Kent Beausoleil, S.J.

Homily: Second Week of Advent – December 7, 2008

Readings: Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8

Finding Comfort . . .

I'm not exactly sure what it is, whether it was the quick shifting of gears from eating turkey and all the fixings on thanksgiving Thursday and the overstuffed tryptophan coma that followed, or whether in the business of life my mind and heart have become clouded – but whatever the reason I have not really had a chance to let the spirit of the advent season to take root and grab hold of my prayer and imagination. So, I find myself this advent season, during this shift in the liturgical life of our faith, to be a bit confused, and so, for me I find, in prayer, my heart searching for something, some spiritual theme to grasp onto, so that the beauty of this season will break through.

Further, Advent time asks all of us to juggle some interesting spiritual movements which, on one end call us to hold in tension the reality of that first Christmas and on the other end to hope for the forever future in Christ. So even though Isaiah calls us too seek comfort in a Messiah and God truly here, there still remains, underlying it all, this theme of preparation, this need to cast out anything that keeps us from welcoming Christ at his coming again. And so this season asks us, and rightly so, to hope and expect the Lord to come at any time, to live advent lives, waiting for that great and glorious day, when all will be set right. And yet, we are also asked to remember that Jesus has been born, and that God in Christ sustains our lives now, feeds us now, brings us comfort now.

So, in order to gain some spiritual balance, and to stop this 'Back to the Future', time shifting craziness --what has been helpful and clarifying, at least for me, has been to pick an Advent theme, one and only one theme, for the week. Recalling last week, there was so much going on in the world, with the schizoid economy and the violence and terror in Mumbai, that what seemed to fit the advent movement was to focus on one end of the advent spectrum, to look forward to the coming again of a Messiah to bring us sanctuary, to bring us lasting refuge, as well as to remember once again, how Bellarmine Parish, has been and will be truly a place of refuge, a place where we can pray for the coming of the Lord, by bringing our cares and concerns – a place we can find sanctuary as certain realities of our world still waits for the coming of the Lord.

And although today, this second Sunday in Advent, both Isaiah and Mark both focus on a forward looking time of a God and Messiah who will come and so we must be prepared, I find the more powerful advent theme which present itself comes from the very beginning of Isaiah, in the prophet's very first words. It seems this second week of advent, I believe, offers something that we all need to hold onto, something we all need to get reacquainted with, and that is the truth of God and of a Christ alive, here and now, a God and Christ alive and present so that we can all take comfort.

Now one of the things that you all can take comfort in, and something that the folks at the 9 am and 7 pm worshiping community last week could not, is that this homily will be more blessedly short than theirs, 'thank the Lord Jesus AMEN'! Yes, thanks to yours truly, through Father Chatty Cathy here, last week's homily, although well-received, was LONGGGGGG and no offense to any Baptists out in the pews today, we're talking 'Baptist preacher' long. And if you were present at the 9 or the 7 Mass, I apologize for the length.

Still with just over a year under my belt, and still young in this ministry of preaching, I learned a valuable lesson last week: that one of the problems of preaching is that too often it preaches. It is so very easy at times to focus on the many ways we still need to prepare the way of the Lord, to view our faith as something that needs a shot in the arm, and then we forget to see the good already present, the sprit of Christ already alive in the world, a Christ already alive in the hearts of women and men, in people who work for compassion and justice, in organizations that promote and protect humanity, who heal, and care, and support, and who bring comfort. Too often we preach out of desperation for a Christ yet to come but forget about the comforting hope of a Christ already here.

Yes, Isaiah, Peter, and Mark speak much to a people waiting on a God to save them, a people called to prepare their way for the Lord so that the glory of God can be revealed, of a people waiting for the coming of the day of God, of a people still waiting for that mighty one to rescue them. Yet, to solely focus on these words is to ignore the truth of the God, of the Christ, of the Spirit, already present, of a God who brings comfort to the people, of a comforting God who wishes none of us to perish, of a mighty savior who in his care, concern, and comfort has healed and redeemed us, of a God who has already rescued us.

So we find comfort, we find Christ, alive here in this vibrant and loving worshiping community as we look to the Saint Vincent DePaul Society and our many other social justice programs which care for the least among us and which work to make this world a more just place. We find Christ alive in the women and men ministering here in religious education programs for children, for adults, and for those interested in the Catholic faith. We find Christ alive in our worship and community together, alive in the way we care and support one another, alive at our table of thanksgiving, alive in the way we make of this place a home, and not just a house, of prayer. We find Christ alive here in this place, in these and so many other ways, and so here now, we find comfort, and our advent prayers find life.

So we find comfort, alive also in our world, when we look through the economic and violent troubles to people who live, who bring the comfort of Christ to others in need and who offer that comforting love a place and a life in our world. We can look out to our world, and know of people who bring comfort to friends or family members who are ill or dying, and know then that Christ is present. We can see the love of Christ present when communities band together to help each other during natural disasters, such as all those many volunteers that helped and continue to help, the gulf coast states after hurricane Katrina, or here as we faced this summer our own damaging hurricane winds.

We remember the messages of love, and not the ones of hate, that rose out from the ashes of the terror of 9/11 and more recently in Mumbai, and see, in those many stories of love and of a holding on to life, a Christ alive. Yes, the world is awaiting the second coming of the Messiah, but our world presents itself with so many other truths, of people, events, and situations where Christ is truly alive now. And in this world filled with the hope and love of Christ we can truly take comfort. We find Christ alive here in our world, in these and so many other ways, and we find ourselves comforted and again our advent prayers find life.

Yet, what about our own hearts, what about Christ alive in our hearts this advent, as we search within and reflect on our own faith journey, where has Christ been for us? What has given, and continues to make, Christ come alive in our hearts and imaginations this advent day? Can't we all recall moments in our own life's journey of mother's who healed wounds, of fathers who gave good advise, of social times of family and friends where being with one another brought life, of Christ comforting us in prayer when life has brought illness, suffering, and economic hard times, letting us know all will be well.

Our advent charge then, this second week of advent, is to see with new eyes, to once again come to know from the core of who we are, in and through our faith, in and through those people, those places of refuge, those life experiences of ours, that have or still continue to bring us comfort, and in them see Christ alive. We are indeed good and loving people, we have indeed a good and loving community here at Bellarmine, we have truly a world filled with goodness and love, and so Christ is alive. And as our faith in this comforting God finds new life this advent, in our hearts, in our bones, in our souls, we are comforted, and with joy this Sunday, we lift up our voices with strength as one and cry 'Behold our God'.