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Bishop's Homily for the First Sunday of Advent

November 29, 2020

[St. Joseph Church, Waipahu]

Relax.  Chill.  Do nothing.  Wait.

How difficult it is for most of us to do so many of these things, when we are programmed to take charge, to forge our own destinies, to get involved, and to be engaged.  None of these things is bad, of course, but if we are always active without taking the time to be contemplative, or always feel we have to say or do something rather than simply watch and wait, we can often go in directions that are not good for ourselves or for the world in which we live.

This time of Advent is an invitation and a challenge to all of us to be the clay in the Lord’s hands rather than insist on being the potters; to let the Lord mold us according to his will, rather than allowing our own wills to dominate everything we do.  What we reflect upon during Advent is that we have a Savior who has come to us already and who is to come again in glory.  He came to be our Savior because too often we had tried to save ourselves, and ended up digging ourselves into a deeper hole.  We have tried to disentangle ourselves from sin, and we have ended up become more entangled in its insidious ways.  Oh, yes, we look to Jesus to give us guidance, as if he were some book of directions or some recipe for success; but do we simply relax in his love and experience his joy, so that he comes alive within us and takes the initiative to show us the way to go?

We cannot follow Jesus unless we open our hearts to him and let him be Emmanuel, God-with-us.  We cannot open our hearts to him unless we are more watchful and attentive, and sometimes that means stopping what we are doing, slowing down, zipping our lips and listening to him.  The sights and sounds of Christmas preparations can help us, if we are attentive and awake to them.  Or we can be so busy thinking we are in charge that we miss the simple beauty of Christ’s coming.

I often think about our response to the growing number of homeless people among us.  It is good that we want to do something for them to restore their dignity in the difficulties they experience.  And so we immediately jump into action to feed them, to give them warm clothes, or to gather hygiene supplies to help them.  These are good things, of course, and we need to continue them.  But the danger in this, is that we begin to think this is the normal situation, and we may end up perpetuating it.  How much time do we spend pondering on WHY there are so many homeless people to begin with?  What is wrong with our economy that some people are excluded or have to work extra hard just to make ends meet?  What is lacking in our care for one another or in our cultural spirituality that leads so many to mental illness?  Do we create such high expectations for people that many feel they cannot measure up, and so they anesthetize themselves with alcohol or drugs, which lead to other devastating problems?  We are challenged to be alert, to watch in a special way so that we can not only respond to the immediate needs of our homeless brother and sisters, but eventually create a culture where soup kitchens and homeless shelters are simply not needed any more.  It is focusing on Jesus as our Savior, and not thinking of ourselves as saviors, that we can open the doors to greater justice and human dignity.

Recently I have heard many Catholics express concern that our presumed next President, Joe Biden, is a practicing Catholic in that he attends Mass regularly, but that his stances on abortion, same-sex marriage and religious freedom are directly contrary to the clear teachings of the Catholic Church.  Many have suggested that he be denied Holy Communion because of these stances, feeling that it is a sacrilege for him to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord.  Yet as I was contemplating this very difficult situation, it occurred to me that our taking charge of this situation by publicly denying him Communion may only serve to solidify opposition to the Church that is a clear moral voice for the respect for all human life, for the family based on the marriage of one man and one woman, and for the freedom of all to practice their faith, not only in the privacy of their homes but in the public square as well.  I think of Jesus, who was not afraid to come into a world filled with sin so that he could redeem it, and who do not shy away from being mocked and disrespected so that he could change hearts.  How often he dined with sinners, so that he could heal them.  And if we believe that all things are possible for God, instead of taking charge ourselves and loudly insisting on his unworthiness to receive the Eucharist, perhaps it would be better to leave the heavy lifting to Jesus.  He overcame death, so can he not overcome the most stubborn sinfulness?  Perhaps our prayers should be laser-focused on pleading with the Lord that when he enters the heart of a sinner, he may once again work his miracle of healing and conversion.

Yes, of course, the Lord does not want us to be couch potatoes and to simply let the world unfold without our being engaged as his disciples.  Yet if we are not to be swept away by a popular current that can lead us the wrong way, we do need to relax, to chill, to do nothing, and to wait.  That is the way we recognize that we are disciples and servants, not masters, and put our trust in the Master, the Savior, Emmanuel, to shape us according to his plan and to mold us according to his will.