your family, and commit to praying from it, as a family, every week, or even every day! But whatever you do…do something, intentionally, to advance the Kingdom! Because, brothers and sisters…we are called to work for the kingdom, not just “watch!”
The culture wants us to focus on the things that make us feel good: snowmen, and candy canes, manger scenes and Christmas trees. And all those things are nice, in their place.
But as we enter this season of Advent, there is so much more that God is calling us to think about.
When we remember that Christ is coming back, and that it means something that He’s coming back, it ought to make us look closely at our lives, to see how we are living, and to change what we can do be prepared for His return. And we ought to be watchful. We need to be ready.
But we also need to be working. And thanks be to God that He has equipped us for the work we need to do! As Paul said in the second reading, we are all equipped with “the grace of God bestowed on [us] in Christ Jesus, … with all discourse and all knowledge, … so that [we] are not lacking in any spiritual gift as [we] wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We already have the toolkit we need to work for the Kingdom. We have already received the grace we need to do what we have been called to do!
Watching is good. But working while we watch...That’s what we’re called to do.
So…what are you doing?
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