ADVENT HOMILY: 1ST SUNDAY , Yr B. 3rd Dec 2023.

ADVENT HOMILY: 1ST SUNDAY , Yr B. 3rd Dec 2023.

THEME: BEST TALKING CCTV

By:  Fr Andrew Ekpenyong

1. Talking CCTV. By the end of 2021, an estimated one billion surveillance cameras or closed circuit television (CCTV) sets, were in operation globally. To begin his Christmas shopping, Mr Johnson went with his 5-year old son Chris to a huge shopping mall on the day after Thanksgiving. Inside the mall, Chris naturally got fascinated with the toys at the Toys-R-Us section and wandered away from his Dad. When Mr Johnson could no longer find little Chris amidst the crowd of people in the Christmas rush – he went to a security guard and asked: “Please can I look at the monitors of your CCTV cameras?” The guard answered, “Of course” and took him to the monitors. And there, one of the many monitors, showed little Chris, surrounded by toys but crying. Mr Johnson asked the guard, “Can I use the intercom to speak with him?” The guard said: “You don’t need the intercom as that may distract everyone, we have talking CCTV cameras. I’ll let you speak with him using the camera closest to him.” The guard pressed the button for the CCTV camera closest to Chris. Mr Johnson said. “Chris”. The little boy looked around and recognized his Dad’s voice. “Daddy”, he said. Mr Johnson continued, “I can see you although you can’t see me. Please stay where you are, I’m coming to you right away.” Dear Sisters and Brothers, that is what today’s 1st reading (Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7) is like. Just like little Chris, we have all wondered away from our God, fascinated by toys. We have discovered that without God, the toys don’t bring lasting happiness. We are crying in the midst of toys and asking: “Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways…?” (Is 63:17). And God takes the initiative, like Mr Johnson using the talking CCTV, to tell us, He is on the way. God used the prophets like intercoms to announce to the Israelites the 1st coming of the Messiah, and we are preparing to celebrate the Birth of the Messiah. God continues to use the closest talking CCTV to us, the CCTV that best respects our privacy, the best talking CCTV, the talking CCTV in our hearts, that is, our consciences, to prepare us for the second and final coming of the Messiah.

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2. Advent. Our Lord Himself announces it in today’s Gospel reading (MK 13:33-37): “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” The Season of Advent gives us ample opportunity to enhance our alertness and watchfulness. It spans the four weeks of preparation to commemorate the 1st coming while being alert and ready for the 2nd coming of our Lord. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) reminds us succinctly: “When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming.” (CCC 524). We are here because we truly desire God’s kingdom of justice, love, and peace. And the talking CCTV in our hearts, our consciences, enable us to hear God’s consoling voice, to discern what is right, to be watchful and ready for the final coming of our Lord. Moreover, our own transition from this life is also something to prepare for, something that can occur at any time. Hence, we have double motivation to be ready all the time.

3. Ready All the Time. In spite of this clear teaching of our Lord, it seems that some people prefer to fix the date rather than be ready all the time. I guess it is easier to focus on a particular date, rather than be alert all the time. There are hundreds of records of such predictions. In Wikipedia, there is a list of dates that people explicitly predicted as the date for the 2nd coming of Christ or the end of the world. After counting 170 different dates by different people through the centuries, I got tired. Let me share with you just 3 of these. 1. In 1988, Rev. Colin Hoyle Deal published a book: Christ Returns by 1988 – 101 Reasons Why. 2. In the same year, Edgar Whisenant, a NASA engineer set a date for the return of Jesus. He wrote a book titled, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Take Place in 1988. 3. It was in March 1997, that 39 members of a California cult called Heaven’s Gate, headed by Marshall Applewhite, exploded onto the national scene with their mass suicide in a luxurious mansion at Rancho Santa Fe near San Diego in California. The words of our Lord in today’s Gospel reading are clear and could have prevented the paranoid anxiety and tragedy in these 3 instances: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” Let us take solace in St Paul’s prayer in today’s 2nd reading (1 Cor 1:3-9): “He (God) will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our special spiritual preparation for Christmas, should spur us to be prepared to meet Jesus at all times, whether at the end of our lives or the end of the world, whichever comes first.

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