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On behalf of the parish I welcome any visitors with us over this holiday and we pray for your safe travel home. Congratulations on your achievement! You survived Thanksgiving with your family! It marks the end of a harvest season and the beginning of winter. As a church family we change seasons too as we begin this Advent.

The word comes from the secular Latin “adventus,” meaning - coming. In ancient times when a king would announce his intended visit to a city, its citizens displayed purple banners, a color to honor a sovereign ruler. They had a time of preparation called the “kings’ advent.”

Within the first century Catholic Christian faith believed Jesus was always God, was with God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit. They believed that after Adam, humanity hoped for a savior, a deliver from sin and eternal death. The Father sent us His Son, Jesus, in the flesh: the incarnation. Not all “Christian” religions teach this. Among them are the Mormons, the Jehovah Witnesses, and Scientology. The point here is the secular custom of advent was adopted and adapted into our liturgical practice. One of the earliest prayers of the church was “maranatha,” Aramaic for “come, Lord,” to pray for Jesus’ second coming. They hoped His second advent would occur soon after his passion and death. When it did not, the liturgy shifted to focus on Jesus’ “first Advent.” Simultaneously first century worship stated the need to pray: “Jesus come to us now” and help us be ready for His second coming at the end of time.

Advent occurs during the darkest time of year. We light our Advent wreath after the Prayer of the Faithful on this First Sunday of Advent. On the remaining Sundays it will be lighted at the beginning of Mass to remind us to let His light shine through us even in dark times. How can we do this?

Isaiah speaks of God’s reaction to spiritual darkness. He teaches that God does not impose retribution but simply allows us to have what we want and to experience the consequences of sin. Noah’s flood, the fire and brimstone of Sodom and Gomorrah, the destruction of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea: are exceptions to God’s judgment, not the Biblical norm. The “norm” consistently is “if you really do not want God, then so be it. I, the Lord, will leave you!”

What is the darkness of our time? Through all forms of media people are exposed to warped scenes of unreality laced with glorified sex and violence, destructive kinds of sexual license that never show consequences for their actions, materialism, utilitarianism, and relativism. Virtues enshrining the best characteristics of the human heart and social behavior have become lost in this mire. Dysfunctionality and deviancy are so commonplace that instances, which once shocked, now simply puzzle.

What is the source of our darkness? We are. Isaiah put it this way: “We have hardened our hearts so that we fear You not. We are sinful; have become unclean; and all our good deeds are like polluted rags. No one clings to You.” Amidst this bad news, there is also good news! The 80th Psalm reminds us “to turn to God. Give us Your life Lord, and we will not withdraw from You.”

This life, God’s grace, His DNA that Jesus desires us to share, St. Paul referred to in our second reading. The Corinthians lived in a “dark time!” Did you hear him praise them for their fellowship, knowledge, and spiritual gifts? If St. Paul were to visit Holy Family today, would he praise us too?

We pray in advent that Jesus will come to us! Remember that during this time of Divine Mercy: between His first advent and His second advent at the end of time, Jesus works quietly, patiently, not ignoring human free will. His power is not forceful, brash, or egotistical. It will not be manifested in “Rambo style” and not in “shock and awe.” Save that for the last day when “the mountains will shake and He will rend heaven!” He comes to us today in scripture and in this very Eucharist. When He walked this earth people traveled long distances to hear Jesus. They went without food or water to hear Him. Even the apostles were distressed about it. Do we have that kind of desire to cling to Him, to hear Him?

The gospel today, and the second reading for all the Sundays of Advent, speaks of Jesus coming at the end. I do not have the time to adequately explain it here. Amongst some of the Protestant Evangelical churches a “new theology” of the end time developed in England and came to this country after our Civil War. This “new teaching” is 180 degrees from what our Catholic faith has taught for two thousand years. I would highly recommend to you the following books that explain our teaching.

“The Apocalypse Explained,” by Fr. Feret, O.P., (ISBN 0-912141-69-7; Roman Catholic Books; PO Box 2286; Ft. Collins, CO 80522-2286; on the web at http://www.booksforcatholics.com). He offers an historical approach with Biblical references followed by what the church has taught over the centuries.

“Wrath of God, the Days of the Antichrist,” by Livio Fanzaga. (ISBN 0-912141-82-4; Roman Catholic Books; PO Box 2286; Ft. Collins, CO 80522-2286; on the web at http://www.booksforcatholics.com). He powerfully combines the writings of two other authors to give us a picture of how the Antichrist will manifest himself.

Last but not least, “The Rapture Trap,” A Catholic Response to "End Times" Fever, by Paul Thigpen, which explains the radical differences between popular Protestant interpretations (the “Left Behind” series) and what the Catholic Church has taught for two thousand years. (Ascension Press; PO Box 1990; West Chester, PA 19380; Phone 800-376-0520. On the web at http://www.ascensionpress.com).

I encourage you to form book groups to read, meet, and to discuss some these helpful texts I just mentioned.

But when we pray this week, I call you to focus on how Jesus comes to us now, not in flamboyant force or in crass coercion, but especially in His subtle presence in scripture, in Holy Communion, and in confession. Be on watch, be awake! If we are caught up with the matters of our “own kingdom,” we will never be able to recognize His presence or to be useful for “His kingdom.”