Prepare the Way
As you notice by the lighting of the 2nd candle it’s the beginning of
the 2nd week of Advent today as we hear Paul telling the people of Philippi to
be filled with joy as they wait the day of Christ and in the Gospel of Luke we
hear the historical context of the coming of John the Baptist and his mission of
preparing the Jewish people for the coming of Christ by repenting of their sins
and purifying themselves by being baptized in the waters of the Jordan.
Luke puts the powerful words of prophecy from Isaiah on the lips of John
“Prepare a pathway for the Lord, make straight His path”.
To be in the season of Advent...to he really “here” and present in it, is
to dream dreams of how it will be when God is in charge and to live
accordingly by preparing a way for His coming.
We are called to have an Advent heart and soul, to believe
that things in our lives can change and that God will act through us and in any
way He finds necessary.
Making straight the way of the Lord is a great metaphor for our o wn life’s
advent journey. Each of us can readily identify faults and habits and sins we
want to eliminate form our lives and Advent resents us with an opportunity to
face up to the reality of where we are spiritually and how our spiritual lives
animate or fail to animate our daily living.
Each year at this time the Church in its wisdom calls us to
consider how we are preparing for His coming into our lives, how we can
straighten the path to Him in how truly look into our own hearts to discern
where are the mountains of our pride and where are the valleys of our mistrust..
What are we doing to make the path of Christ to others a bit easier? Are you an
instrument of easier access or an obstacle to others in finding Jesus in their
lives?
Just as John the Baptist called out to others to prepare the way of the Lord, by
announcing and welcoming Jesus into their lives so too we are called to do the
same. And we announce the good news of Jesus coming to others through how we not
only live our lives prepared for Him but how we reach out to others in welcome
and bring Jesus to them.
So here’s a three step program this Advent to follow to make straight His path in our lives:
I can’t stress strongly enough the importance of the sacrament of
reconciliation to prepare yourself. If you haven’t been for a short or for
a long while that’s ok, tell the priest and then open up your heart as he
helps you embrace Jesus loving mercy and forgiveness which is beyond our
understanding.
Set aside some time every day for prayer and receive the Eucharist often. We all need to spend some time in this busy season listening to God through scripture and welcoming him into our lives by participating in the miracle of his coming each time we receive the Eucharist.
Be a Proactive Catholic Christian. Jesus tells us very clearly not to keep the light of His love under a bushel basket but to let it shine out to others. This is a special period in which to reach out to others who have been away and to welcome them back to our family faith table, to our Church. Jesus was the ultimate proactive welcome by offering literally all He had of His human life reaching out to others and we all share in the priestly mission to spread the good news by virtue of our baptism.
A great opportunity to be proactive, meaning you take the initiative to reach
out to others will present itself starting on December 16th. This is an
opportunity and a call to all Catholics to take ownership of our faith and to
reach out with it to others in great joy to invite in those who have been away.
Recently I spoke to all confirmation students about Eucharistic Adoration and I
asked them to cheer out loud I love being Catholic, I love being Catholic, I
love being Catholic and lastly I yelled out Why? And a great silence came across
the room filled with over 100 students. When I said we have the Eucharist,
Christ physically present with us, we compiled the scriptures, and have
preserved sacred tradition for over 2000 years, with clear and unwavering
teaching, rich liturgies, rituals and music their eyes opened and they agreed
that it’s something to be proud of. These commercials will stir up that
pride in Catholicism, not as better than others but as the completeness of a
very special gift directly from Jesus to man.
The dioceses of Joliet, Chicago and Rockford have pooled resources to sponsor a series of TV commercials produced by Catholicscomehome.org which will be presented with great frequency from December 16th through January 24th on all major networks, cable and Spanish and polish channels with up to 15 exposures per viewer to over 9.5 million people in northern Illinois.
These are powerful 1 minute, 30 second and 15 second
informational and testimonial ads which directly address the role of the
Catholic Church in the development f civilization for over 2000 years and
directly addressing the very reasons some people have left the Church with warm
and direct testimonials.
In the phoenix diocese over 97000 people responded to these commercials and over
7000 people returned to Church. IN our diocese we can only pray that the
response will be even bigger.
So our opportunity is right here right now to become proactive
Catholic Christians. A cross ministry team has been established to welcome
and to provide a return path to all who respond to these ads but we all need to
rise to this opportunity to make a difference right here at St Elizabeth Seton.
We will welcome many new members but they will soon leave if they don’t feel
part of us or reached out to or appreciated or are ignored.
What can you all do? Become proactive and start today. I’m challenging St
Elizabeth Seton to become a model parish for welcoming and inviting active
participation and I truly believe we can do it.
And it’s not difficult!
When we greet each other at the beginning of Mass give your name and say with a smile and eye contact “it’s good to see you today”.
When we take our seats coming to Church move to the center and leave room on the ends of pews for people who come not to have to climb over you to join us.
When you ask someone “how are you today?” look into their eyes and wait for an answer
When you see someone who is looking around at the environment or the Church be sure to acknowledge what they are looking at and say “isn’t the Church beautiful? Then if they say we’re new here offer to show them around after Mass, and accompany them to the welcome desk for a free welcome gift after Mass.
Sing! If someone who has been away hears you singing and feels everyone around singing they will be lifted up with the joy of our music, but if we are just listening, they will feel self conscious and not stimulated to join in. When we attend a sports event from kids soccer to a college game we leave the event hoarse from cheering and singing the fight songs. Are these events more important than singing praise to God?
After Mass if someone has a nice voice compliment them and ask if they ever were in the choir. A conversation could begin.
No matter who it is passing you buy say “it’s good to see you”
It’s these little things that leverage the sprit of fellowship in the body of Christ. No Catholics say that Catholics “mail it in” meaning that they don’t actively participate in the celebration of the Eucharist. Say the responses loud, sing out.
Let’s change the paradigm of shyness and avoidance from
extolling our faith and from this Advent forward make St Elizabeth Seton a model
of welcoming and a lighthouse guiding those in our community back to church.
Let’s fill these pews, not just at Christmas but at every Mass. It’s not
in the priest and Deacon’s hands to this alone its all our responsibility.
Advent 2009 Andy Cirmo