The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

In today's epistle St. Paul admonishes us to put on Christ. It was these very words that St. Augustine read that led to his conversion.

For those who have put on Christ and are living in true faith and love there is nothing to fear from Christ's return at the end of the world. When Christ returns the world will be trembling and fearing but, those who are filled with the love of Christ will look up and rejoice in seeing and being with the One they have longed to see and love more perfectly.

There will be no doubt about Christ's return. We need not look for Him in closets or in deserts, this place or that; He will appear to all men all over the earth. Those that have spent their lives offending the Judge will be overcome with fear. They will wish to be buried under the mountains. But, they will be forced to be present at this judgment and be judged. We will see not only our own judgment but that of the entire world.

What will be made obvious to all is the working of God throughout history in each and every time and each and every place. We often wonder why God does this or that or why He permits this or that. During this judgment all will be made clear. We will see the wisdom, beauty and justice of all God's actions.

This first Sunday of Advent is a time when we look forward to this coming of Christ. He has already appeared as man and paid the price of our redemption through the sacrifice of the cross. And He will come at the end of time as we see foretold us in the gospel of today. Yet, there is a kind of third coming that is for each and every one of us here and now. And this time of Advent is a time for us to prepare ourselves for Him and to make ourselves worthy of Him.

We must now put on Christ by allowing Him to come to us and transform our lives. We must allow Him to cover and wash away our sins through His Sacraments. We must allow Him to feed our souls with His grace. We must allow Him to fill up our minds and hearts. We must be able to say with St. Paul that it is not us but it is Christ living within us.

This intimate union with Christ makes us one with Him and offers us the opportunity to lift up our eyes at His second coming to behold Him in all His beauty and glory. We will see the true God face to face rather than just His image which we have seen reflected in ourselves by His grace.

This is what every soul that is in love with God looks forward to with great desire and anticipation. Therefore this coming is not to be feared by those who already have Christ living within them. For those who have put on Christ, it will be a joyous time because they will be eternally united to the One that they love. All their hopes and dreams will be fulfilled.

This season of Advent we commemorate the four thousand years that mankind awaited the coming of the Redeemer. We consider the earnest longing, mortifications, penances and fervent prayers of the people of those days, and we attempt to enter into their sentiments. This should awaken in us a deeper understanding and appreciation for what we have already received.

Advent is about much more than this, it is a time for us to not only think of what men went through before Christ's birth, but it is a time for us to make those sentiments our own. We must use this time to prepare a place in our own lives for Christ to come and be born within us. We must prepare ourselves so that He will find an appropriate abode in us. To accomplish this let us mortify ourselves and refuse ourselves some small things that will perhaps go unnoticed by anyone else but will be seen by God. Let us make sacrifices and do penance, and thus drive out all that is offensive to God from us. Let us sweep and clean our hearts, minds, and souls so that He will find in us a hospitable abode. Let us make sure that we do all that we can to become as true a reflection of Him as possible. Let Him see within us a burning desire to be not only like Him in appearance, nor only clothed like Him in goodness and virtue, but burning with a desire to be one with Him: to live in Him and He in us.

It matters not how humble an abode we are. In fact He prefers the humble stable rather than the proud castle. Even if we have not much to offer to Him, let us offer what we have with a humble and trusting heart. He will upon His birth into our souls supply all that is lacking. He will transform the humble stable into a magnificent room in Heaven.

Franciscan Benefactor Seraph Subscription Vocations Have you remembered God?