1st Sunday of Advent
(2016)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St Dominic/OLR, NOLA
The
prophet, Isaiah demands that we
“walk in the light of the Lord!” St. Paul urges us to “throw
off the works of darkness!” And our Lord warns us to “stay
awake!” Walk in the light. Throw off darkness. Stay awake. Sounds
like someone is studying for final exams! Or maybe pulling an
all-nighter on year-end tax preparation. But, we know, that today is
the first Sunday of Advent – our season of waiting – so walking
in the light, throwing off darkness, and staying awake are all
imperatives for preparing ourselves to welcome the birth of the
Christ Child a month from now. Why do we need to prepare? If you are
at all like me while waiting, your attention lags. You get anxious.
Twitchy and frustrated. You begin to wonder if the cashier is
napping. Or if the guy at the head of the line is trying to order
lunch in Swahili. While waiting, I begin to experience myself as the
center of the universe. I am the only one with important things to do
and important people to see. I am busy, rushed, running late. IOW, my
pride comes raging to the surface, and the possibility that I am
being taught some humility only makes me angrier. With
pride comes serious temptation to sin.
The spirit of Advent is right behind me, whispering, “Walk in the
light. Throw off darkness. Stay awake.”
If
I manage to resist punching the spirit of Advent in the face, I take
a deep breath and imagine myself walking in the light. There are no
shadows. Not even my own. No dark places. Nothing not shining with
the light Christ offers. “Walking in the light” can sound a
little too much like a Star Wars proverb. But it's the biblical way
of saying “live with the Lord,” “follow His commands,” “walk
the path of righteousness.” We can prepare ourselves for the coming
of the Christ Child by getting up in the morning and going to bed at
night with a single prayer on our lips: “Lord, you are my light;
make me your light to the world.” If we see and hear ourselves as
conduits for Christ's light, as a means of shining out Christ's light
to the world, then we can more easily resist pride and the
temptations pride entertains. Waiting becomes more than just a trial
in patience. Waiting becomes our way of bearing witness. Just being
still in Christ and letting him convert us into his peaceful presence
– no words, gestures, or signs from us. Just Christ radiating out.
Scripture calls this “countenance.” One's bearing –
encouraging, patient, peaceful. If we are in Christ, then there can
be no darkness in us. Our countenance is Christ.
If
Christ is our countenance – our manner of appearing and being in
the world – then we have already thrown aside the works of
darkness. The phrase “works of darkness” always makes me think of
the many sci-fi/fantasy novels I've read over the years. I
immediately see Dark Lords and Evil Knights ravaging the land for
power. Paul is thinking a little smaller here. The works of darkness
he urges us to throw off are the works of our disordered passions –
rivalry,
promiscuity, drunkenness, and jealousy. Not exactly the rioting
armies of Orcs from Mordor but nonetheless all fatal to our
relationship with Christ. Every work of darkness, every act willed
from a disordered passion twists the human person toward folly,
turning him or her into a fool. We become used to sin; we come to see
and hear disobedience to the Father's will as normal; and, finally,
we run out of time, and God honors our faithlessness by faithfully
allowing us to live apart from Him forever. While we wait on the
birth of the Christ Child, while we walk humbly in his light, the
works of darkness appear as stains, as shadows on our Way. We can
overthrow these dark works by turning again and again to Christ. In
the sacrament of confession, in personal and public prayer, and in
works of charity. We can stay with Christ by staying awake in his
spirit.
When
Jesus warns us to “stay awake,” he means to warn us against
spiritual complacency, against the bad human habit of “feeling
secure” while living outside the will of his Father. We may feel
secure in our homes, our jobs, our personal relationships, but we are
not truly secure until we are “awake in Christ,” until every
aspect of our lives is fully alive to the reality and power of Christ
to bring us to the Father. It's one thing to know about Christ; it's
another to know him. It's one thing to love the idea of Christ; it's
another to love him. Being “awake in Christ” means being fully,
actively conscious that you and all that you have belongs to Christ –
as your freely offered gift to him. When we take his yoke and follow
his Way, we become his. Wholly owned, if not always wholly operated.
By walking in the light and throwing off the works of darkness, we
can be both wholly owned and wholly operated by Christ and therefore
always awake to his coming, always awake and waiting on his coming
again. Advent is our time to wait on his birth at Christmas and to
anticipate his coming again at the end of the age. He comes once to
free us and again to judge us. Sitting on the judgment seat, he may
ask you: “Did you walk in the light? Did you throw off the works of
darkness? Did you stay awake?” These are your questions for the
season of Advent. Prepare your answers well. . .this will be The
Final Exam.
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