Broken Record?

The Prophet of Advent, John the Baptist, tells us to “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” For over two thousand years the Church has been playing John’s record but it is not an easy one to listen to. To most of us it is a broken record. We pay little or no heed because it calls for change and we are creatures of habit. We like being stuck in our ways.

Repentance is both uncomfortable and inconvenient in its demands. The word itself gets a bad press with overtures of gloom and doom. When properly understood it is good news. Often good news is overshadowed by bad news and it is only in hearing the bad news that we do appreciate the good.

Change of lifestyle

Repentance is a radical call for a change of heart, a change of values and attitudes. There is far more to saying “I am sorry, I am wrong, please forgive me.” It implies a change of conduct and a new way of seeing God, self, neighbor and all of life.

The call to change is not merely for the prodigal sons and daughters who have neglected God and his commandments; it is also a call to those who have tried to be faithful to God. It calls for us to be challenged, for us to move out of our comfort zones and change our way of seeing the world. Repentance opens a door for us, all we have to do is pass through the door.

A lifelong journey

Repentance is the call for us to be more than we are. It is something we arrive at later rather than sooner. We all have a past but that does not mean that we do not have a future. It involves the long haul, a lifelong process. It is something we come to with patience, perseverance and most importantly the grace of God.

Repentance calls for a lot of patience. In our fast paced world, the “instant syndrome”, we live in, patience is not one of our strong points. Patience is a virtue, it is like an acquired taste. It does not happen overnight. When we break a bone, the healing process proceeds at its own pace, independent of any opinion and wish. We may want a quick fix but the natural world is at work and we will do well to learn from it.

We do not grow physically overnight nor do we grow emotionally or mentally overnight. Growth consists of a long, very involved process. We grow gradually over our lifetime. Just as physical growth cannot be forced, so spiritual growth cannot be forced without damaging ourselves. Grace builds on nature, it does not destroy it.

Peace of mind is the infinite result that patience brings about. Patience gives us the stamina we need to stay the course and come to repentance and the kingdom of peace, justice, love and truth that the kingdom of God promises to those who are faithful to the journey that stretches through time and into eternity.

Twas the Beginning of Advent

Twas the beginning of Advent and all through the Church
Our hope was all dying-- we'd given up on the search.
It wasn't so much that Christ wasn't invited,
But after 2,000 plus years we were no longer excited.

Oh, we knew what was coming-- no doubt about that.
And that was the trouble-- it was all "old hat."
November brought the first of an unending series of pains
With carefully orchestrated advertising campaigns.

There were gadgets and dolls and all sorts of toys.
Enough to seduce even the most devout girls and boys.

Unfortunately, it seemed, no one was completely exempt
From this seasonal virus that did all of us tempt.

The priests and prophets and certainly the kings
Were all so consumed with the desire for "things!"
It was rare, if at all, that you'd hear of the reason
For the origin of this whole holy-day season.

A baby, it seems, once had been born
In the mid-east somewhere on that first holy-day morn.
But what does that mean for folks like us,
Who've lost ourselves in the hoopla and fuss?

Can we re-learn the art of wondering and waiting,
Of hoping and praying, and anticipating?
Can we let go of all the things and the stuff?
Can we open our hands and our hearts long enough?

Can we open our eyes and open our ears?
Can we find him again after all of these years?
Will this year be different from all the rest?
Will we be able to offer him all of our best?

So many questions, unanswered thus far,
As wisemen seeking the home of the star.
Where do we begin-- how do we start
To make for the child a place in our heart?

Perhaps we begin by letting go
Of our limits on hope, and of the stuff that we know.
Let go of the shopping, of the chaos and fuss,
Let go of the searching, let Christmas find us.

We open our hearts, our hands and our eyes,
To see the king coming in our own neighbors' cries.
We look without seeking what we think we've earned,
But rather we're looking for relationships spurned.

With him he brings wholeness and newness of life
For brother and sister, for husband and wife.
The Christ-child comes not by our skill,
But rather he comes by his own Father's will.

We can't make him come with parties and bright trees,
But only by getting down on our knees.
He'll come if we wait amidst our affliction,
Coming in spite of, not by our restriction.

His coming will happen-- of this there's no doubt.
The question is whether we'll be in or out.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock."
Do you have the courage to peer through the lock?

A basket on your porch, a child in your reach.
A baby to love, to feed and to teach.
He'll grow in wisdom as God's only Son.
How far will we follow this radical one?

He'll lead us to challenge the way that things are.
He'll lead us to follow a single bright star.
But that will come later if we're still around.
The question for now: Is the child to be found?

Can we block out commercials, the hype and the malls?
Can we find solitude in our holy halls?
Can we keep alert, keep hope, stay awake?
Can we receive the child for ours and God's sake?

From on high with the caroling host as he sees us,
He yearns to read on our lips the prayer: Come Lord Jesus!
As Advent begins all these questions make plea.
The only true answer: We will see, we will see.

Wake up call

The Great Temptation

We live in a future culture, a state of mind that says: Tomorrow, tomorrow I will do it. I will turn to God tomorrow. I will apologize tomorrow, I will be happy tomorrow, I will make peace tomorrow, I will give up wine and women tomorrow, I will study for that exam tomorrow. The list is endless. It’s as if we are saying “as soon as I get though school I will start living.” We get through school and say “when I get a job I will start living.” We get the job and then we say” when I get married I will start living.” We get married and have children and say “ as soon as the children have grown up an leave home I will live.” All this time has passed and we realize we don’t know what it means to live and we will most likely die with out ever having lived.

Henry David Thoreau wrote “Oh, to reach the point of death only to find out that you haven’t lived at all.” Think about it!!

Being a tomorrow man or woman is one of the greatest temptations. It is the temptation to wait until tomorrow to do what needs to be done today. We wait for the stars to be in their right orbit to make a move in our lives. We wait until the financial situation improves, the house is built and the baby is born. We go on waiting and in the meantime life passes us by like a ship in the night. We are left behind, we have not lived, we have merely existed.

Life Is Now

Life is not yesterday nor is it tomorrow. Life is NOW. God is not tomorrow, God is not yesterday, God is NOW. Love is now. Forgiveness is now. Peace is now. You cannot produce it but if you come into the present, into the now, you will experience all that life has to offer you. Everything seems to have changed once we reach this realization yet indeed no change has taken place. The world has not changed; the sun still rises and sets every day. We simply see it with new eyes!

Let us remember to live in the now, the present. When we eat, eat, when we sleep, sleep, when we look, look. The fact is hardly anyone does this because hardly anyone lives in the present. It is in the present that we find God and find life. This is why Jesus, St. Paul and the Church urges us to wake up….. wake up before it is too late and we end up dying … without ever having lived.