The need to stay awake.

Homily

1^st Sunday of Advent

27^th November 2022

As this is the first Sunday of Advent, the Church begins a new year. The Psalm talks of the joy the people had going into God’s house. The people wanted to give praise to our Lord’s name and there was peace all around.

Paul’s letter to the Romans encourages everyone to wake up as our salvation is near. At this time, we reflect on how close we are to Christmas when we celebrate Christ coming into the world as a child. God becoming flesh and living amongst us. A fragile baby, needing the support of his mother Mary and Joseph who was asked by Gabriel to be Jesus’s human father. Not an easy job. Joseph had to suspend his concerns of following the law and to commit to being Mary’s husband. He had faith, as did Mary, that God would take care of them both. They were each there to support one another.

The Gospel of Matthew reinforces the need to stay awake because Jesus will arrive like a thief in the night, and so we need to be prepared because we have no idea when the Son of Man will appear.

Yet we are reassured that when the time comes Christ Jesus will have authority over all nations. There will be no need for weapons of destruction, and no-one will have to train to be soldiers. All thoughts of war will be over. There will be joy and there will be peace.

Christmas is a time for giving. Many begin to worry about what to get for each member of the family. When I was small, there was an apple, an orange, some sweets, an Airfix model of a boat or plane, and, if you were lucky, a Scalextric racing car set or Hornby railway set. Most of these you can still get today though the Harry Potter Hogwarts Express will set you back nearly as much as my first car.

Though these items are still available, the Apple isn’t edible, and many can be tempted into artificial reality becoming fully immersed in a digital universe, disconnected from everything around them.

Perhaps there is another way?

This Sunday has been designated as Volunteer Sunday. To allow this parish to function there are many volunteers who dedicate time and effort to making our experience of going to Church a little more meaningful. The sacristans, the eucharistic ministers, the cleaners, the choirs and musicians, the readers, the parish pastoral team, those who help run the parish halls, those who collect and count the offertory collections, those who prepare the flowers at different seasons or events, those who help raise funds by putting on concerts and the help the football club gave and others as church stewards during the pandemic. These are just a few. There are many more and I am sorry if I missed you out, but you are included.

It would be good to give these people applause for all the voluntary work they give to help the parish, to say thank you.

In the past year, we have lost a few of our cherished volunteers either through death or simply they have reached a point where their family needs them and so they have had to resign from their positions or cut down on the amount of time they can give.

This being Volunteer Sunday, which the Diocese intends to repeat each year on the first Sunday of Advent, we wish to ask for your help. Just a couple of hours every now and then so that those who are already volunteering don’t get burnt out and exhausted. The more volunteers we have the easier it becomes for everyone.

So, over Advent, have to think of how you might be able to contribute in some way, as a volunteer. I have mentioned only a few things but there could be others, things we have not thought about but would be ideal to help build up the parish. Are there societies we should think about organising such as The Legion of Mary, St. Vincent de Paul, Bible Studies, Rosary groups, or Prayer groups to help get people out and about with a cup of tea afterwards?

Ways to discuss what our faith is about and to share our stories of being Catholics. There are people searching to find their spiritual home, like I was thirty eighty years ago, questioning what I believed and eventually finding my home in this Church. Each of us has something to offer that can be shared with others to help enrich our experience of being a church, the people who are the body of Christ.

Like the Israelites stepping within the gates of Jerusalem, we could all rejoice in hearing people say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’ The time is near, our salvation is at hand. Let us wake up to the possibilities we have to make our church become a welcoming place for all who are searching for Christ.

• Likes
• Download2
• Share