Advent Message Series - What Are You Waiting For? - Week 4 - Make Room

We come to the final segment of our Advent message series entitled, What Are You Waiting For? … and more importantly we come to the end of the Advent season ... a time to ready our hearts for Jesus.

For the last four weeks, we have been walking and praying, and thinking about the meaning in our own spiritual lives about FOCUS, OBEY, and REJOICE. This week we come to the theme of MAKE ROOM.

I’m not so sure about you, but I really need to work on MAKING ROOM, not only for the Lord, but making room in my life – a sort of spiritual and physical decluttering. I find that sometimes, we can allow ourselves to fill our days, our minds, our hearts and even our houses with so much, that essentially we’ve blocked room for all the important stuff, not the least of which is space for our Lord.

The #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, also a Netflix series, entitled Tidying Up with Marie Kondo: The Original Guide to Decluttering Your Home Once and For All is insightful and may even be helpful for our spiritual lives and reflections this week.

Maybe you’re familiar with the pint-sized, joyful minimalist Marie Kondo, author of the The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up and star of the previously-referenced Netflix show. But in addition to everything one can learn from her, other than how to fold, organize, and declutter, perhaps on this fourth Sunday of Advent we can also explore four lessons in that same vein that can spark more joy in our life.

1. LEARN HOW TO LET GO

Oftentimes, it can feel hard to throw away something that we’ve classified as sentimental. Such things might include scrapbooks with old photos, wedding invitations, birthday cards from fifteen years ago, all stashed away in drawers, closets, and under the bed. It can surely feel difficult to part with them, but the truth is that our relationships are experiences not contained within an object.

What about spiritually – what bad memories, experiences, thoughts, etc. can we let go? – things that produce negative energy … that are taking up space? Think of a few now ... We can’t move forward unless we’re willing to let go of the past – especially those items that are toxic, preventing us from experiencing and sharing true joy.

2. LEARN HOW TO HAVE GRATITUDE FOR EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE

I’m sure that many of us have felt the rush of purchasing a new suit, shirt, vestment, tie, blouse, outfit, whatever, only to wake up the next day, certain that there’s something else we need to buy in order to feel happy. We can make a conscious choice to appreciate what we have, rather than always seeking for more.

What about with spiritual things? Gifts, that come to us from God? Are we connected to precisely how special we really are in God’s eyes, or are we always looking for what we don’t have … comparing ourselves to others? Let’s take a moment to be grateful for the gifts that God has given us.

3. LEARN TO SPEND LESS TIME TENDING TO POSSESSIONS

We can spend time browsing the latest trends, only to find that when we buy new things, we have to wash, store, and organize them. In the morning, we’re sorting through piles of mismatched socks, or tripping over piles of books, or wondering where to put the 5th set of china … Surely, every item we purchase has the potential to bring us joy, but they also cost us. They cost money, time, and energy.

This time of the year is a good time to pare down our possessions, freeing up time and resources we can use to actually enjoy life – perhaps even in serving someone else.

4. LEARN HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE NEW

Whether we want a new job, a new relationship, a new group of friends, new furniture, or maybe even new flatware, we need to make room. When we’re so busy tending to our possessions, life can’t bring us anything new.

When we’re barely able to function in our current mess, the presence of God, and his little voice both inside and outside us is drowned out by everything else.

If we want a new or better relationship with God, we need to create space for God … a physical and spiritual clearing out of so many things taking up unnecessary space.

One blogger wrote that the mind loves complexity, whereas spirit keeps things simple. Spirit is content and appreciative of all things. It doesn’t chase after more. All spiritual masters live simply.

Think about what’s happening in the first reading today from the second book of Samuel, the text reads:

When King David was settled in his palace,

and the LORD had given him rest from his enemies on every side,

he said to Nathan the prophet,

“Here I am living in a house of cedar,

while the ark of God dwells in a tent!”

In other words, David feels a little awkward since he's living in a nice house made of fine cedar wood, but God's Ark is just roughing it in a tent. He suggests maybe building a temple to the prophet Nathan—and Nathan says David should do what he thinks best.

But that night, what does God say? God's voice speaks to Nathan and tells him that he actually hasn't had a problem living in a tent all these years. God reminds Nathan that he's never asked any of the former tribal leaders of Israel to build him a temple—and he won't ask David, either.

In other words, the presence of God can and probably is found in simplicity – not necessarily in a cedar house, nor even in any of the big houses around us … God’s presence can be found even in a tent … if we make space.

Soon, we will celebrate the birth of Jesus … not born of rich or noble parents, nor from a fancy town, nor in a luxurious house … instead born of simple parents, from a nothing town … in a stable.

We’re at the 4th Sunday of Advent … perhaps it’s time for us to declutter … spiritually and otherwise … to simplify … to let go …

Christmas is almost here … and Christ wants us to make room for him … so, What are we waiting for?

RSM

Advent Message Series - What Are You Waiting For? - Week 3 - Rejoice

We continue our Advent message series entitled, What are you waiting for? From first reflecting on FOCUS, to last week’s theme OBEY, and now this week REJOICE! And the color of the Advent wreath candle and vestments on this Gaudete Sunday remind us that Christmas is almost near … and we are called to REJOICE! Even for someone who does not come to Church, the ability to know that the Lord is near should be evident from us … the Christians who practice faith and follow Jesus … our words, actions and temperaments are called to reflect a joyful nature. Unfortunately, many Catholic Christians are miserable, unhappy human beings. But why? Surely there are many reasons, here’s a few: 1. Being religious does not make a person a Christian. There are a lot of legalistic or fundamental individuals that believe in the words of the Scripture at face value. They take the words from the inspired Word of God and try to force fit the text into the context of a living situation of 2020. It just doesn’t work … and when that forcing backfires, it makes the “believer” unhappy, perhaps even miserable. 2. We live in an unjust world. There’s just no way around that. While America may be called a “Christian nation,” it’s not as Christian as it’s marketed. So when the believer sees the activity of people, corporations, and even family members not living up to Christian principles, it can make one frustrated, angry, and even miserable … especially when that person is really trying him/herself to live the Christian life. The environment and culture can be a very dog eat dog world and it can really make one unhappy. 3. There are many Christians that have not managed their emotions well. They have taken their eyes off of God. And have placed them on what they can see in front of them. Plain and simple. Being a Christian isn’t for the faint of heart, and we cannot have only one foot in the life. When one sees those who are merely dabbling in Christianity seemingly having a better life, it can trigger bitter, angry, even hostile emotions. 4. We are created in the image and likeness of God. That means we are called to grow more and more in God’s image. Some have spent their whole life trying to re-make God in their image, rather than the opposite … and we wonder why the joy is missing! Each of these illustrates situations, and reasons perhaps, that may explain why others are miserable, unhappy Christians, but remember, it’s not about them … our spiritual life is our responsibility. And when each of us meets God face to face, God’s not gonna ask you about me, or your husband or your wife, or your kids, or your parents, or anyone else, no, God’s gonna ask you about you ... Did you rejoice always? Did you pray without ceasing? Did you give thanks in all circumstances? Did you discern the will of God for you in Christ Jesus? Or did you complain, discourage, intimidate, discourage, and become an all-around toxic person? Let’s take a little test, and allow this illustration to help us: Coal miners know that dangerous gases can gather silently and secretly in the tunnels. Carbon monoxide will asphyxiate them. Methane explodes. But in the early days of coal mining, they found an effective, low-tech solution: They brought canaries into the mines. A canary’s metabolism is very sensitive to air quality. As long as the bright yellow birds chirp and sing, miners know the air is safe. If gas levels rise, the canaries stop singing, wobble on their perch, and eventually fall to the floor of the cage. Christian joy is like that singing, yellow bird. One of the first effects of sin and a sign that we are on the road to spiritual sickness and even spiritual death is that we lose our joy in Christ. When our heart stops singing, that is a warning to watch our spiritual life more closely. Are you in spiritual danger? This Third Sunday of Advent gives us a chance to take a look, a real, hard, honest look at ourselves. Have you lost or are you losing your joy? Joy is one of the vital gauges on the dashboard of the Christian life. When the needle dips — when we lose our joy — we should take note. To stay safe, we need to pay attention to our joy. And this applies to me and all priests too! We are not exempt from this sickness. Jesus’s Joy is in each one of us. Jesus himself connected our daily spiritual life with joy. The Gospels tell us that, If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love … These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:10–11) And we are reminded not to confuse this unique joy with other upbeat feelings. Genuine Christian joy is not the power of positive thinking. Joy is not a bubbly, optimistic personality. Joy is not being happy because life is going my way. Joy is not walking through life with a naïve, glass-half-full attitude. Jesus says it is my joy . . . in you. And Paul says, Rejoice in the Lord. Joy is the emotion of salvation. It is the joy of seeing, knowing, loving, and trusting Jesus Christ. We cannot generate this true joy ourselves — it is the product of the Holy Spirit in us (Galatians 5:22). Joy is a glorious gladness and deep delight in the person of Jesus Christ.

And such joy cannot be extinguished by the circumstances of life. It is a God-given joy greater and stronger than any trouble that comes into my life. Coal miners know that if the canary is not singing, there is trouble on the way. So, rejoice in the Lord! If your heart is not singing, if your soul is not rejoicing in God, there still time to change … So, What are we waiting for? RSM

Advent Message Series - What Are You Waiting For? - Week 2 - Obey

We continue our Advent message series entitled What are you waiting for? Last week we looked at FOCUS. I hope that during the Thanksgiving preparations and festivities, regardless of how scaled back or full they may have been, that you were able to take some time and focus a bit more on your relationship with God. Sometimes it seems as if we have so many excuses about that spiritual project and we feel that we’ll get around to it … and we never do. But I’ve realized over the years that we need to just do it – take time, think, meditate and pray … everyday. Sometimes, everything else can and should wait! On Thanksgiving, I was able to focus and take some time in the afternoon for a good walk through our parish cemetery. I’m always inspired not only thinking about the lives of the people in the graves you’ve entrusted to us, but also by how many of you come and visit and decorate and pray at the graves and tombs of those you love. For many, the visits are to deceased parents, who were the first ones to pass on the Catholic faith – learning to love God and neighbor. For others, sadly it’s parents coming to visit the grave of a child – even some little ones whose parents never got to see them grow up and live their life. Both are signs to me of people who know the meaning of OBEY – children obeying parents and parents obeying the obligation to care for children, even in death. In the New International Version of the Bible, the word 'obey' is mentioned 223 times – so it begs the question, What is the Lord asking us to do, to OBEY in the Scriptures on this second Sunday of Advent? … and then …What are we waiting for? The word PREPARE appears five times in the readings this week. It seems to me then, that in obedience, we are asked to PREPARE … prepare our hearts, prepare our minds, prepare our homes for the coming of the Lord … not only at Christmas, but for our final meeting with him, the one that will take place face to face. And I can hear in the depths of my soul, kind of like a persistent parent, how many times do I have to tell you … prepare!? And while there is a bit of a penitential nature to the season, Advent is not a call to recognize our sin, but it is rather an invitation to change our lives. The hardest thing in the world is perhaps to change our lives. Some people shake at the mention of the word change. The Gospel introduces us to John the Baptist coming out of the desert, the last of the great prophets. It’s been over a hundred years since the people of Israel, the children of Israel, had seen and heard a prophet. And he is very recognizable, because he is dressed like Elijah the prophet, the clothes are Elijah the prophet, the words are the excitement of Elijah the prophet — the greatest prophet who never wrote a word but was the greatest and the first of the great prophets of Israel. And they all have the same message. The Lord has come. Prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord. Prepare yourself. Make straight His paths. What he means by that is … straighten yourselves out. We all know that in obedience to God’s will, there are many things about ourselves that we need to straighten out … even and especially when no one else is looking. We can sometimes be caught up with what everyone else sees and think that we forget the greatest reality … God sees everything. He knows us even from before we were in our mother’s womb ... and God challenges us to straighten out. Surely, there are many ways we can do so: · Being honest with yourself. · Being truthful to others. · Taking care of yourself. · Taking care of others. · Not pretending to be something that you’re not … and so much more! Advent gives us a time to make straight the path, so that the Lord can come and nestle into our hearts and make us transparent and open, make each of us no longer afraid to be who we really are, because in His eyes we are much richer than anything we could ever buy and much higher in His eyes than we could ever make of ourselves among each other. It is indeed God Himself who comes to walk down the straight paths and into our hearts. And to prepare, we are called to obey His Word, to prepare his Kingdom, and to focus on God’s presence here and now. I read recently that Albert Einstein, when he was told that the Declaration of Independence in America was “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” used to say the pursuit of happiness is for idiots. That’s kind of startling. But what he meant was this … They said, “Well, what should we pursue?” He said: You should pursue truth. You should pursue beauty. Not running around trying to be happy, happy, happy, buying things, doing things that will make you happy, happy, happy. Because they’re never going to make you happy.

On the other hand,

… if you pursue truth, if you pursue the things that are really what your own hearts hunger for — love, forgiveness, compassion — these are the truths that are worth laying your life down for. And that is what Jesus comes to give us – all of us, even despite our weaknesses and our sins. He comes not only to teach us, He comes to live it with us. Advent gives us the chance to FOCUS, to OBEY and to PREPARE. And this is what John the Baptist was saying when he challenges us to PREPARE. He is saying make straight the paths because God Himself is coming. And when he comes, he is going to take us into a world that we cannot dream of. But it will be a world very unlike the one we’re in now, living in fear, constant threats, all these things. And He will make and keep us safe. And He will make us whole. This Second Sunday of Advent we are called in obedience to PREPARE … to prepare ourselves for the new world, for the world of heaven … so, it’s already December 6, What are we waiting for? RSM