GUEST BLOGGER - IS IT TIME TO RETURN TO THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION?

Guest Blogger:  I am happy to have as our Guest Blogger today Deacon Michael Petkosek.  He won't be a deacon much longer as he will (if God wills it!) become a priest for the Diocese of Cleveland this spring.  Here is a reflection he gave on returning to Confession in the advent season.  Thank you Deacon Petkosek.  Please keep him & his class in your prayers!

My return to the active practice of the faith took place on a Saturday afternoon in 2006. I was a young professional and had just begun my career at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. The ruckus of college living had by then settled into a more mature focus on career and the necessities of life. Spurred by the disciplined atmosphere at Wright-Patterson of serving something beyond oneself, I began a serious reflection on faith and the state of my life. It had been years since I last celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation and I knew that I had misarranged my life during that intervening time. And so it was that I turned off college football on this particular autumn Saturday, sat in the corner of my bedroom, and practiced out loud the words of an honest confession. Then I went to the local parish to come face to face with God through his priest, and found the welcoming forgiveness of the Prodigal Father. I was home.

Returning to the Sacrament of Reconciliation can be difficult if we have been away. Often, as in my case, the weight of a misdirected life compels us to return and we find ourselves finally running in desperation to the Church and her ministry. But that is not necessarily everyone’s story, and sometimes we may need the right situation to draw us toward this sacrament that we know ourselves to need. Advent is that situation.

The Season of Advent is the turning of the liturgical year for the Church. It is a time of hope that anticipates Christmas and invites us to renew and deepen our life in Christ. A feeling of resolution pervades the whole Church as she resets her calendar, and the opportunity for a fresh start calls us to make resolutions in our practice of the faith that will enrich our lives this Christmas, over the coming year, and for the eternity of our existence.

An examination of Christ’s ministry may help to lessen our fears if we are struggling with the courage to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We should keep in mind that when it comes to the forgiveness of sins, we are dealing with something that Christ did during his time on earth. The Evangelists clearly regarded Jesus as someone who possessed the authority to forgive sins and exercised this divine prerogative. We need to look no further than Jesus’ encounters with the paralytic in Mark’s Gospel, the woman caught in adultery of John’s Gospel, or the sinful woman forgiven in Luke’s Gospel to find the early Church’s profession of faith in Jesus’ ministry of forgiveness. We should also be encouraged by the reality that it is this same ministry that continues in the Church. It is in John’s Gospel, where the Last Supper Narrative most directly relates to the continuation of Jesus’ work through service to others, that these words are attributed to our Lord, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you… Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them…” (20:21-23). There is not a more clear Biblical account that situates the forgiveness of sins as an action of the Church. 

Coming to grips with our sinfulness can be scary. But, we should not let ourselves be fooled by the false notion of God as an administrator of punishment. The Good News is that God loves us in the midst of our sin and is constantly at work in drawing us to himself, even when this takes the form of being called back to God—like my experience of return from a misarranged life. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the other half of the story is the Prodigal Father who never stops loving his wayward son. The father so hopes for his son’s return that, upon seeing him afar off, runs to meet him and never speaks of the incident in any other manner than my son has returned. The son had suffered the consequences of his actions—the effects of sin—but these are repaired upon returning to his father. The son is restored immediately by a father who longs for his presence. This Prodigal Father is God and the entire parable represents the experience of our sin. God is always eager for our return and the Sacrament of Reconciliation brings us back into the Father’s house, clothed with dignity, as the Prodigal Son was restored to his father’s house.

The celebration of the sacrament is meant to be an experience much like a Gospel encounter with Christ. We should say to the priest what we would say to Jesus if we were a penitent who encountered Jesus in a Gospel story, for indeed we are. The stern formality once associated with the sacrament exists today only as a caricature portrayed by the entertainment media. Instead, the rubrics of the liturgical rite that guide the celebration of the sacrament are almost transparent and are intended to facilitate a conversation. The priest is to serve as a visible instance of God’s welcome and mercy, someone who helps us to experience what the paralytic, the woman caught in adultery, and the sinful woman once experienced. The Church’s intention is to invite us to make a thoughtful examination of our conscience—to help us evaluate our circumstances honestly as did the Prodigal Son. We are not necessarily directed to produce an exhaustive list our venial sins, but a state of our life at the present moment; we should talk about sinfulness as much as we name specific instances of sin. Of course, any grave sins that an examination does reveal to us need to be named specifically in the confession. 

As we approach Advent, my hope is that you will desire to encounter Christ through his ongoing ministry in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Father desires this privileged encounter with his mercy for you; the priest in the confessional is the Prodigal Father running to meet you. I can attest that that Saturday in 2006 was a Gospel story that has been added to the entirety of Christ’s work. In the Story of the Young Professional, I am as a contemporary of the Prodigal Son. May this Advent lead you to the same joy, especially if you have been away. 

MONDAY DIARY: PONDEROUS PONDERINGS

This isn't exactly a comic Monday, just something that has been tickling my brain lately.  It occurred to me that Christmas doesn't hold up to the light very well.  During the day you plainly see the DNR yard inflatables laying slain in people's front yards, the wires and extension cords of Christmas lights clearly running through trees, and stakes and ropes holding fake reindeer to the ground.

At night it is quite beautiful however - even magical.  All the mechanics disappear and only the pretty aspects shine through.

The religious aspect is exactly the opposite.  It seems silly and gaudy to those "in the dark" if you will allow me the use of that phrase for the sake of analogy, but in the Light, it is beautiful, inspiring, and healing.

All that being said, if you are going to dump Christ out of Christmas (Christ's Mass Day,) it seems to me we could come up something a little better.  Christmas without Christ is just senseless gong banging, bother, and bad music.

It certainly in does not conform to our evolving popular culture, which tries to scrape all of the icing off of the Christian holiday while throwing out the cake.  Unfortunately the icing doesn't make sense without the cake - all the flowers, writing, and decoration just turn into a colorful menagerie.  

The Church has been accused of taking a pagan holiday and "baptizing" it into the celebration of the birth of our Savior.  It was a natural progression of belief to something higher.  There was an idea in paganism that grew to its limit and needed to be transformed into the thing toward which it was pointing.  It blossomed into a belief in the One True God Who would be the Savior of the World (otherwise Christianity would never have taken off.)  Now our Western culture, ever on the lookout for the new and sheik, wants to back out of this development by gutting out of it that which gave it meaning in the first place.

Now, I know those who are on this path do not see it this way in much the same way as I don't see faith in the same way that such persons might suppose Christians must think.  But it seems to me that I am on a much surer path.  Culturally it seems that we are trying to remove the deepest meaning of everything in order to bring equality to all - holidays, the meaning of marriage, the humanity of persons in the womb just to name a few.  It seems to me, however, that the less dignity and worth and awe and belief we have in something greater and more beautiful and truer than ourselves we have, the less we value anything outside of ourselves, and our wants and desires.  

But there is reason for hope here.  This is the EXACT culture in which the faith first took root.  The faith began in a culture of sexual excess and confusion, abortion, war, power hungry politicians, capitol punishment, neglect of the poor and ill and persecution of those who called themselves Christian.  But the faith still grew and rose until even the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire felt he needed to become Christian in order to hold his power.  All that was needed - and all that is needed - is for individual men and women to boldly live their faith well.  So Happy Advent!

MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATINGLY TRUE STORIES: IT AIN'T OVER UNTIL IT'S OVER!

Despite what the retail stores may tell you or past experiences of Christmas may lead one to believe, It is STILL Christmas even if only for a few extra hours this year.  Granted, this Sunday may have normally been the last Sunday of Christmas but because of this year's slightly odd schedule and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord being bumped off Sunday so that we can celebrate the Epiphany (which was bumped off of the 6th,) we will celebrate the His Baptism on Monday, so, according to the Ordo on Monday, January 9th, "After the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Ordinary Time begins."

Volunteers stood ready to start taking the sanctuary apart and a few parishioners inquired about adopting some poinsettias.

I will admit however that it is FAR easier to take down Christmas on Sunday afternoon than on Monday afternoon.  So perhaps I cheated.  A little.  I had some friends over on Sunday who helped me disassemble some of the rectory.  Evidence of this can be seen by the trail of the Christmas tree tinsel from my office to the trash enclosure.

Even Sebastian tried to snitch on me.

I think it is awesome to color inside the lines with the liturgical calendar.  There is something magical about coming in for the First Sunday of Advent and seeing a parish church different from what it was in Ordinary Time.  There is something awe inspiring to NOT see Christmas half set up on the Fourth Sunday of Advent but to walk in on Christmas Day and have your heart say, "WOW!" at the transformation.  Equally, there are those (and I DO understand, I just don't agree) who think the poinsettias look pretty, and being just flowers, should be left up for awhile even after the Christmas season is over.  But as soon as the whistle blows ending Christmas, I try to get them out of sight in order to advertise to the community symbolically that Christmas is absolutely over now and we are in ordinary time.  

MONDAY DIARY: A NEW ADVENT TRADITION

No Shave November is quickly coming to an end.  My beard, not having been this long since college, is coming in full if not a little grayer than I remember it in the 80s.  So much for memory.

Marcy sent the picture below of the two well bristled manly chaps with their hairy chops done up for Christmas.

I did not find it humorous.  Beards are far too serious a thing to be done up so.  It gives in to the whole notion of Santa Clause and the commercialization of this Holy Day.  Let us remember that the original story on which this day is based contained many beards too.  St. Joseph is oft depicted follicularly decked out and fashionably trimmed.  And heaven knows that those rough and tumble shepherds who spent so much time out in the fields (at night for goodness sake) did not get up early in the morning before moving the sheep to greener pastures and grab a can of Bermashave, walk down to the outhouse with mirror in hand and scrape the stubble off of their chins so that the sheep might be impressed.  Even the goats and possibly the ass in the manger had beards.  Beards are holy.  Beards are Scriptural.  Beards are intimately tied to the whole Christmas story.

So here is my pushback.  The THREE KINGS (+ one camel) BEARD!   

Talk about imperial beards!  Talk about the royal stubble that proceeded this august personages leading them to the manger.  This advent these wise men and their camel shall be led by my beard during my sojourn to seek out the Christ Child at Christmas until, coming to the manger at Christmas at last, I shall remove them and place them at  next the Divine Babe in Arms.

However, I think I may not use paps clips with such heavy ornaments.

MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATINGLY TRUE STORIES: IN KNEW I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE LEFT TURN AT ALBUQUERQUE

I think the rumors of the death of the sacrament of reconciliation are greatly exaggerated.  I've been hearing about experiences at other parishes (at least from my confreres around the Akron area) and the news is good!  So good that I beg you to pray for and encourage vocations before things get too desperate!

Last week alone, at St. Sebastian, we had over ten hours of confession not including confessions for school, PSR, appointments, and helping at other parishes.  And lines were long, constant, and we often went over.  It led to this conversation with a parishioner:

THE GOOSE IS GETTING FAT

Remember that Advent has two component to it.  The first half of Advent we are preparing for the second coming of Christ.  (Apparently most people think that when He comes again it will be at the mall.)  The second half of advent we prepare for His arrival in the manger at Bethlehem.

Isn’t it cool that we don’t just remember this event?  It is not like Independence Day on which we say, “Remember about 200 years ago when this cool thing happened?  I’ll take my burger medium please.”  Instead, we get inside the story and live it.  We go to Mass to celebrate the event and then go home to mark it as if it were taking place at this time.  We open presents, pray as families, celebrate the birth not as a historical event but as something alive, active, and current.  

After the day, we don’t just pack the idea away like our ornaments.  We continue to follow and live with Christ through the liturgical year as He grows, pulls His disciples together, ministers, and finally dies and resurrects.  It is a life that transcends time.

Today, we live the period just before the birth of Christ.  We live in expectation.  All the oracles of the prophets are coming true and aligning.  The star is settling into place.  Mary and Joseph are nearing the end of their journey.  The manger does not yet know that it will be housing such august guests.  There is something in the air.  We know eternity is changing.  We just need to be aware.  

MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATING TRUE STORIES: OH ADVENT TREE, HOW LOVELY ARE YOUR BRANCHES

This Advent is going by so quickly!  And it's not the, "Oh! There is so much work to do," kind of quickly (though there is.)  It's the, "It just doesn't feel like Christmas is around the corner" kind of quickly.  It will be here and I won't be ready.

I will admit I am usually the one fighting off Christmas and pushing for Advent.  It is always an amusing but fruitless endeavor.  It is not one you really expect to win.  It is just fought on principle.

But lots of weird things happened this year.  One of my close friends (and one of the reasons I fight so hard against unseasonable Christmases) moved to Washington state.  He starts playing Christmas music three days after Easter.  I'm sure his Christmas tree has been up for months and has already had more than his fair share of eggnog.  And for some reason, it seems that the Christmas music in stores is toned down a little bit.  I don't feel like it's being forced into my brain hypodermically.  And people just seem un-stressed.  Maybe its this terrible weather.

Every day I wake up, it's another beautiful day.  We have saved a TON of money on plowing, heating, salting, and cleaning.  I can't stand it.

 It's playing with my brain.  I just can't get into writing my Christmas homilies - and I have the rhyming homily this year!

ADVENT, ADVENT TIME IS HERE, TIME FOR JOY, AND TIME FOR CHEER

One of the things that holds us together as Christians is the story.  And every Sunday (at least) we get together and recall the story that informs us who we are and what we are to do.  But as Catholics, we don't just simply  remember the story but we get inside of it.  We live it.  We carry it outside the walls of our church buildings and make it a part of our lives.

Right now we are in Advent, that part of the story in which we are anticipating the coming of Christ and so we spend some time preparing, not only our souls and minds, but our homes, and yards, and every aspect of our lives for His coming.

Those who give religious advice, people such as myself, will say that this is a most excellent time to focus on prayer, making a holy hour, reading Scriptures, fasting, prayer, meditation, volunteering, to stop focusing on Christmas and really take advantage of Advent.  And we will hear back (from some) there isn't time!  This is the most hectic time of year!  Stop and pray?  Are kidding me?  Then things will just not get done!

So here are some ideas to help you take advantage of Advent that will not interfere too much with even the busiest of schedules.  (And if you are too busy to pray at all, you are too busy.)

Firstly, decide not to get ready for Christmas Day.  Get ready for the Christmas season.  Don't get so burned out on Christmas prep that by the time the day after Christmas arrives you are ready to throw the tree out on the devil strip and be done with it.  Aim toward being ready to meet the Christ, not just get the perfect party or day.  This is just a mind set, so far - no time or activity.

Next, you are probably going to be sending out a number of Advent cards (or at least Christmas cards in Advent) or their electronic equivalent.  Before you drop them in the mailbox (or hit the send button), say an Advent/Christmas prayer for those who will be receiving them that they be touched by Christ at Christmas.  (You can do the reverse too saying prayers over the cards for all the people who thought enough of you to send you a card.)

Practice joyful patience.  Before you go out, KNOW that you will be stuck in line.  Be determined not to be mad about it (there's nothing you can do it about it anyway.)  You can either be stuck and mad or be stuck and be determined to offer up this moment of suffering for someone who needs it.

Pass up the perfect parking place at the store.  Let someone else have it.  Park further away and walk. The exercise is better for you, you've done a good deed, and it will only add 30 more seconds to your day.

Be determined to be kind to the harried sale's clerk.  If you choose to do this (which may actually cut down on your time in line) God will send you the most grouchy, lazy, incompetent clerk He can find. It will be a game if wills between you and God.  So have fun with it.  And don't pick a posh store where they are paid to be nice to you, pick a clerk at the type of store where they barely pay them and don't really care how they treat customers as long as they show up.

Every time you drive by a church, say a prayer telling God you are getting ready for Him and invite Him to your place at Christmas.  (St. Hilary is RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from a great shopping district so you can always pray as you go by.)

Finally, you will trapped in traffic, put on hold, or end up waiting for someone who is late.  Use that time to pray.  Pray for the person on the other end of the line that put you on hold.  It will freak them out.  When the operator gets back on line and says, "Sorry for the wait," you can say, "That's Okay, I used the time to pray for you."  See how that throws 'em!

Be creative, come up with your own Advent sanctifying activities.  The above maybe added a couple of minutes to the entirety of Advent, cost no money, improves your blood pressure, and helped focuses you on God.  Why not give it a shot?

THE "DUH"VINCHIE CODE

I love the whole idea that the Church is some great, well oiled mega power bent on taking over the world spawning books and movies about secret societies and codes and spying and etc . . .  Conveniently enough it keeps minds off our own government that is spying on us . . .

 

That being said, there are secret messages that even unknowing Catholics (and non-Catholic Christians) send out of which they may be completely unaware.  It is a little bit like playing records backwards (popular in the ‘80s if I recall) and finding Satanic messages.  In this case however, it is promoting the message of the Church.

 

Here is the secret to the secret message: 

 

First some background:  Many people do not realize that the first part of advent is not about the coming of Christ at Christmas, all the prayers of Mass and Liturgy of the Hours and etc. tend to be focused on the SECOND coming of Christ.  We wait of the second coming as the Jewish people waited (and indeed some still wait) for the first.  Starting on December 17^th, we start making immediate preparations for Jesus’ birth at Christmas.  (By the by, the word “Christmas” is derived from “Christ’s Mass Day.”  Is it any wonder so many people want to rid us of this nasty word.  Do non-Catholics realize what they are saying when they say, “Merry Christmas???)  Secret, subversive, Catholic code #1.)

 

But I digress.  On December 17^th, the official prayers of the Church change in nature to focus on the upcoming Christmas holiday.  (By the by again, “holiday” comes from two words whose definition is “holy” and “day” and means a religious holiday and a day of recreation.  So even though we fight against it, when we say, “Happy Holidays!” we are, in a sense, wishing people a joyous religious observance.  There is the subversive and secretive Catholic code #2)

 

But again I digress.  So starting on this day, we start praying the “O Antiphons” during vespers (the official evening prayer of the Catholic Church) just before proclaiming the Magnificat.  The O Antiphons give the titles of the coming Messiah as presented in the Old Testament – one for each day.  You know these.  You sing at least some of them every year in the carol, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” which is most appropriately sung starting December 17^th, not the first day of Advent. 

 

So here are the titles; O Sapientia (Wisdom,) O Adonai (O Sacred Lord,) O radix Jessi (O Flower of Jesse’s Stem,) O Clavis David (O Key of David,) O Oriens (O Radiant Dawn,) O Rex Gentium (O King of All Nations,) O Emmanuel (a name which means God with Us.)  Now take the first letter of each title: SARCORE and on the last day, the day before Christmas, reverse the letters and you get EROCRAS or, in Latin, “Ero cras.”  Translated into English this means, “Tomorrow I come!”

 

Secret, subversive Catholic code #3.  Is that cool or what?

 

For more information go here.

MONDAY DIARY: AM I GETTING OLD?

We are so close the end of the liturgical year that you can already see the purple vestments being taken out of storage.  It is time for the annual changing over of the books.  The missal ribbons all need to be moved back to the front pages and we need to switch out the daily lectionary to the next cycle.  The weekend lectionary will be put on the shelf and its next sibling brought down and the Book of Gospels changes over.  We move from the current volume of the breviary to the first volume and reset all the ribbons in order to pray the Liturgy of the Hours in advent.  All of the hundreds of missallettes must be collected, hauled to the recycle bin, and replaced with the books for the new liturgical year.  And the ordos (the books that tell you what books you are supposed to be using and what page you should be looking at in those books) are discarded and replaced with new ones.  Finally, the lector’s workbooks are passed out that have the readings for the new year.  It is time consuming, sometimes wasteful, and often confusing.  But it is a great marking of the change of the seasons.  It is not unlike the muddy time between a colorful autumn and the white of winter.

 

Unless, of course, you are one of those person who uses ithings for everything.  In which case Saturday will be the day you hit the reset button.

 

No muddy season for you.

 

*sigh*

THE ADVENT OF ADVENT

Advent is almost upon us and time to start thinking about what you might do to mark this oft neglected season.  Many people take advantage of making “straight the way of the Lord” by going to confession.  As you spend a little time over the next weeks considering what you have to confess, here is a short list of sins often looked over:

 

Praying daily.  The most used analogy in Scripture of how Jesus relates to His Church is bridegroom and bride; Jesus being the bridegroom and we the bride.  If that is so, how do you communicate with the divine spouse?  Would your spouse (or you) put up with it?  Would you go days without any intentional communication or when you do just grunt out a request for something?  If you’re not praying daily and adding thanks and praise and contrition along with petition, that is something that might need changed and confessed.

 

The Body:  Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.  How do you treat your body?  Do you have the opportunity for enough sleep and not take it?  Do you eat enough (and not too much) and is what you consume good for you?  Do you get enough exercise?  Do you dress modestly?  Do you follow proper medical advice?  This body of yours is a gift.  How do you treat that gift?

 

Intake:  Are you careful about what comes in through the senses?  What do you listen to?  What do you look at or read? 

 

There was a holy day of obligation lately. 

 

Have you fulfilled your roles adequately?  These may include spouse, parent, friend, worker, student, son or daughter, sibling, citizen . . .

 

When someone has some heavy sins to confess, these are often overlooked.  And when people ask me, “Can you help me think of anything else?” I mention these and more often than not they hadn’t considered these.  So I offer them to you.  Hope they help.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: O YOU BEAUTIFUL DOLL . . .

Happy December 17th! Every year the Church switches the emphasis of advent from preparing for Jesus’ second coming to His immanent coming in the manger at Bethlehem. Today we begin the “O” Antiphons. These antiphons are the one sentence introductions (and conclusions) to the Gospel Canticle that is part of evening prayer or vespers, in turn part of the Liturgy of the Hours, the official prayers of the Church. Each day they proclaim one of the titles that the Old Testament uses for the coming Messiah. Tonight’s will be “O Sapientia,” or “Oh Wisdom.” You know these from the advent song, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” The proper verse for today would be, “O come now wisdom from on high, who orderest all things mightily . . .”

DON'T SETTLE FOR WARMED OVER STEW

A friend of mine has a pond. In midsummer we looked out and saw these gigantic fish. “See those fish,” he asked me, “when we got them they were quite small. You put them in your pond and they eat the ‘seaweed’ that grows in there. As little tykes they eat voraciously, but when they get that big they barely eat at all because they are not growing like they were. So they lazily swim around all day not accomplishing much of anything.”

That can happen in the faith life too – personally, on a parish level, even in religious communities. Grand goal being met the individual or the institution enjoys the beauty it has created but with no new goals being developed become “fat and lazy” spiritually. Many a pastor has contemplated burning down the parish church to get people motivated toward a cause once again. (Not that I recommend that – there are more constructive things to do!)

Are you excited about Christmas for a “birth of the Savior” standpoint or is it an established ritual that you go through without much thought? Don’t settle for anything less than being excited. It is glorious. Don’t let it be something you get used to. Set a new goal, achieve something wonderful. Bring life and a new understanding to Christmas.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: THEY ARE NOT AS THEY HAVE BEEN

Occasionally one of the complaints lobbed at the Catholic Church is that she uses and celebrates things that were of a pagan nature. (“Were” being the operative term.) An extreme example is those who do not celebrate Christmas because the date at one time was the pagan celebration of the winter solstice. But as I was recently reminded at one time even the Cross was a pagan tool and symbol and now is the most central of Christian symbols.

The Christmas wreath was once too an ancient pagan symbol. In fact, our choices of symbols and dates are rather finite in this world and I bet you could find a pagan equivalent for just about every Christian one. The wreath once symbolized everything from the petition for the spring weather to return to an honor to the sun god. Evergreen and olive branches symbolize life and immortality. These too have been baptized into the Christian symbolic dictionary.

One way this happens is seeing the wreath placed at center of the Cross. Because evergreens symbolize immortality they are often placed either alone or at the cross beams of the Cross at graves. Readily associated with Christmas the wreath prepares us for the coming of Christ . Often interspersed with holy leaves the sharp edges look forward to the crown of thorns that He would wear and the red berries the blood that He would spill thereby encompassing much of the salvific actions of Christ.

STOP THE INSANITY

There was a fight in a local sacristy recently. “Stop wishing people a Merry Christmas,” one priest said, “It’s advent!” The other priest stepped out into the sanctuary and said over the microphone, “Once again, Merry Christmas everyone!”

For many people advent is like a black hole, a void, and our celebratory nature abhors a vacuum and so Christmas gets sucked into the advent season and we have most of our Christmas parties, put up our decorations, and sing our Christmas songs. Unfortunately the end result is that once Christmas comes we are so tired of it that we start packing it up just as the Church is just beginning to celebrate the season.

So how does one “celebrate” advent? There are few things one can do. There’s prayer and extra Masses. There is always that advent calendar of course and the advent wreath. A Jesse tree is always appropriate. There are the holy days to observe and celebrate during this season: St. Nicholas Day being one with the most traditions attached to it. But by and large advent is about NOT doing anything. It is about cutting back, it is about waiting, it is about being in a moment of silence before the noise of celebration begins. (That’s why we don’t sing the Gloria during advent.) It is like waiting for the apples to ripen on the tree in the summer sun – wait – wait – wait – and then just as it’s time for perfection – a deer comes and eats them – er – I mean you get to eat a great, ripe, fresh apple. The waiting makes it all the more special. If you can eat it every day, it loses something.

So what can you NOT do to celebrate advent? If you must put out your manger scene, wait to put out Jesus. Then when someone asks, “Hey! Where’s Jesus,” you have the opportunity to say . . .

Don’t put out ALL of your Christmas decorations. Don’t leave your tree lights on all of the time. Hold the three kings back. Hold back on the best treats at least for yourself. Try wishing “Happy Advent” to people – at least those who won’t think you too strange. (And when they ask you, “What did you say?” . . .) I used to send advent cards. No, you can’t find them – you have to make them. In any event, try to find ways to build the anticipation so that when Christmas hits and the wrapping paper is all over the house it is not the case of, “Well . . . that’s over. Now what?” It is rather, “Now we begin the celebration!”

THANK YOU FOR READING - YOU ARE AWESOME

In this world nothing seems to make something more beautiful than death. We are motivated to move forward because we are running out of time. If we lived forever on earth would we be in such a big hurry to remodel the bathroom? “We are going to be here for centuries, let’s wait till the next millennium. Please pass the cheesepuffs and the remote.”

It also motivates us to appreciate things. Spring flowers are such an appreciated show because in a couple of weeks they will be gone for another year. So we go for a walk, stop, look, and mark them as special since their beauty is so fleeting.

Food is like that too – or rather was until we discovered ways to have fresh fruits and vegetables year round. How much more luscious was that apple or that tomato when it was only able to be eaten fresh and raw in its season. Now we take for granted that we can have such food stuffs year round.

Youth grab the day with gusto and bleed every moment from a free summer day because to them the day is short and will soon die and it will be time to go to bed. The older one gets the more beautiful life looks because we realize not how short the day is, but how short life is.

Stop today and appreciate something that whizzes past your radar screen because whatever it is just always seems to be there and there will always be time to appreciate it. As we have discovered in our diocese, parishes may not be forever. Our homes, humble as they may be, provide shelter and has housed so many of our life’s events. The person who provides a service for you everyday like the postman could be thanked in a special way. A prayer of appreciation could be offered for your car that started today and every day of the last few years even in cold winter days like today.

The people that you live with everyday and are so easily assumed that they should know that you love them need to be reminded now and then as well as we needing to remember that we love them. There’s the dog that hasn’t been played with in a while, the person that may have not been called during this busy time, the grand oak in the yard, or the piece of art that was purchased that has not been contemplated for a spell.

These are all gifts and there are many more of them waiting to be reopened in this advent season once again.

O DEAR

This morning we start Act II of advent. A play in two acts the second half always begins in the 17th of December. Up and until this point we have been preparing for the coming of Christ at the end of time. Then on the 17th, things change, almost imperceptibly.

This is the day we begin preparing for the immanent coming of Christ at Christmas. We start preparing for the big birthday bash. The preface at the Mass changes, the genealogy of Christ from Matthew is read (unless it occurs on a Sunday,) and those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours start saying the O Antiphons with the Canticle of Mary.

You know the O Antiphons however even if you do not pray the Breviary. The O Antiphons are the Old Testament names for the coming Messiah.

O Sapientia – Wisdom
O Adonai – Lord of Might
O Radix Jesse – Flower of Jesse’s Stem
O Clavis Davidica – Key of David
O Oriens – O Rising Dawn
O Rex Gentium – King of Nations
O Emmanuel – God-with-Us

Hence the song, “O come, O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel. Happy part II of Advent!