First Sunday of Advent

There is an old fable about three young devils in training about how to most effectively deal with us earthlings. One suggested that he would simply tell us “there is no God.” That idea was voted down because too many people already believed in God. The second devil said, “I’d tell them there is no hell." But the others said that wouldn’t work either, because of the long-standing tradition about hell. The third devil finally hit on the right approach. “I’ll just tell them there’s no hurry.” And that’s the tact the devil has used with great success ever since.

Advent is a time of waiting for the coming of Jesus. Jesus comes in history, in mystery, and in majesty. This is not a time for make-believe. As we begin our preparation for the historical coming of Christ at Christmas, his mysterious comings during each day of our lives and at the hour of our death, and his majestic coming in glory at the end of the world, no matter on which “coming” we focus, the Advent message of Isaiah, Paul, and Matthew in today’s readings is the same: “wake up, be vigilant, be prepared!”

Unfortunately, most of us think we are already awake, when in fact we are sleepwalking. We are lulled into a comfortable slumber by the “monotony of existence,” which so easily shrouds the splendor of God all about us.

In the final analysis, two fundamental facts remain: no one gets out of this world alive, and it is God for whom we wait! George Harrison, the “quiet Beatle,” understood these truths. In one of his favorite songs, My Sweet Lord, he sang: “Really want to see you, really want to know you, my Sweet Lord, but it takes so long!” However long it takes, now is the time to jar ourselves awake, to sort out our priorities, to throw off the works of darkness and put on the Lord Jesus Christ. So let’s categorically inform that third little devil: “Yes, indeed, there is a hurry!”