Homily for the First Sunday of Advent 2024

Jeremiah 33: 14-16. 1 Thess. 3: 12 – 4: 2. Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

We are experiencing the convergence of natural forces in the climate change over and over.
The world is heading to a new era in our history. It is the cycle of change that happened for millions of years. Now it’s happening in every level of our human experience. Change is just part of the process.

But each new period in its historic time feels like another ending. In St. Luke’s gospel, Chapter 21 Jesus names the three stages in Kairos Time, this new age is the Kingdom of God. The first prophesy for his followers suffering persecution and death, the second: describes the desolation and destruction of Jerusalem and the third one we heard today that feels like the cataclysmic end of the world when the Son of Man comes in Glory.

The three prophesies can be seen as three components of Mission as we seek to be faithful to our call of discipleship. First one, a recognition of suffering in the task of proclaiming Christ and God’s love and mercy as Lord in a hostel world. I think we have experienced that dynamic of secular values verses our Christian understanding of life. The second one is the experience of failure in this endeavor of not only bringing Christ to others but our own living in Christ. Along with our good intentions is our very human needs that can move us away from fulfilling our call to live Christ. Jesus names the real virtue here to hold onto, patient endurance. So we renew our commitment again and again especially in the setbacks of our culture and political world that seems bend on a weak understanding of Gospel values. And Third, the real challenge of working through our fears when we are confronted with catastrophic situations that may signal a new reality, always we trust God to bring us to himself and to his Glory in the Kingdom life that is our vision going forward as people of faith.

So here we find ourselves at the 1st Sunday of Advent, which tells us to pay attention to the new beginning in our life because God is always coming to us. It’s always that moment, if we can see it. And that means change is happening. And God’s coming is always a dramatic and powerful event. Even when it is quiet like Elijah’s experience of silence after the whispering wind at the cave on Mt. Horeb.

God is breaking into our world, into our space, into our hearts. What is God doing?
It is Christ among us and in us, calling us to respond with love in today’s world – bringing his love into this complexity, into every aspect of our lives, into this poverty, this emptiness, even into the craziness of life in our culture today.

Truly, we begin another moment in the history of the fulfilment of the Kingdom of God. This coming of the Son of God, this Kairos time changes everything. How are we going to live out this truth of Christ as we go forward on this journey now?

We begin a new cycle of reflection and celebration of the birth, life, ministry and death of Christ and his impact on who we are now and how we live – in this time with all the issues of life for us, individually and as human community. Especially, we as the monks of Mepkin going into our future with renewed hope and purpose living more fully in the truth, beauty and goodness of our monastic vocation here in this unique place. As Cistercian monks, we are called by God to live the love of Christ in our wonderful life of prayer and penance, with silence together in community, seeking to be like Christ in his sacrificial love.

But all of us who are believers, keep our eyes fixed on Christ, that reminds us to follow him all the way to the cross and to embrace our place in history. Zealously seeking the Kingdom with renewed fidelity and clarity of our call to be Christ to one another.
Our monastic vows mirror the journey the 3 prophesies of Christ lay out for us, that conversion of our life, our vow of Obedience that invites us into that deep faithfulness to God in Christ and to one another and the vow of stability that requires us to live in the challenges of the here and now living fully in the mystery and Glory of God.

All of us by our Baptismal life, live out this mystery of God with us. United to Christ as the way, the truth and the life. Let us begin this holy season of Advent with joy at all that God is doing and will do for us and in us. Advent is truly this time to be renewed and to receive again the blessing of Christ as Lord of our lives.