THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals First Sunday of Advent 2 December 2012

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

St. Ambrose, speaking on today’s Gospel tells us that there will be many apostatizing from Christianity: “the brightness of the faith will be dimmed by this cloud of apostasy . . . And as in the monthly eclipse the moon, by reason of the earth coming between it and the sun, disappears from view, so likewise the Holy Church, when the vices of the flesh stand in the way of the celestial light, can no longer borrow the splendor of His divine light from the Sun of Christ. And in the persecution it was invariably the love of this life that stood in the path of the Divine Sun. And also the stars, that is, men surrounded by the praise of their fellow Christians, shall fall, as the bitterness of persecution mounts up; which must however come to pass, until the number of the faithful is made up; for so the good are proved and the weak made known.” Jesus came the first time to save our souls this second coming that we are awaiting will be for our bodies. Those who have not allowed the darkness of this earth to block out the light of faith in their souls will find their bodies raised into a glorious state at the return of Christ. This earth and all the things of this earth were all created good and are good. It is because of the disorder in our souls that we take these good things and find them to be an evil for us. Food and drink are good things, but when the disorder of gluttony and drunkenness reign in us, they very easily turn into evils for us. Property and money are good in themselves, but when the disorder of greed and avarice reign in a soul they become evil for that soul. Marriage and physical reproduction are good things but when the disorders of lust or perversity reign in a soul they become evil.

As long as we allow the light of God to shine upon us and this world everything is good for us. We see and use everything in its proper place and measure. All of creation draws us toward our Creator. We are not bound or overcome by things; we use them without becoming attached to them; or as St. Paul advises us: we use them as if we used them not.

The problem is when we look at these good creatures and hold on to or pursue them for themselves and not as a means to God. This earth and everything earthly is only a means to an end. The end is God, the means are the physical world. The destination is Heaven and the highway is this earth. This earth is not our home so it is a disorder to stop our pursuit or travels towards our Heavenly home, seeking to find our home and happiness where it is not. It is like a man who would work and build himself a nice home in the best of locations and adorn it with the best of furnishings, but then decide he preferred living in the backyard exposed to the elements without ever enjoying the house and furnishings.

Many never enter into our heavenly home because they become so distracted by the beauty of the landscape of this earth. It is beautiful and very pleasant, but it is not home. The beauty and joy of the back yard can never compare to the beauty, comfort, and joy of the Heavenly Mansions. Those who make a god out of “nature” or this earth or seek their happiness from anything else in this earth are very short sighted. Focused upon the material things their eyes have grown dark to the spiritual ones that are right in front of them and all around them.

In this disorder of ours, God shows us His mercy. He places difficulties and inconveniences in all these things. We always find these things incomplete or lacking in something. We see all these things deteriorating right in our hands before our very eyes. While many complain of this, we should actually be grateful to God for all these “problems” as they are meant to lift our eyes and hearts higher to better things.

The cross of this earth, causes us suffering and pain, but this earth is also pleasant and beautiful. It is this mixed state of being both a joy and comfort while still being a burden and pain that leads us step by step towards a greater world in eternity. If we focus our hearts and eyes only upon creatures, they become dark and clouded to God and things eternal. The creatures are seen in a splendid light and God is seen as cloudy darkness. The opposite is true if we focus our hearts and eyes upon God, for then all the things of this earth lose their brightness and attraction.

This Advent we are to look forward and prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. As we focus our eyes upon Christ’s second coming we necessarily must lose relish for the things of this earth, we sacrifice these lesser things in this attempt to fill up what we sacrifice with a yearning desire for eternal things. Instead of accumulating things of this earth and looking for our happiness in them, we begin or continue to build up treasures in Heaven.

St. Gregory tells us: “They therefore, who love God, are bidden to be glad, and to rejoice, because of the end of the world; since soon they will meet Him Whom they love, and that is passing away which they have never loved. Far be it then from any of the faithful who desire to see God that they should grieve over the stricken world. which we must know will end in these catastrophes. For it is written: ‘Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God.’ (Jn 4:4) Who therefore does not rejoice at the approaching end of this world, testifies that he is its friend, and by this he is revealed as an enemy of God.”