First Sunday of Advent
Bishop of Lake Charles
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
November 28, 2010
First Sunday of Advent
“Let us walk in the light of the Lord!” Isaiah 2:5
Light and darkness figure prominently in all of our scripture readings. The Church places this theme before us as we begin our four week journey to Christmas. In the first reading, Isaiah speaks a great prophecy. “In days to come,” he proclaims, “the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain…” (Isaiah 2:2). He seems to be saying, “Get ready. A new era is dawning, when the Temple in Jerusalem will be a sign of hope and instruction.” Isaiah introduces the image of light and concludes with these words, “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” (Isaiah 2:5).
Then, St. Paul speaks to the Romans. He tells them to “wake up.” “Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12). The end of time is coming, he seems to say. We need to put aside the works of darkness and embrace the light.
Finally, the Gospel speaks of the owner who did not know when the thief would break into his house. The thief did his deed at night, concealed in darkness. “If the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into” (Matthew 24:43). In other words, the master of the house would have put aside his desire for sleep if he had known what was required to keep his house safe. He would have stayed awake as if it were daylight in order to protect his possessions.
All of these scriptural passages make the point that light is preferable to darkness. Of course, associating light with knowledge and goodness and darkness with ignorance and fear dates back to our earliest ancestors. With the coming of electricity, all of that changed. Yet still we have a sense, a feeling, of what is being referred to in the scriptures. As winter closes in upon us, the days grow shorter. The sun rises later and sets earlier. It makes sense that the Church, in all its wisdom, would place Advent at this time of year and make one of its central themes the need for light. As the physical darkness of the winter season increases, it should become obvious what is the source of true light.
Christ is our light. And we have begun our journey in these four weeks to attend His birth at Bethlehem in Judea. We are, as it were, on a pilgrimage from darkness into light. The potent symbol of light will culminate in a star that will greet the Wise Men and lead them to Christ, but we must not get ahead of ourselves.
One of the most beautiful symbols of Advent is the Advent Wreath. I hope that we have one in our homes. We will light a candle for each week and let that light shine and grow with the increase of flickering wicks, until we finally reach the dawning of a new light in the stable of Bethlehem. What does it all mean?
I would suggest we need to face the darkness that lies within us. If light reveals Christ, then what is it in us that conceals the light. It may be something as serious as that about which St. Paul speaks — “orgies and drunkenness,” “promiscuity and lust,” “rivalry and jealousy” (Romans 13:13). These are obvious sources of darkness. However, the light can be obscured by far more subtle means. I think of simple selfishness and pride. I call them “simple,” but as anyone who has struggled with them knows, they are not simple. They are the source and center of every evil that infects us. To think only of oneself, to ignore the needs of others, to seek our own will first and foremost — these are only the beginnings of the blindness that closes our eyes to God and to one another.
I recall reading the remarks of a Benedictine monk, a spiritual director, commenting on a famous quote by the important French existentialist writer, Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre, like most modern thinkers, was preoccupied with the “self” and our relationship to other people. He made this observation: “L’enfer c’est les autres — Hell is other people.” The monk took serious exception to this and explained, “How can Hell be others? God is manifested in others. God is the Other. That’s why the self must lose itself in love for the other. It’s the self we must leave behind. Better to say Hell is the Self. L’enfer c’est moi — Hell is me.”
And with every increasing Advent day, may God shed His light gradually within us, so that this light can dispel the darkness of “self.” If there is a season that calls us to renew our prayer life, it is Advent. To open oneself habitually in prayer to our Heavenly Father is to increase the light that dispels darkness. May that light reveal to us what keeps us from loving Him more fully, that of the self that hides the light, extinguishes the candle, and keeps us in the dark. May we repent of the self. Like the master of the house, may we not be caught unaware and put aside our desire for sleep, knowing that something else at the moment is required. Gradually, week by week, may we draw ever closer to a new light that has dawned.