Advent 1

by Paul O'Reilly, SJ

“There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on
earth nations in agony, bewildered by the clamour of
the ocean and its wave; men dying of fear as they
await what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven
will be shaken.”

I remember this reading from the time of my own
confirmation class ­ at the age of eight. And what I
remember most about it was a little boy ­ no it wasn’t
me ­ putting his hand up at the back of class and
asking: “Please Miss, will this really all happen when
the bishop comes?” ­ and having to have explained to
him that there was a little bit of a difference
between the bishop and the son of Man!

The bishop is definitely coming on Confirmation day;
the Son Of Man may take a little longer. And yet, in a
way, the boy was right. For Catholics, the bishop is
the centre of the Church. And the Church is not just a
building, or a collection of buildings, or even a
collection of weird and wonderful people (though
sometimes it is the most weird who are also the most
wonderful). It is the continuing presence of Christ,
led by the Word of the Father; strengthened by the
Bread of Christ; washed white by his blood; confirmed
and sanctified by his Holy Spirit. We all belong to
that Church; and so we all share in that
responsibility to continue in our own lives the work
of Christ. Christ has no body now but ours.

Of course, all that is a little easier said than felt
at this time of the year. I have two coats - a thin
one and a thick one. And I always feel that winter has
properly come when I need the thick one. Well, last
week, as I set out to walk up to Camden from where I
live near Hyde Park, I realised it was time for the
thick one.

I walked up Regent Street under all the bright lights,
and through the thronging crowds of Saturday evening
shoppers - and noticed that, among all that gaiety,
even on the Feast of Christ the King, there was no
mention at all of the Reason for the Season - the
Saviour of the World, the King of Kings. I walked past
groups of homeless people leaning against the
newspaper stands that proclaimed the failures of the
England football team, the England rugby team and the
England cricket team and they seemed like metaphors
for all sorts of wider and deeper failures in our
Society. And I came to Regent's Park and walked
through the bare trees, trampling over all the fallen
leaves. And by the time I came to Camden, even though
it was not late in the evening, it was already
completely dark. The nights are drawing in.

So, we know that winter is coming. We can see and feel
plenty of signs that tell us exactly what is going to
happen next. It is going to get colder and wetter.
There will be ice and probably snow. We will all have
to go to school or work when it is cold, dark & icy.

And by the time we get home, it will be cold and dark
again. Probably several of my patients will die,
sleeping out rough and wet and cold.

What can give us hope that will lighten our darkness,
that will warm our hearts, that will make even our
greatest sufferings worthwhile? Yes, Christmas is
coming. The Son of Man is coming. The Saviour of the
World is coming.

Because winter is not always this time of year. It
sometimes happens when people least expect it.
somebody gets hurt; somebody gets sick; somebody dies.
Maybe you fail an exam, or lose your job; or your
football team gets beaten by Middlesborough. (I mean
Middlesborough!!!) On Friday I had to tell a young man
- well, at least he's younger than me - that he has a
cancer which we cannot cure and he is going to die.

It is at those times that we try the very best we can
- with every fibre of our being - to remember - not
that Christmas is coming, but that Christmas has come.
The Son of Man has come on earth to live and die that
we may know the Presence and Power of God in our own
lives. Because it is only in that Presence and Power
that we can understand what our lives are about and we
can make sense of the sufferings we sometimes have to
endure.

That is why, even when life is dark, cold and wet, we
are prepared to stand and proclaim our Faith that God
is King of our lives and that Christmas is not only
coming, but it has come already.

Let us stand and profess our Faith in the God who
created this world and who has Power over all of it.

Mount Street Jesuit Centre,

114 Mount Street,

London SW1K 3AH.

ENGLAND.

fatbaldnproud@yahoo.co.uk