1st Sunday of Advent, A November 27, 2022
Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
When I was a college student at UL, one of things I enjoyed in an almost unconscious way was the big oak trees, especially along E. St. Mary and McKinley. They lend a sort of majesty to the campus. Just this past week, I was on campus and noticed that the trees had already had lights winding up their trunks. Illuminating the whole area, these lights called attention to the shape and size of the trees, drawing the eyes and lending a certain splendor to those already grand trees.
Every year around this time, people all over light their homes and decorate their yards. There are parks that sell tickets to see the displays and even whole towns that specialize in really doing up the Christmas decorations, clothing themselves in light to evoke wonder and awe, beauty and delight. Even with my minimalist and pragmatic outlook on décor, I can appreciate there is a real good being revealed here.
Indeed, it’s fine as far as it goes. It’s definitely done too early and taken down too quickly after Christmas, but there’s something in it that helps us experience the mystery of Christmas itself. What matters most, however, is whether we go beyond preparing buildings and trees to prepare our hearts, minds, and bodies.
Indeed, preparation is what this time of year is really all about. I say it every year and probably will until I die, but Christmas doesn’t actually start until December 24th. We are in the season of Advent and, if we allow it to be, it is a remarkably powerful season. No matter what corporations and marketing firms say, the institution that actually started Christmas still says and will continue to say that Advent must come first if we’re going to really benefit from Christmas.
Perhaps the most jarring example of this is the readings for today. There’s not a single reference to the baby Jesus. Not even the slightest hint of presents. No, what we get is a stark teaching on the end of the world and St. Paul’s list of all the fun things we’re not supposed to do. Is the Church just being a wet blanket? Yes and no.
Believe me when I say the point is not that the Church doesn’t want to celebrate, it’s not that She doesn’t think being joyful is good. It’s that the way the world does it can’t even come close to what the Church wants for us. The Church, the body of Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, really knows human nature. Everything – and I mean everything good in this life requires patience and trial. Hunger before food, thirst before drink, tiredness before rest, tilling before harvesting, pregnancy before childbirth. In every single instance, if you bypass that order, you miss out on some of the enjoyment. Sometimes you even risk destroying it… permanently losing what you wanted in the first place.
And that’s why I sometimes think that – for us in this day and age – Advent might be the most important season of them all. Because Advent is the season of anticipation, of preparation, of patience, of surrendering to a timing that is not ours. Now, it is a hopeful preparation, a joyful anticipation, but there is still a difference between anticipating something and actually celebrating it. So, while we’re clothing our homes in light and beauty, are we doing the same for our souls? Are we putting “on the armor of light” that St. Paul speaks of?
The reason this matters is that Christmas isn’t the final word. Jesus came once – and we should rejoice at this! – but he will come again and, if we’re not ready for that, Christmas will mean nothing to us! I’m serious. If we don’t go to heaven, the fact that Jesus was born will make our suffering worse. This is what I mean about the Church wanting to celebrate even more than the world. We don’t just want to celebrate fiscal growth and fun toys, but eternal life and the power to become like God! This requires seeing the big picture, the why behind Christmas. So we begin by looking at the end, the goal. Judgment is coming and we don’t know when. By preparing for that reality, we prepare ourselves to truly understand the value of the Incarnation. Then we party.
So, though the world would say St. Paul is telling us not to do all the fun stuff, the Church…. We should recognize that he’s actually helping us have even greater joy. So, my challenge to you this Advent is to take advantage his guidance and be clothed in light far greater than any tree, home, or neighborhood. Listen again to what St. Paul says:
“It is the hour now for you to wake from sleep.” For all the problems with political wokeness, there is a truth beneath the distortions: that the world is asleep and we need to wake up. Political radicals of all stripes often have terrible solutions, but they are right that something is wrong and that most people don’t really get it. Truly being good, real happiness, making a difference – this all requires us to challenge our assumptions, look critically at how the world works, and be willing to be ridiculed when we opt out or try to change it.
I’ll be specific: You cannot serve God and Mammon. Christmas is moved earlier each year to increase sales. By blithely going along with that, we serve mammon, not God. By buying gifts just for the sake of buying them, we serve mammon, not God. By holding it against people who don’t buy gifts for us, we are serving mammon, not God. The only time Jesus was violent in all of the Gospels was when people made a religious observance into a money-making scheme. I’m not saying it’s a sin to buy gifts – gifts can be a real sign of love – but I am saying that buying an unnecessary gift is the least important thing you can do for Christmas. If you’ve got money, by all means spend it and give it away! Be generous, extravagant even! But don’t go into debt and strive to give where it is needed and where you will get the least in return. Maybe consider donations to charity on behalf of loved ones. Don’t try to buy affection or influence people with your giving. It is love that gives money value, never the other way round. Wake up to that truth.
“Throw off the works of darkness.” Do I need to tell you that lust is a problem? That, according to Marian apparitions, lust is the number 1 reason people don’t make it to heaven? Time to stop. If it takes therapy, interventions, 12-step groups, or living like the Amish, then we should do it. We must get out of the grip of lust or it will rob even the greatest feasts of their joy. Then there is drunkenness. Most of you know I enjoy a good beer or cocktail, so you know I’m not saying you can’t drink. But to drink to the point of impairing your judgment – especially on purpose – is a grave sin. “Make no provisions for the desires of the flesh.” For the love of God, do not make Christmas an opportunity for sin. Feast and rejoice when the time is right, but don’t get drunk or eat till you’re sick.
That leads to my third and final suggestion: fasting. Hunger is the best seasoning. Fasting makes the feast. To freely and regularly deny ourselves something good is necessary if we want to be open to the kind of erupting joy that the Gospel brings. Maybe it’s not drinking at all until Christmas Eve. Maybe it’s skipping a meal one or two days a week. Maybe it’s giving up video games or tv shows or movies for Advent. Whatever it is, let it be something that tells your own heart and mind “this is not my home, this is not the feast – look ahead and look up.”
Wake up from the world’s profiteering of Christmas to see the goodness of Advents. Make no provisions for the flesh by turning holy days into occasions of sin. Put on the armor of light. By prayer, fasting, giving to those in need, we will illuminate our souls in a way no decorations could ever match, and we will go rejoicing to the house of the Lord, where light itself is our clothing and God himself our feast.