Father Bob's Reflections

Dear Friends,

Sunday, November 28th begins the Advent season for the liturgical Christian churches.  Funny enough, we begin at the end — thinking about THE END – the end of the world.  The early Christians believed Jesus was coming “soon and very soon.” The early generation of Christians thought the end would come soon.  Jerusalem fell in 70 CE but Jesus didn’t come.

Paul admonishes us in Romans today:

“Now is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;
the night is advanced, the day is at hand.
Let us then throw off the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light.”

And Jesus also admonishes us in today’s gospel (Mt 24:37-44)

” Stay awake !

For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. . . . .

You must be prepared,

for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

.

Now here’s my reflection:

Prepared / watchful / alert / aware / awake

knowing what’s happening

. . .  but so many of us are asleep, Lord.

We tend to not recognize the signs of the times.

We often dull our senses / stay in our own little worlds.

Choosing not to care.   Complacent.

Many don’t want to be bothered pondering or praying about the real issues

And thus, we go like lemmings over the cliff.

Tribulations. Fear.  Threats

. . . of losing our job / having a lump in our breast /

losing health insurance because we lost our job

global warming

corruption on Wall Street and government

swine flu / chemical warfare/ cyber war

Stand erect. Face your fears with courage.

Be strong!

Do not fear the terror of the night (Psalm 91.)

That’s what Advent faith is all about:

Being vigilant.  Being prepared for anything life throws at us.

Standing proudly humble or humbly proud no matter what.

That’s the kind of faith in life — in You, my God that I seek.

I want it. I ask you for it.

Today I consent to it.

Amen.  So be it.

Now here’s a song to get you in an Advent mood from Godspell

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All the best,

Have a wonderful Advent!

Bob Traupman

priest / writer