Homily For The 1st Sunday Of Advent Year C.

 

Jer. 33:14-16; Ps. 25:4-5. 8-9. 10. 14 R/ v.1; Thess. 3:12-4:2; Lk. 21:25-28.34-36

“WAITING IN JOYFUL HOPE”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

·      Happy New Year to you all.

·      Some of you may be wondering if Fr. Charles has gone mad wishing us “a happy new year” in November. I am not out of my mind! It is a new year indeed! New opportunities, new privileges, fresh starts, etc. Today, the universal church begins a new year and a new dawn in the church’s liturgical calendar. We transit from year B to C in the liturgical cycles, with fresh hopes and fresh commitment.

·      Today being the first Sunday of Advent, we launch ourselves into a period of ‘waiting in joyful hope for the future coming of Christ. First at Christmas and then his second coming at the end of time.

·      The attitude of every Christian at this time is that of expectancy and alertness. Not the usual frustrating wait and relapsing into old sinful ways. Waiting is of continuous alertness, vigilance, and waiting in joyful of hope. 

·      Since we do not know the time and the hour, ours is to be watchful in prayer and keep up the Christian struggle so that when the Lord comes, we can stand tall, hold our heads high, and joyfully embrace the reward that awaits us.

·      There is growing frustration in waiting for the coming of Christ in our world today because there have been several failed prophecies and predictions of the exact time and day, still, to our utmost disappointment, those predictions pass as normal.

·      When those prophecies and predictions are made, Christians are quick to “repent”, they hasten for confession, reconcile with friends and neighbours, and only go back to those old ways when those predictions don’t come true. As a result of this many Christians do not take warnings and alert of the fact that Christ will come again seriously anymore. Not necessarily because they are prepared but because they have been disappointed in the past.

·      Dear friends in Christ, the Christian life is not a gamble, it is a way of life, and it is an identity that we must be ready to always showcase. No doubt, sometimes we disappoint and do not live up to expectations, but that does not mean we should not take our Christian commitment seriously. Christmas is when we begin to notice a ‘mad’ rush for confessions and the like. Everyone is struggling to be in a state of grace for Christmas just to return to sinful ways afterward. That is not what is expected of a true Christian. Whether we have been frustrated in the past or not, we must keep up the fight till the end and keep waiting in joyful hope for our eternal reward.

·      One thing you would notice in the Bible readings of today is that in as much as Advent commemorates past events, it mediates salvation, and deepens our awareness of Christ’s presence in the Church and the fulfilment of that promise made to us through our ancestors and the prophets. Amid threats of the Babylonian military's might, threats of exile, loss of homes, lives, the temple, and its treasures, the Prophet Jeremiah, mediates with words of hope.  No doubt today, we are faced with all threats of war and terrorism, but, Jeremiah whispers to us words of hope. He recalls the promise God had made to David in 2 Samuel 7:11-16, “in those days, in that time, I will raise for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land. In those days Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure…” (Jer 33:14-16). No matter our contemporary threats, there is hope!

·      Similarly, Paul, in the second reading, foretells a day when God will invite us into a joy-filled life with the saints. We might have our troubles today, but, we can all relate to Paul’s words to the troubled Thessalonians Church, “Brothers and sisters may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and all, just as we have for you, to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones,” (1 Thess 3:12–4:2)

·      Even the Disciples of Christ were threatened. They were troubled. That was why the Lukan Jesus towards the end of his ministry, instructed his troubled disciples not to be a stranger when the Lord comes. Christ said, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxiety of daily lives, and that day catches you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times…” (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36).

·      As a seminarian on apostolic work, I was invited severally by a family to visit their home. But due to some unforeseen reasons, whenever I accepted to come, I did not make it on the said date and time. I was invited by the mother of the house and the children who became my friends through block rosary. The father of the house did not even know. Little did I know that this family rarely swept their house and kept the surroundings clean, but whenever the agreed day and time came everywhere was sparkling clean and I never showed up. The father of the house wondered about the renewed zeal for cleanliness because he never knew they were expecting a ‘VIP’. After I failed severally, I made up my mind that this time around I would not fail no matter what, I managed to squeeze out time to visit and the father of the house was home too. Everywhere was sparkling clean. They were all happy I came. But as soon as my visit ended, the woman and her children returned to their old dirtiness lifestyle. The husband of the house who later discovered that they were only keeping the house clean because of my impending visit came back to beg me to please keep visiting their house daily so that they can live a clean life.

·      We as Christians in this advent, are expecting the coming of the Messiah, our attitude should not be that of the woman and her children I visited, ours should rather be that we are found clean at all times. We should always clean up our hearts and bodies from the filth of sin while waiting in joyful hope for the coming of the Messiah.

·      We must strive to keep that way because we do not know when he will come, therefore we must be watchful in prayer!

·      What does it take?  A heart open to the mystery of God’s presence, a heart open to realize that there is more to life than just what we touch and feel.  We want to hear Jesus as He speaks to our hearts and invites us to know the world from His vision and His love.  Advent!  Christ has already come into our world!  May Christ be in our hearts!  May we always be ready for Him to come again.

·      This Advent, we can long for the Lord, His presence in our lives, and for him to transform us.  This longing is expressed in how we live.  Come, Lord Jesus!  Help us love one another and all others.

·      Happy Sunday!!!