First Sunday of Advent_A - The True Ascent of Advent: Preparing for His Coming_113025

Deacon Tom writes,
The True Ascent of Advent: Preparing for His Coming

 

First Sunday of Advent, Year A

The Season of Advent marks the beginning of a new Liturgical year—a time of waiting, expectation, and preparation.

Expectation is what the Prophet Isaiah envisions as he looks forward to the glorious end of the age. He pictures a time when people from every nation will make their way to Jerusalem, their final destination, the place where their journey comes to an end as they:

“…climb the mountain of the Lord and arrive at the house of the God of Jacob, where they learn his ways and walk in his paths.” (Isaiah 2:3)

For many people today, the Advent journey feels like drudgery. It is a time of going to the malls and wandering through a maze of stores and kiosks. For the tech savvy, it is endless hours of searching online and calling upon retailers for overnight delivery of our digital shopping bargains. Is it any wonder that the real meaning of the season is lost in the busyness of buying gifts and preparing for the “Holidays?” The sheer exhaustion from this pace leaves little energy or time for reflection on the profound meaning of the Incarnation—the gift from God Most High who is eager to enter our world and the recesses of our hearts from his divine realm.

These words of the Prophet Isaiah as we begin this Advent season encourage us to reclaim the true journey of Advent—a pilgrimage not to a geographical Jerusalem, but to the center of our own hearts.

We don't have to pack our bags and head off to Jerusalem. Instead, we can use this spiritually enrich time as a spiritual ascent, a time of reflection to identify and resolve to overcome the obstacles that limit our growing closer to Our Lord, surmounting the mountains, if you will, that keep us from experiencing the depth and totality of God’s love for us.

This path of self-improvement and peace is our vigilance. The Gospel calls us to "stay awake" (Mark 13:33) and not let the anxieties and cares of this life make us drowsy to the Lord's coming.

The journey to overcome the hurts and scars others have caused us and to forgive them may be more difficult than climbing the highest mountains. How very difficult is it for us to change our mindsets and be open to the ways of peace as Jesus taught throughout his ministry?

Isaiah invites us to do just that in the image he presents today of recasting spears into pruning hooks.

Can we use this holy time to seek all that is necessary to find interior peace within ourselves for all that is troubling us? Can we find the time this holy season to consult and listen to the Holy Spirit to direct our lives and heal our troubled consciences for all the wrongs we have done, and all the hurts we have caused others?

I doubt there is a more difficult uphill climb than this: finding peace by yielding our thoughts and ways to the One who came to dwell among us. May we all reach higher terrain this holy and grace filled season.

Perhaps that journey begins today, with a simple five minutes of silence, listening for the direction of the Holy Spirit, or committing to a nightly reading of the Scripture for the following day.

Enjoy the day, Deacon Tom

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with several Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold of our church… those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it 

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading:  The Holy Longing by Ronald Rolheiser, OMI probes the question “What is spirituality?”, cutting through the misunderstanding and confusion that can often surround this subject with his trademark clarity.

 

Recommended Web Site: The 1st Sunday of Advent: Gospel Reflection, Year A, Fr. Tim Peters. Fr Tim unpacks the Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent – Matthew 24:37-44. A good reflection to enter in this holy season.

Fourth Sunday of Lent_A - Sin -The Bad We Do; The Good We Fail To Do_032220

Deacon Tom Writes,

Sin –The Bad We Do; The Good We Fail To Do

Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A

Today’s Gospel brings up the topic of sin from the perspective of its consequences. Jewish understanding was that if there was an illness, mental deficiency or the occurrence of some misfortune, it was attributable to sin on the part of the individual or the parent. That’s why the disciples wonder who is responsible for the man’s blindness: the man himself because of his own sins, or was it his parents’ fault, i.e. because of their sins. Jesus avoids laying blame. Rather, he says, “it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him” (Jn 9:2-3). Jesus puts an end to the notion that God employs disease to punish us for our sins. 

According to St. Thomas, “sin is nothing else than a morally bad act (St. Thomas, "De malo", 7:3), an act not in accord with reason informed by the Divine law. God has endowed us with reason and free-will, and a sense of responsibility; He has made us subject to His law, which is known to us by the dictates of conscience, and our acts must conform with these dictates, otherwise we sin.” [1]

Actual sin is committed by a free personal act of the will. It is divided into sins of commission and sins of omission. That’s right; you can actually sin by doing nothing, by failing to perform an action!! That raises the table stakes slightly, doesn’t it? Why is that? Well, sometimes we have a moral obligation to act. That’s the lesson of the Good Samaritan. You just can’t ignore someone in need. Sometimes you can’t chose not “to get involved.” 

Look at the words we recite during the Penitential Rite during Lent. We acknowledge to God and our brothers and sisters that we have wronged them by our thoughts, words, and deeds; in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do…. It’s right here. I’m not making this up…

I confess to almighty God

and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have sinned through my own fault,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done,
and in what I have failed to do;
and I ask Blessed Mary, ever Virgin,
all the angels and saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

These last few weeks of Lent are unlike any we have ever experienced. The Corona Virus is raising havoc around the world, causing unimaginable problems in the first world that in the past seemed to have only affected the third world . Who could ever imagine the Catholic Church giving dispensation for Sunday Mass? Overnight many have been cut off from their parishes which nourished their spiritual lives. Prayer and fasting, of course, are ageless Lenten practices which now seem so relevant in light of the current pandemic. But also, we can reach out via telephone calls, letters, use of social media to stay connected with one another while we curtail our social interaction. It is time to show that we are people of faith by trusting in God and not getting caught up in the fear that seems to be the order of the day. There is still a lot of Lent to go. In the days ahead may God give us the courage and ability to recognize our many faults and the grace to change our ways for the better. 

Keep the faith and Trust in God! 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

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[1] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14004b.htm