A Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent, 2008-(B)
We all have cravings of our hearts, desires that are just so profound, that we get to a point where we feel as if these desires and cravings are just going to cause us to erupt. I am not talking about simple needs like for food or drink or even for companionship. Those needs we can satisfy, at least for a time. When we are hungry, if we grab something to eat, then that desire, that craving or need is satisfied. Of course we will become hungry again, but at least for a brief time our need for food will be satisfied.
While those needs are very important, they are not the deepest desires and needs of our heart. No, those deepest desires of the human heart are for Truth, Beauty, and Love. We can never get enough of those. In fact, we have an infinite yearning for those goods. Often we might try to fulfill those deepest, infinite needs with finite things – such as food, drink, material possessions, drugs or sex – and when we try that they become our addictions, because in the end those finite things never satisfy the deepest desires of our heart no matter how much of them we get. The deep desires and cravings just continue to build within us until our hearts reach a point of eruption within us. At that point we can either embrace reality or slip into delusion.
If we choose to embrace reality and reason, then we humbly acknowledge that we do not have inside us what is needed to fulfill and satisfy our deepest longings and desires. We come to recognize that there MUST be a being that IS infinite Truth, Beauty and Love. We come to recognize that there is an Infinite Mystery, an Infinite Presence that alone can satisfied our deepest desires. It is then that we encounter God, and like the Prophet Isaiah in today’s first reading, we cry out to the Infinite Mystery, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down.”
Advent is a time of desire. Advent is the season when we recognize our need for the Infinite Mystery, who alone can satisfy the deepest yearnings of our hearts, and we cry out to God. Often we do not realize that Advent is a penitential season in the Church’s liturgical year. It is the reason that we wear violet during this time, and we prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christmas. Advent is a time for us to look at all the things that keep us from recognizing our infinite need and desire for God, so that we can let go of them. We prepare our hearts for the Infinite Mystery who alone can satisfy our deepest desires, by turning away from our sins, and we pray, “Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.”
Our experience of helplessness before the reality of our boundless desire “moves us to ask for fellowship with God’s Son, Jesus Christ the Lord” (P.J. Cameron, Magnificat, Vol. 10, No. 9, November 2008, p. 409). We come to recognize our need for a Savior, so we should “Be watchful! Be alert!”
Today we are joined by six people on a journey. They have been looking at the deepest desires of their hearts, and they have come to recognize that Jesus is the Infinite Mystery who alone can fulfill their deepest longings. They have discerned that they need to follow Jesus; the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Four of them are preparing themselves to receive the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. We welcome them, and will be accepting them into the Order of Catechumens; members of the household of God. The other two are already a brother and sister in Christ through their baptism. We now welcome them as candidates for full communion in the Catholic Church.
Together we prepare our souls from the coming of our Savior. Let us be watchful and alert, so that we will not miss welcoming Christ who comes to be present among us.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Father, I couldn’t help but notice that you preached two weeks in a row. If you don’t mind me asking, are there fewer Deacons in your new parish and/or do they preach less often? With all due respect to the Deacons at your new parish, it certainly would be nice to read your homilies every Sunday.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Yes, Jim, there are fewer deacons at my current parish, and a couple of them are “snow birds,” wintering in Florida. The deacons preach only on the first weekend of the month here at St. Theresa, so you should be getting me at least times a month (it is kind of like the new publishing format for “The Amazing Spider-Man” comic book). I think it has not worked out that way since I have arrived is because in September we had a missionary preach, and then I was gone the first two weekends of November.
I also hope to start sharing reflections on the current book that the new ecclesial movement to which I belong, Communion and Liberation (CL), is reading. Actually, I am going to start from the beginning of the work, “Is it Possible to Live This Way? An Unusual Approach to Christian Existence, Vol. 1: Faith,” while worldwide they are finishing the text. But since the typical “School of Community” (what CL calls the weekly gathering) is weekly, and I plan to read a bit each day and reflect on how I see what is being discussed in my own experience, I think we will be able to catch up pretty quickly. They will be starting Vol. 2 of that work, “Hope,” after the New Year. Both books are available on Amazon, and would make good Christmas gifts.
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Nice homily as always….sorry for late comment. And need to comment hehehe the citation is a little wrong. You don’t put P. 409 it’s just 409. Just noticed that and thought I would tell ya. God Bless
December 3rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Mike K;
Still trying to be the smart guy. In some forms of citations you do put the “p.” in, then the number.