Preparing for the Birth of Christ

(Updated version of column for church bulletin)

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God, the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming, so that, gathered at his right hand, they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

This is the Collect for the today’s Mass; the First Sunday of Advent. We are called to run to forth to meet Christ with righteous deeds. Advent is a time of preparation. We are to prepare for the coming birth of Christ by our righteous deeds. How well we prepared can be shown by how well we wait.

When I was younger, there were three types of waiting I did for a parent. The first was with trepidation. There was a feeling of apprehension; I knew something was wrong. The problem was this feeling was brought about by my own mistakes. I had probably disobeyed either a parent or teacher and did not want to face the consequences. I hoped my mistake was forgotten or not known. Neither was usually the case.

The second type of waiting is with indifference. I just did not think about when my mother or father would be home. I may not have done anything wrong but neither had I done anything outstanding. There was no reason to anticipate their arrival. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts, plans and desires.

The third type of waiting is one of joyful anticipation. The anticipation is not in an opportunistic way as if waiting to proclaim personal accomplishments but one of joy as one waits to see a loved one. It is the joy that comes from knowing that you wait for someone who desires to see you as much as you desire their presence.

The Advent season gives us a time to prepare for the coming birth of Jesus. We must decide now how we will prepare during this time. Is it with indifference; not giving any thought to how the birth of Christ effected us? Will it be with the trepidation of knowing that we could have done more to better appreciate what the birth of Jesus means to our salvation? Will it be with joyful anticipation that comes from the knowledge that we have truly taken the time to prepare for the birth of Christ?

There will be a multitude of deeds you can do to be ready for the joyous birth we celebrate at Christmas. Participate in the opportunities your Church will offer. Journey through the Advent season using one of the many spiritual Advent books being offered. Budget your time wisely so you will be able to reflect on scripture. Visit the home-bound and those in nursing homes. Donate your time, talent and treasure to those in need. These good deeds will have you prepared and waiting for the birth of Christ with joyful anticipation.

Advent Reflection, Second Sunday, 2016

Have you been told that Christmas has become too commercialized? Have you been told to keep Christ in Christmas? You probably have.  Sadly this too has become part of our Christmas tradition just like using an Advent wreath, watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special or mailing out Christmas cards. You may have been told Christmas is too commercialized or Christ has been lost in Christmas as an attempt by someone to help you get through this time of the year or out of their own feelings of frustration. My thought is that if you do feel this way; it is your own fault! The main focus of businesses, including the television industry, is to make money. They will only sell what people buy and watch.

We make the choices of how we prepare for Christmas. The Advent season is one of the many things I believe the Church got absolutely correct. Advent reminds us we are on a journey. The end of this journey should find us prepared to properly celebrate the birth of Christ. The buying of Christmas presents, the listening to Christmas music and the watching of Christmas specials are not inherently bad. It is how we let these commercialized things affect us that can lead us to the possibility of a bankrupted spirituality at Christmas.

The first week of Advent is over. Take a few minutes to reflect on this first week. Consider what you have done in preparing for Christmas. You may have brought some presents, attended a party or watched a few Christmas shows. Are you humming Christmas songs throughout the day?  You may have also been frustrated by traffic around the stores you shop or the lack of service you received at a busy eatery.  If you keep all these things in the proper perspective none of them should affect your preparations for the coming of Jesus.  The Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent reminds us to let “no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet your Son.” 

We should all know that traffic jams, busy stores, Christmas music and our own frustrations are just part of this time of the year. They will not go away.  So we must do as the Prayer after Communion tells us; we must “judge wisely things on earth”. We are to remain focused on those things that are important as an aid to our spiritual growth and let go of those things that are too distracting. We must seek the “heavenly wisdom” for making the right decisions during Advent.

Enjoy this time of the year but never forget that Christmas does not start until the birth of Jesus. Now it is Advent, the time to prepare. If you feel the distractions of the world are beginning to overwhelm you, sit with God in prayer for a few minutes. Recall the opening prayer of today’s Mass. It reminds us of the real reason for Christmas; the Word became flesh so that we may gain the heavenly kingdom.

Almighty and merciful God,
may no earthly undertaking hinder those
who set out in haste to meet your Son,
but may our learning of heavenly wisdom
gain us admittance to his company.

Advent Reflection, First Sunday, 2016

When you write a column for the Cathedral bulletin, it has to be submitted in advance for printing purposes. The good thing about posting that same column to a blog is the post is almost instantaneous. This gives you an opportunity to make any last minute changes to the post. After my adventures of yesterday, I have decided to amend my reflection for the first week of Advent before posting it to my blog.

Yesterday, I was with a group of Cathedral parishioners on a pilgrimage to Grand Coteau. After the early morning clouds burned off, the day ended up being a beautiful day of sunshine and cool air. Upon our arrival at Grand Coteau, we were able to see where St. John Berchmans appeared to a dying Mary Wilson. Mary was miraculously cured of her disease and this became the miracle used for the canonization of John Berchmans. Msgr. LaCaze celebrated the Mass for us at the Shrine.  We felt both the reverence of the shrine and the joy that comes from being with each other. All those on the pilgrimage agreed this would be a wonderful event to recall when the Heart of St. John Berchmans was at the Cathedral. (Click on Picture to right for more information)

We say and hear that Advent is a time of preparation. We are to focus on both the coming birth of Christ and his second coming. Grand sounding words but do we take them seriously?  Looking back on our pilgrimage, I will admit to a little pride in my calmness and clarity during an off-road adventure our bus took.  Visiting the shrine and the off-road adventure on the return trip caused me to wonder if I do take my Advent preparation seriously enough. Was I ready to be gathered at God's right hand as we hear in the Collect (Opening prayer of the Mass)?

The Collect from the first Sunday of Advent also tells us “to run forth to meet your Christ”.  We need to be running to the Lord. God is here just waiting for us to acknowledge his love for us. Once we wake up to God's love for us then we should have a deep desire for it. That desire will cause us to figuratively run to the Lord.

How do we figuratively “run forth” to our God? This is done by returning God's love and is shown by the righteous deeds we do for others. We give others the honor due as one created by God. We treat them with the respect that is deserved as sons and daughters of God's love. Our goal then should be to live each day of our life in such a way that if we knew today was to be our last day on this earth, we would not want to change anything about our day.  If we are truly running forth to the meet our Christ then we are running to the heavenly Kingdom.

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming,
so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom.