Thanksgiving is over, and now we’re heading into the season of Christmas. And this season of waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ, we are now celebrating today as the first Sunday of Advent. The four weeks of Advent symbolizes the four millennia of waiting from Adam to Jesus of Nazareth. (Yes, I know the early church got their scientific history wrong…!) In a secular sense, this season of Advent can be considered as a time for shopping in advance for Christmas.
There are many themes of Advent. We can easily think about the theme of “coming” as Advent means “coming” in Latin. How about waiting or longing? We’re waiting and longing for the coming of Jesus, the coming of God becoming flesh in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Another theme is being alert or awake as Jesus in our gospel reading urges us. I want us to ask ourselves some serious questions this morning. What are we really waiting for? What’s it that we are hoping to see? What are we expecting to see? Are we genuinely longing to see the coming of Jesus? Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest, and geologist once said, “We persist in saying that we keep vigil in expectation of the Master. But in reality, we should have to admit, if we were sincere, that we no longer expect anything. The flame must be revived at all costs. At all costs, we must renew in ourselves the desire and the hope for the great coming.” I think de Chardin’s comment on the lack of expectation for the coming of Jesus has some truth to our reality. Nowadays, it is quite unclear exactly what it is that we desire. And as Christians what do we want to see in our world? So, let us ask ourselves again, “How much do we really expect the coming of Jesus?” If you have a strong desire, a longing heart for his coming, that’s wonderful! You’re blessed. That is a gift from God. It is my prayer that you keep that holy flame burning. If you, however, have no expectation whatsoever, that is also okay because you are probably not alone. There are lots of people who can join your boat. You will see me as well! Whether we have that expectation or not, there’s one place we should go deep down in our hearts to keep the flame burning for those with expectations, and to revive that flame for those with no expectations. Going deep down sounds a bit abstract, but it’s rather simple. So, I’m actually going to invite all of us to explore together an exercise of going deep down. You want to give it a try? Take a deep breath in and out. Feel your chest being expanded as you breathe in. And as you breathe out, you can go deep down in your belly where there are no words necessary. When you breathe out, and reach to that deep place, and hold your breath for a second or two, it might make you feel grounded or a bit alone or even lonely. It might feel like a void or an abyss, something empty, dark, or even melancholic. It feels a bit risky to go there, because very often we feel a little down or gloomy in that place. But in that empty place or an abyss, we can actually sense a glimpse of our longing for wholeness, our yearning for oneness and communion, and our desire for the coming of Jesus. Without this longing for Jesus, we cannot be alert or awake or watchful as Jesus urges us in today’s gospel reading. Without this longing for Jesus, we won’t know even when Jesus comes to us. When there’s nothing to look forward, why bother to be awake? Black Friday doesn’t mean much to those who already have a 50 inch TV! Noah shows how to be alert and awake. He doesn’t know when the flood is going to take place. As he’s waiting for the flood, he builds his ark, following God’s instruction. Even after the flood comes, his waiting process doesn’t end right away. He has to wait until it’s safe to get out of his ark. Interestingly the ark doesn’t have windows on the sides. It has only one window on the roof. So Noah and his family are only allowed to see the sky. They don’t see what’s happening in the flood. We can imagine dead bodies of people floating in the water… Looking at the window on the roof, Noah must look upon God only. He’s to look at life, not where death is taking place. I think this picture of Noah’s ark gives an image of our hearts. In our hearts, there’s only one window through which we look at God’s kingdom coming in Jesus Christ. We may, at times, not look at the window at all because we get so caught up in our cares and occupations. As we look at the window high above in our hearts, we move towards God, we become Christ-ward. Using a traditional term, we call this “repentance.” It’s not so much about making ourselves guilty and miserable, but really about turning ourselves towards God and our neighbor. It’s “change of heart.” It’s a “fundamental transformation of our outlook, a new way of looking at ourselves, at others, and at God.” Our eyes looking at the window of the heart are same as our longing for the coming of Jesus. So, during this season of Advent, I invite all of us to go deep down in our hearts where we find our ark. And in that ark of our hearts, we will see the window on the roof. If you look around, there are no windows on the sides, but only on top. Let’s look through that window, let’s long for God’s presence of Jesus Christ. Let’s yearn for oneness and communion with God and our neighbor, and strangers. This all sounds too metaphorical. I would like to suggest two practices that might help you deepening your longing for Jesus. One is your prayer life. Try to pray the Lord’s Prayer three times a day during this season. And whenever you can, pray the Jesus Prayer. The Jesus Prayer is called the Prayer of the Heart. It’s short and simple: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.” Another practice is to find a glimpse of Jesus in others. In your conversation with your family, friends, or colleagues, seek Jesus in them. Jesus will show himself like a thief in the middle of the night. He will reveal himself at an unexpected time in an unexpected person. One last thing… Even if you don’t succeed finding Jesus in others, there’s nothing to worry. Jesus always comes to us, into our bodies at the feast of the Eucharist. May we welcome his coming in us as we partake his Body and Blood at the Eucharist today the first Sunday of Advent. In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Santi. Amen. |
Paul"...life up your love to that cloud [of unknowing]...let God draw your love up to that cloud...through the help of his grace, to forget every other thing." Archives
January 2025
|