Happy New Year. The Church considers the first Sunday of Advent, today, as the beginning of a new Church year. But, truth to tell, this day does not seem all that new at all. It’s pretty much like any other day. And this year at first glance looks like any other year. There is an old hymn: “Time like an ever-flowing stream bears all our years away.” Sounds about right. However, we know from our own lives that there are times when you pivot, when you can clearly mark a “before” and an “after.” Your wedding day. The birth of a child. The death of a loved one. Not a day like any other but a turning point. The same happens in history when we move into a new era. The birth of Jesus is one such marker. Everything was different because Christ was born in Bethlehem. When Christianity moved from being a persecuted religion to the official religion in the fourth century was another turning point. Christopher Columbus awakening Europe to the presence of a whole new world in the Americas created a dramatic shift. The birth of the machines which got people off the farm and into factories was another monumental change. Sometimes the ever-flowing stream becomes white water and we are swept into a whole new reality. Pope Francis said that we are at such a moment now – in his phrase, we do not live in an era of change but during a change of eras. It’s a whole new world.
This change of eras has been building gradually. New modes of transportation and of communication; volumes of new information and specialized education; medical innovation and societal transformation have all been accelerating over the past few decades. One historian estimates that someone born 200 years ago would feel more at home 2000 years ago than they would today. Of course, just in the past few years the rise of the internet, of cell phones, of social media, of artificial intelligence have pulled those of us of a certain age willingly or no into a world we couldn’t have imagined. The pace of change has proven disorienting in many arenas. Look, for example, at the breakdown of the political compact which threatens the fabric of the nation. In the realm of religion, all of this change has impacted believers and not always in positive ways. The fundamental shift: the Church no longer reaches people in their daily lives. An example from my life will, I suspect, look familiar to yours. I see the disconnect between daily life and God in my nieces and nephews. Some of them did 12 years of Catholic schooling and some had minimal religious education. But the outcome was similar – God is not part of their daily lives. Like young people everywhere, like all people really since our hearts are made for God, they seek a spirituality. But, from my perspective at least, their spiritual lives are merely sipping lentil soup when they could be feasting on the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie that faith in Jesus offers. Because I love them, I want what is best for them. As Jesus warns us in the gospel it is easy to just go about your business and miss what is looming on the horizon. We know that every life has ups and downs, joys and sorrows. For believers when tragedy strikes, as it inevitably will, we fall back on the grace and compassion of God. What will those without faith be able to rely on during those moments of crisis? How are we to respond in this change of eras to those who need the blessing of faith that we possess? Since preaching, cajoling, begging, coaxing, insisting won’t be very convincing it is incumbent on believers to show by our lives the joy and comfort that comes with having faith in Jesus.
First of all, we need to live as people who trust that God never fails, that no matter what we have done or what has been done to us we have the blessed assurance of God’s love. Is it irreverent to say that God is like GPS? Think about it, GPS is telling you how to get where you want to be. Sometimes on the way you mess up, you miss a turn, you go the wrong way. GPS does not judge you. GPS does not call you a dummkopf because you made a mistake. GPS just finds another route. The goal is the same, it’s just that at times there are detours. Similarly, God gently but assuredly is directing us to reach our desired destination – a life of love and happiness. We show by our lives that God’s mercy and compassion are the pole star we rely on to ensure that we achieve our heart’s desire. Isn’t that what everyone would want?
Second, believers are in awe at the wonder and magnificence of the world around us. Google pictures from the space telescope of the Butterfly Nebula. How beautiful that is and that is just one of many beautiful pictures from God’s creation. Be in awe at the birth of a child. Each tiny feature is sweet and delightful. Seeing a newborn a cause for amazement. Enjoy the passage of the seasons: the snow on the lawn, the moon over the lake, the cottonwood blossoms in Spring. Delight at God’s fashioning hand is attractive.
Finally, live in a way that shows what God is like. Reach out to the hurting, help the needy, console the sorrowful, guide the lost, comfort the grieving, welcome the stranger, love the despairing. When we show by our lives that God is for us, that God cares, that God inspires us, then we are on the way to transforming this time of a change in eras into a new opportunity for the love of God to make all things new.
