3rd Sunday of Advent
3rd Sunday of Advent
December 14, 2014
Prayers for the 7 billion
How paradoxical the Church establishes a calendar to consider Advent the beginning of the Liturgical Year when the world surrounding us seems to be closing its year.
It is the month of December—the last month of the calendar year; we are busy planning for the religious and national holidays coming much too quickly; we are finishing our fall semester in schools, corporations are awaiting fiscal results of operations; many are preparing for year end festivities, people are awaiting bonuses if such is part of their economic system and so many other activities. Yet, we are prompted to think about Advent—the beginning.
We are awaiting to commemorate as we do annually the marvelous events that occurred before and during the time of Christ’s Birth. Mary and Joseph both had to be most anxious; they sensed their life was filled with mystery and no doubt such mystery would continue; we cannot begin to imagine the faith that such a situation required. Amidst their fear, there must have been excitement about a child to be born.
I appreciate the Season of Advent and the many blessings of the Christmas season. However, I am not comfortable with the nostalgia it generates each year. Many individuals and churches will not complete the Nativity Set with the statue of Jesus until Midnight. It seems to me that we behave as if Jesus has not already been born, lived, suffered, died, rose and ascended to Heaven.
Jesus’ presence and spirit among us is meant to be a challenge, to be an inspiration, to be our motivation for wanting to strive for perfection. It is not meant that Jesus is to be born every year on December 25th. Indeed, the commemoration of the great event is lifechanging only if it deepens our convictions to live as Jesus did and, even more so, to be willing to die for our beliefs as Jesus did.
So, yes, I look forward to the Season of Advent and for me it is an opportunity to set aside time for solitude, contemplation, more intense prayer with a greater concern for those with whom I share humanity.
I pray for loved ones, living and deceased; I pray for family, for relatives, friends, companions and other sacred people who have influenced and blessed my life. My prayer always includes the seven billion of us who comprise this planet community in 2014. I beg God to bless all seven billion of us and to guide us in all we are and do. I pray very especially for the millions of people throughout our world who suffer from famine or homelessness, who lack basic necessities of life while approximately 5% of this planet community live well and among the 5 % some even live extravagantly. Advent is a time for us to truly pray for equality–the sacred right of every one of us to have at least the basics of life and more.
These are not God’s problems; these are our problems. We have created them and it is only we who can deepen our consciousness of them and then be convinced that each of us is responsible to do something to better the situation.
This Advent particularly, I anguish deeply for racial equality and justice. Most of the 7 billion of us are of color; those among us who are Caucasian are the “minority” to use a familiar term. Yet, we witness during these holydays of Advent the tragedy of Ferguson, Missouri and New York City where men of color are killed. We know the USA prison system contains over 2 million inmates, most of them young, of color, males, many still in their teens or early twenties.
So during this Advent let us not prepare to: “Born Jesus” once again as if for the first time. Let us know the Spirit of God our Creator, Our Parent—Mother, Father – the spirit of Jesus are among us, are fully present to and with us, challenging us to be the human presence of the Divine in our world, each to, with and for one another!
