Sunday Next Before Advent, November 26th, 2017

Sunday Next Before Advent, November 26th, 2017

"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch . . . "  

(Jeremiah 23: 5)

This week, the Church liturgical year is coming to a close.  Next week a brand new year will begin.  This is confusing to most folks because we are so accustomed to the idea of "New Years" being on January 1st.  But for the Church, our "New Year" begins with the first Sunday in Advent.  Thus, for the Church, we are closing out this year and will begin a new year next Sunday.  Whenever we begin something, don't we have hope?  This is certainly true of celebrating "New Years."  We are hoping that the coming "New Year" will be filled with good things.  If you begin a new project certainly you have hope that you will complete the project and it will fulfill the purpose you had for it.  If a window needs to be replaced, for example, you begin the project of changing the window with the hopes of keeping out the weather and other elements.  If you begin a trip, there is excitement and anticipation of reaching your destination.  If you are like me and you enjoy cooking, you certainly will look forward to tasting your new "creation" or the new recipe that you are trying for the first time.  Throughout each of these examples, hope is what motivates us to do what we do.  If we were not hopeful that any of these "projects" would achieve their stated results, why attempt any of them?   "Hope" is something that keeps us motivated to move forward whether we realize it or not.

The Prophet Jeremiah is one of the Major Prophets of the Old Testament.  As a prophet, Jeremiah was warning the people against inevitable judgment, yes, but he also weaves in a message of great hopefulness.  This is what the season of Advent is, which the Church will begin observing next Sunday.  Advent is a season of hope.  Advent is a time to look forward to the coming of the Divine Infant born at Bethlehem.   Unfortunately, in our secular society, we are instead focusing on the season of  "Give me, Give me, Give me" . . . . "Buy me, Buy me, Buy me."  As a result we must force ourselves to focus on the real reason for this time of year:  to anticipate the birth of the Christ Child and the significance of that event for the world.  If you set down and watch the commercials (at this time of year especially) you begin to notice a pattern that hope and joy and fulfillment is achieved with what we buy in the stores.  While it may be true that we can find joy in what we receive and contentment in receiving something that we have wanted for a long time, this joy is only temporary.  We say "temporary" because material things either break,  . . .  or wear out,  . . .  or go out of style.  Or, quite frankly, we lose interest in things that we hoped for because our interests have moved elsewhere.  With God, though, we will always find fulfillment.  With God, we will always be satisfied.  With God, we have true assurance that He will never abandon us.  Jeremiah was telling the people . . . as he is telling us:   Focus on God!  Look for the Messiah!  And also in the words of St. John the Baptist:  "Prepare ye the way of the Lord!"  (St. Mark 1:3)   This is what the season of Advent really is:  a time of preparation of our hearts for the coming of the Messiah into the world.  I know that the holiday season is a busy time of the year for all us, but this year let us do our best to leave aside the ways of the world and to prepare a place in our heart for that small Infant born at Bethlehem two-thousand years ago.

St. Margaret Church gathers together each and every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM to listen to the Word of God and to worship Our Heavenly Father.  Join us as we take time out of our busy schedule and dedicate that time solely to God.  St. Margaret worships in the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.