THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR

How are you coming with your plans to celebrate the season of Advent this year in a special and fruitful way? Are you finding ways to sneak in some small times of quiet and reflection during your busy day? Are you finding the suggestions on the back of the weekly Advent cards here at St. Peter’s helpful in keeping you focused on the spirit of the season and making at least some difference in other people’s lives? Are you trying to prepare your heart for the coming of Christ in a new way at Christmas? If you are married and have children, are you faithfully doing any specific prayers or actions at home to involve them in this preparation? I certainly hope you have been able to answer “yes” to some or all of these questions.

We live in a world in which bigger and better define our expectations for much of life. We have become so enamored by super size, super stars, and high definition that we tend to view life through a lens that so magnifies what we expect out of the world that we often do not to see potential in small things. But as the prophet Zechariah reminds us (Zech 4:10), we should not “despise the day of small things,” because God does some of his best work with small beginnings and impossible situations.

It is truly a humbling experience to read back through the Old Testament and see how frail and imperfect all the “heroes” actually are. Abraham, the coward who cannot believe the promise; Jacob, the cheat who struggles with everybody; Joseph, the immature and arrogant teen; Moses, the impatient murderer who cannot wait for God; Gideon, the cowardly Baal-worshipper; Samson, the womanizing drunk; David, the power abusing adulterer; Solomon, the unwise wise man; Hezekiah, the reforming king who could not quite go far enough, and finally, a very young Jewish girl from a small village in a remote corner of a great empire.

Does it occur to you that God often begins with small things and inadequate people? It certainly seems that God could have chosen “bigger” things and “better” people to do His work in the world. Yet if God can use them and reveal Himself through them in such marvelous ways, it means that He might be able to use me, inadequate and unwise and too often lacking in faith that I am. And it means that I need to be careful that I do not in my own self-righteousness put limits on what God can do with the smallest things, the most unlikely people, in the most hopeless of circumstances. I think that is part of the wonder of the Advent season.

I am convinced that one of the main purposes of the incarnation of Jesus was to provide hope. While most people today want to talk about the death of Jesus and the Atonement of sins, the early Church celebrated the Resurrection and the hope it embodied. It was the proclamation of a truth that rang throughout the Old Testament, that endings are not always endings but are opportunities for God to bring new beginnings. The Resurrection proclaimed that truth even about humanity’s greatest fear, death itself.

Both the season of Advent and the season of Lent are about hope. It is not just hope for a better day or hope for the lessening of pain and suffering, although that is certainly a significant part of it. It is more about hope that human existence has meaning and possibility beyond our present experiences, a hope that the limits of our lives are not nearly as narrow as we experience them to be. It is not that we have possibility in ourselves, but that God is a God of new things, and so all things are possible.

God’s people in the first century wanted Him to come and change their oppressive circumstances and were angry when those immediate circumstances did not change. But that is a shortsighted view of the nature of hope. Our hope cannot be in circumstances, no matter how badly we want them or how important they are to us. The reality of human existence, with which the Book of Job struggles, is that God’s people experience that physical existence in the same way that others do. Christians get sick and die, Christians are victims of violent crimes, and Christians are hurt and killed in traffic accidents, bombings, war, and in some parts of the world, famine.

If our hope is only in our circumstances, as we define them to be good or as we want them to be to make us happy, we will always be disappointed. That is why we hope, not in circumstances, but in God. He has continually, over the span of four thousand years, revealed Himself to be a God of newness, of possibility, of redemption, the recovery or transformation of possibility from endings that goes beyond what we can think or even imagine. The best example of that is the crucifixion itself, followed by the resurrection. That shadow of the cross falls even over the manger.

Recently Time magazine ran an issue with the words “The Decade From Hell” blazoned on its cover. The article inside of the same title outlined all the horrible things that had happened over the course of the years 2000-2009. As I read that article, I relived so many of the tragic events that made up those ten years and found myself hoping for better things in the years ahead. Of course, there is a problem of longing for vindication from an evil world when we are contributors to that evil. This is the power of the images of Amos when he warns about longing for the “Day of the Lord” that will really be a day of darkness (Amos 5:18-20).

Still, even with Amos’ warning, the time of Advent is one of expectation and anticipation, a longing for God’s actions to restore all things and vindicate the righteous. This is why during Advent we as Christians also anticipate the Second Coming as a twin theme of the season so that the spirit of expectation from the Old Testament can be better captured with a joyous sense of expectancy as Advent is celebrated as a time of joy and happiness as we await the coming of the King.

So we celebrate with gladness the great promise in Advent, yet knowing that there is also a somber tone as the theme of threat is added to the theme of promise. This is reflected in some of the Scripture readings for Advent in which there is a strong prophetic tone of accountability and judgment on sin. But this is also faithful to the role of the Coming King who comes to rule, save and judge the world.

Because of the dual themes of threat and promise, Advent is a time of preparation that is marked by prayer. Advent’s prayers are prayers of humble devotion and commitment, prayers of submission, prayers for deliverance, prayers from those walking in darkness who are awaiting and anticipating a great light.

All this begins in the hope that God will come again into our world to reveal Himself as a God of newness, of possibility, a God of new things. This time of year we contemplate that hope embodied, enfleshed, incarnated, in a newborn baby, the perfect example of newness, potential, and possibility. During Advent we groan and long for that newness with the hope, the expectation, indeed the faith that God will once again be faithful to see our circumstances, to hear our cries, to know our longings for a better world and a whole life. We hope that, as he first came as an infant, so he will come again as King.

My experience tells me that those who have suffered and still hope understand far more about God and about life than those who have not. Maybe that is what hope is about: a way to live, not just to survive, but to live authentically amidst all the problems of life with a faith that continues to see possibility when there is no present evidence of it, just because God is God. That is also the wonder of Advent.

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

“Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!” the prophet Zephaniah declared. Like Mary, we should be glad and exult, for the Lord is in our midst. Discouragement and defeat are overcome as God renews us with love. “Cry out with joy and gladness,” the prophet Isaiah sings. We can be confident and unafraid because God, the Holy One, is a “mighty Savior.” When we are weak, God gives us courage. When we are drained by sadness, God fills us with joy from the fountain of salvation.

Paul repeats the glad refrain: “Rejoice!” So that we will not forget it, he says it again: “Rejoice!” Though a guard stands watch over Paul, the peace of Christ protects his heart and mind. Paul urges us to dismiss anxiety and present our needs before God in prayerful petition. Then, like Paul, we will be released from the dungeons of worry and fear.

John the Baptist proclaims the coming salvation, speaking to each life situation: be honest, don’t abuse one another, don’t blame others for our misdeeds, and be satisfied with what we have. As we await the coming of Christ to cleanse us from sin, we are filled with anticipation of this happy day.

For Reflection: How can I practice the virtue of joy this Advent? In what ways can I bring joy to those who are despairing?

CATHOLICS COME HOME: CHICAGO STYLE EVANGELIZATION

Many parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago have tried to find effective ways to reach out to “inactive” Catholics. This year there is an evangelization effort that will support those efforts through a media campaign called Catholics Come Home. The Archdiocese of Chicago and the Dioceses of Joliet and Rockford have joined together in this evangelization effort and have funded the commercials which will be shown on all major networks within the large viewing area including ABC, CBS, NBC, WGN, FOX, cable stations, Univision, Telemundo, Polsat and Polvision.

The centerpiece of this evangelization effort is a commercial entitled “Epic” that has been translated into three languages: English, Spanish and Polish. This commercial has won multiple awards including a 2008 Telly Award for Top Honors and 2009 Communicator Awards. The commercial campaign will begin on December 16, 2009, and run for five and a half weeks. Over that time the average TV viewer will see a Catholics Come Home spot 13-20 times.

The Office for Evangelization of the Archdiocese has created a webpage devoted to Catholics Come Home. This is the place to see a truly “Chicago” look of the media campaign and to find facts, photos, and resources specifically for parishes in the Archdiocese. For more information, go to www.CatholicsComeHomeCHICAGO.org.

RETIREMENT FUND FOR RELIGIOUS

As we announced last week in the bulletin, there will be a second collection this weekend to assist religious communities of men and women—including the Franciscans—in meeting the retirement needs of their senior members. For so many years in the past, especially religious women and religious brothers taught in our Catholic schools and ministered in Catholic hospitals with little monetary recompense. While they were able to live decently on a day to day basis, they were not able to put much money aside for the future.

This annual collection in the month of December helps to defray the costs of so many of these dedicated servants who now have grown old and deserve the care necessary as their physical health deteriorates. Many of them continue to minister with their prayers, and the Church thrives with this prayer powerhouse. We ask that you be as generous as possible this weekend to show your appreciation for all these men and women who have served so well and now are in need. Envelopes are provided at the rear of church for those who wish.

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