‘…Therefore you also must be ready; for the
Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.,....’ (Matthew 24:44)
Matthew
24:37-44 (Year : Advent 1)
This Sunday marks the beginning of a new ‘Church year’. The
first Sunday of Advent triggers a new cycle of Sunday Gospel Readings and since
this ‘year’ of 2016/17 is Year A we are back to the gospel of Matthew. As far
as Sunday readings go, it is a case of bye bye Luke until 2018/2019 – God willing
health and life for each of us.
Advent – as the word indicates – focusses on the coming of
the Saviour. He is here already but, at the same time, is yet to come. Many of
us look forward to a secular break at Christmas time when we take time off from
work, catch up and meet up and, perhaps, indulge the senses a little. Spiritually, the notion of a time of special
preparation including prayerfulness, self-denial, repentance and exercise of
compassion are not exactly to the fore in the TV adverts, toy shows, glitzy
lighting and bulk shopping. But, there
is an opportunity to stop and notice life.
- To stop and notice our breathing.
- To stop and notice our bodies.
- To stop and notice our thinking.
- To stop and notice our feelings.
- To stop and notice nature all round us.
- To stop and notice the person next to me in this moment of time.
- To stop and notice something afar or not seen but in the mind’s eye and heart’s ear.
Perhaps we need to take extra ‘time out’ this season and
relish simpler fare of life? For some
reason I am reminded of the poem, ‘Advent’, by Patrick Kavanagh (was it on my
Intermediate or Leaving Certificate course? – I can’t remember):
We have tested and tasted too much, lover – Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder. But here in the Advent-darkened room Where the dry black bread and the sugarless tea Of penance will charm back the luxury Of a child’s soul, we’ll return to Doom The knowledge we stole but could not use
‘We have tested and tasted too much’. Indeed.
Over a year ago, I participated in a retreat given by a
kind, gentle, witty, compassionate and ‘grounded’ person more than familiar
with palliative care and ageing. At one
point in the discourse – following some banter and chat – participants were
asked if:
- They had a made a will
- They had planned their own funeral service
- Discussed ‘end of life’ treatments and arrangements if one were to lose full capacity.
The question of ‘are we ready?’ is central to this passage
in the Gospel of Matthew just as it is in the Gospels of Luke who seems to be
following the same source used by Matthew.
The end-event in the life and ministry of Jesus is very much
at hand in the carefully ordered and scripted Gospel of Matthew. A great trial
awaits – the final one in the life of Jesus and He will be revealed as the
Messiah – the one who was to come – to the Jewish people who had a special
place in the audiences of Matthew.
The year 2016 was one of unforeseen (at least to some
extent) shocks in the global politik.
None of us thought too much, this time last year, about what would really lie
ahead in 2016. But of three things we can be certain:
- We are, all, one year older than we were on 27th November 2015;
- Our particular total unknown life span is, today, less by 12 months (a logical deduction from the first thesis!); and
- Death preceded by a sudden or protracted illness is 100% certain (there aren’t that many things, in life, that can be said to be ‘certain’!).
In his letter to the Christians at Rome Paul provides timely
advice relevant especially in the run-up to Christmas each year (Romans
13:11-13):
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
The questions of when
and how are beyond our knowing. The
question of why must be approached
through a humble mind and open heart. The question of what might lie beyond the horizons of this small world and life is
for God alone to show us in his time and in his way.
They concern our worries – our very real worries about:
- Getting old (eventually)
- Facing ill-health of mind or body now or in the future
- Having lost or possibly losing income or employment in the future (it happens to people who retire for example)
- Relationships past, present or future where wounds may run deep
- Facing some external dangers to body, mind or person (not untypical for many millions of people across the globe).
We find distraction in sundry indulgences from substance
attachment to constant affirmation seeking on social media to projects that
demand our all and we wonder why we are still missing something. But, in the
midst of all this clamour and un-ease
(or should we say dis-ease) we are
reminded of what Jesus said according to Luke
21:28:
When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
When faced with uncertainty and, perhaps, a load of concerns
and worries we do well to:
- Stay calmly grounded in the here and now
- Remain steadfast in love because this is the only thing that matters
- Keep moving forward towards some goal or destination no matter how dim it seems.
I have spread my dreams under your feet
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
And closing
with that final part of Kavanagh’s poem:
O after Christmas we’ll have no need to go searching
For the difference that sets an old phrase burning –
We’ll hear it in the whispered argument of a churning
Or in the streets where the village boys are lurching.
And we’ll hear it among decent men too
Who barrow dung in gardens under trees,
Wherever life pours ordinary plenty.
Won’t we be rich, my love and I, and
God we shall not ask for reason’s payment,
The why of heart-breaking strangeness in dreeping hedges
Nor analyse God’s breath in common statement.
We have thrown into the dust-bin the clay-minted wages
Of pleasure, knowledge and the conscious hour –
And Christ comes with a January flower.
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