Bishop Glen John Provost,
Bishop of Lake Charles
First Sunday of Advent
December 1, 2013
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” Matthew 24:37
“Après moi le déluge”—“After me the flood”—is a statement attributed to King Louis XV when he realized that after his reign would come a social upheaval that might topple the world as it had been known. Indeed fifteen years later his prophecy came to pass in the French Revolution. This event is arguably one of the most influential that shaped, for better or worse, the world as we know it today.
“After me the flood” represents the mentality of those who see events coming that they are incapable of changing. Not unlike what we see today—terrorism, human trafficking, addiction, disregard for the less fortunate, corruption, immorality—we sit back exhausted wondering where it will all lead. Rather than attempt to change our behavior we join in with the “eating and drinking.”
Jesus speaks of this in the Gospel today for the First Sunday of Advent. He cites the occasion of another flood. “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away” (Matthew 24:37-39). The lesson is clear. “[S]tay awake!” (Matthew 24:42). The Son of Man will come at a time you least expect.
I remember first reading about Noah and the ark when I was a child in catechism. What strikes one about the account in Genesis is that there is no warning from God. God is horrified at the “wickedness” and depravity and repents of ever having created man (Genesis 6:5-6). So, God decides to recreate the world, and He does so by choosing Noah and his family, because Noah is “a good man and blameless in that age” (Genesis 6:9). With Noah God will establish his covenant, that intimate bond between mankind and God. Noah teaches us an important lesson. His is a timeless admonition.
So, this is our Advent challenge—“Stay awake!” What does it mean to stay awake? But let us ask another question. What do we do when we see the meltdown occurring in our world today? Do we return to our “eating and drinking” or do we see that God is calling us to change our lives? I think this is the fundamental question.
Staying awake means that we see what is coming and try to adjust our lives. Changing the course of events may be beyond our control. After all, what can you or I do about great political change or world events? Yet, you and I are responsible for what we do, what we do in the voting booth, in our business dealings, in our families, with our children. We are responsible for the decisions we make every day, in choosing between good and evil. We are responsible.
Staying awake means seeing what is good, witnessing to it, choosing it over evil, and promoting what is right and good in the everyday decisions we make.
Staying awake means beginning with our personal lives. It means going to confession every month—as Pope Francis asked the youth of World Youth Day to commit themselves to doing. It means going to Mass faithfully. It means giving good example and instructing our children in doing what is right. It means not being embarrassed by our Catholic faith, our faith in Jesus Christ, and bringing that faith into the “market place” and into our everyday lives.
Do this, and we will not be found “eating and drinking” when the Son of Man comes but awake and ready to meet Him.