Homily for 2d Sunday of Advent

Homily for the
2d Sunday of Advent
Collect
Willow Towers, New Rochelle
Dec. 4, 2011

“Almighty and merciful God, may no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet your Son…” (Collect).

The biggest change in our liturgical language as we implement our new translation isn’t “And with your spirit.” It’s the style and structure of the 3 variable proper prayers for each Mass: the collect, the prayer over the offerings, and the prayer after communion.

The 1st of these prayers has always been properly called the “collect” [accent on the 1st syllable], altho the missal that we used for the last 41 years called it simply the “opening prayer.” Why “collect”? Because when the priest says, “Let us pray,” he’s inviting each of us individually to do that from our own hearts. Then, after this moment of silent, private, personal prayer, he gathers together or “collects”—sums up, in other words—all our single prayers in one common prayer expressive of both our individual concerns and those of the entire Church in the context of the general theme of the day or season.

In this season of Advent, our general theme is expectation and waiting—for God’s intervention, for redemption.

So today we invoke God with 2 adjectives, 2 attributes: “almighty” and “merciful.” The Almighty is the Creator, the one who directs the workings of the universe and our individual lives. The Merciful cares for each of us individually within this incredibly vast universe, cares for us enuf to pardon the sinner who repents and invite that repentant sinner to an honored place in the heavenly household—which we celebrate as we acclaim, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. Say but the word, and my soul shall be healed,” and we proceed to share in the Lord’s very own table.

We pray to this almighty and merciful God that nothing earthly may hinder us, get in our way, as we hasten to meet his Son. This season is Advent, the season of waiting expectantly and eager for the coming of Christ. While we inevitably associate Advent with Christmas, the celebration of Christ’s 1st coming thru his incarnation in the womb of the Virgin Mary and his birth at Bethlehem in 6 or 7 B.C.—yet our focal point in the 1st weeks of Advent is Christ’s future coming, his return in heavenly glory as the judge of all humanity, completing his merciful work of redemption and also condemning whose who have made no attempt to imitate his mercy in their dealings with their fellow human beings, as our gospel reading 2 weeks ago emphasized (Matt 25:31-46) and our 2d reading today reminds us (2 Pet 3:8-14).

We “set out in haste to meet” God’s Son. The phrase evokes Mary’s journey after the annunciation to visit her cousin Elizabeth: “Mary set out and traveled in haste to the hill country of Judah” (Luke 1:39). She wasn’t hastening to meet the Lord, of course, for she was carrying him, already conceived, to Elizabeth, and to Elizabeth’s unborn son John, both of whom greeted Mary and her Son joyfully (1:41-45).

Miriam and Elizabeth, art "borrowed" from The Deacon's Bench

So do we want to greet Mary’s Son joyfully when he returns, when “the day of the Lord will come like a thief…and the earth and everything done on it will be found out” (2 Pet 3:10). So do we hasten toward him who is our redeemer, that we may be “found out” as belonging to him, “found without spot or blemish before him” (3:14) who has washed away our sins, and ushered to the eternal banquet that this Eucharist foreshadows. What’s sadder than a Christian who has no desire to go to Christ, to be with Christ?
But the prayer refers to hindrances on our journey to meet Christ. “Earthly undertakings” may hinder our haste, make us reluctant to go toward Christ; may drag on us and slow down our progress like a really heavy suitcase without wheels—you all remember those? “Earthly undertakings” may distract us from our ultimate destination, like travelers repeatedly led off their route by interesting detours or side trips. These “earthly undertakings” could be various pursuits, intentions, trials that involve us thru our own desires, thru what others inflict upon us, or thru natural causes. So many things can lead us off the track that would take us toward Christ, such things as the worldly cares that choke off the word of God and keep it from bearing fruit (as Jesus said in the parable of the sower [Mark 4:1-8]), such things as the pursuit of a career, of pleasure, of power, of money, of revenge, of fame. And in the end, when we in fact meet God’s Son, what will all those hindrances matter?

Instead, we pray, “may our learning of heavenly wisdom gain us admittance to his company,” i.e., to the Son’s company, a place at his side in God’s household. What is “learning of heavenly wisdom”? Hearing the teaching of Jesus. But, just as in school you didn’t “learn” something just from hearing your teacher explain it, but you had to take it in, absorb it, master it—so must we with Jesus’ teaching. “Learning of heavenly wisdom” can’t mean only learning about it but must mean making it part of our lives. In fact, if the Holy Spirit is the Wisdom of God personified, here we’re invoking his presence in our lives, his company on our journey to meet the Son. And if the Holy Spirit’s wisdom has been imprinted upon our hearts and souls, has governed our choices and decisions thru life, has guided our words and actions, then we will truly be found on “the day of the Lord” to belong to Jesus Christ and will be admitted to his company, which is the ultimate destination of our journey.