It is interesting to me that the first reading we have on the first Sunday of Advent leads off with a question from Isaiah that almost seems to put some of the responsibility for our behavior back on God. Isaiah asks our Lord “Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?” This question is one that I have encountered in different forms before. It is as if we are sometimes seeking control to keep us from our bad behaviors or trying to place some of the blame for them elsewhere, anywhere but with us. Yet this is not how our God works – it never has been. He loves us enough to give us free will, so that we in turn are capable of exhibiting actual love toward one another, and toward Him. It is a choice and a responsibility in terms of how we choose to conduct ourselves. A loving God would not treat us as mere puppets and take over control of us; to do so would be to eliminate the possibility of a true form of love ever being exhibited by us. So, it is appropriate that we ponder Isaiah’s question a bit as we begin this season of repentance and taking responsibility for our actions, asking God’s forgiveness for those that fall short of what we know to be His teachings.
In our Gospel today, our Lord tells us specifically to be alert and to be watchful for His coming because we do not want to be caught off guard and unprepared. It is to that purpose that Advent is such a wonderful time of the year. We are called to really take a hard look at our actions and to honestly assess how we have been doing in terms of showing love for our brothers and sisters and for our Lord. We do this to prepare to celebrate the time of His birth, but also as an opportunity to have a kind of spiritual “tune up” that will help prepare us for the future. To remind ourselves to be mindful of His ways and to conduct ourselves so that He will find us doing right. To begin this, it is important to be in the right mindset of humility and to first acknowledge our own faults; this is part of any good examination of conscience which is so crucial to this season of Advent. You cannot fix a problem if you do not acknowledge that it is a problem to begin with. We must then honestly ponder what we could do differently and how to begin to address the issue, but with realistic expectations. We cannot simply say that we are going to do better. That is a shallow sentiment, and one that likely will not produce much fruit in the long run, as we are prone to forget such things. We must have a plan. We need to have specific steps that will guide us through a process of conversion and change our hearts to truly want to behave differently in the future. This is where it can be extremely helpful to write down some of our thoughts and to keep these reflections throughout the year and refer back to them as we progress and keep ourselves on track. We are human and will need these reflections to keep us moving in the right direction. Our Lord knows this, and He is patient with us, though He does want to see effort on our part. To begin, take some time now at the beginning of this season, withdraw a bit, and reflect and ponder. The shopping will wait. Give instead a gift that will be truly beautiful for all who are touched by it: the gift of a renewed spirit that desires to serve God and all those around us in a more loving and compassionate way. There is no cost to be paid for this, so you don’t need to wait for a sale, but the value of such a gift is truly priceless.
PodCast Link
The Deacons Bench 