By Deacon Jerry Franzen 12/10/23 Cathedral
Isaiah 40: 1-5, 5-9 2
Peter 3: 8-14 Mark 11:1-8
Praised be Jesus Christ. Good Morning.
Last weekend the word was “Watch”, “Be alert.”
Don’t be caught “off guard” when you meet the Lord at your death
so that you may be glorified when He is glorified at His second coming.
Today the buzz word is “Prepare.”
Advent is a season of preparation, but it is much more
than
preparing for the celebration of Christmas.
You have heard this before, but it bears repeating.
We prepare by bringing Jesus more and more into our
lives.
Advent is ultimately aimed at our preparation for our
joining
with Jesus in everlasting life.
It’s also our yearly reminder that we must prepare for the final coming
of Jesus by bringing Jesus more into our earthly lives here and now.
Saying it is easy, but how do we do it?
I
None of us can do it alone.
The people of
like Isaiah and later John the Baptist.
The people of the early church had the apostles, especially Peter,
as their leader and Paul as the chief missionary.
And we have had all of those and saints, doctors of
the Church,
popes, bishops, priests and lay people as examples of how to do just that
ever since.
I am reminded of those around me, who have helped me
to welcome Jesus more and more into my life.
My parents were primarily responsible for that in my early life.
My wife, my children and my friends have taken over
now
in my
later life.
But I can’t forget my teachers. Here are a few from the many.
My sixth grade teacher told my mother that I was lazy;
that teacher thought that I would benefit from attending
the
I was challenged to grow, and it seems
that I
have thrived on challenge ever since.
One can’t be lazy and be prepared; we must be diligent
in our
preparation to be with Jesus in eternal life.
A high school Math teacher provided some of those
challenges
in the form of quick recall questions like, “What’s a third plus a half?”
A quick answer of five-sixths was expected.
When I gave the wrong answer and tried to correct it with,
“Oh, I mean ......”
The teacher would simply reply,
“Oh! Say
what you mean, and mean what you say.”
Integrity is important in our preparation
for being with Jesus in eternal life.
A college English teacher was the first person
to teach
me how to write a research paper.
The first step is to gather information on the topic.
We need a lot of truthful information in our
preparation
for
being with Jesus in eternal life.
We must always be seeking knowledge and learning
to
bring Jesus more into our lives.
My college teacher of Physical Chemistry decided that,
with only three senior students (me included) in the class,
it might be best if the students took charge of teaching the material
to one another by presenting it in a seminar format.
Sharing how Jesus is in our lives helps each of us
to bring Jesus more into our own lives.
And then there is my first spiritual director,
who
listened to what was happening in my life,
who
critiqued my first practice homilies,
and
commented on projects I undertook.
She always helped me to keep focus by asking me,
"Now,
where is God in all of this?”
God must be at the center of all that we do in
preparation.
Even though four of these teachers were not dealing
in
subjects related to faith, they each have had a part
in
helping me to bring Jesus more into my life.
Diligence, integrity, seeking knowledge, sharing our
faith
and
having our lives “God-centered.”
Those
are important in our preparation.
Today’s reading from Isaiah leaves no room for laziness.
We are to make a straight highway through a wasteland
for our
God to enter into our lives,
In some respects, we do live in that wasteland.
We can become very complacent and lazy about our
sinfulness.
Advent is the time to straighten that path and to remove any obstacles.
The Sacrament of Penance will be available as usual
on Friday from noon -1:00 PM and on Saturday from 3:00 PM-4:00 PM
including the Friday and Saturday before Christmas.
Don’t be lazy; St. Peter said in the second reading,
“Be eager to be found without spot or
blemish.”
There must be a correspondence between
what we
say and what we mean and then what we do?”
Do we act as though we truly await the “new heavens and the new earth
in which righteousness dwells?”
Advent is a
time to examine the integrity of the faith
we
profess to see if it corresponds to the faith we live.
At the very beginning of St. Mark’s Gospel the author quoted
the prophet Isaiah of the Old
Testament.
The author had been obviously schooled in the Old
Testament.
Knowledge of the truth of our faith can go a long way
toward
straightening
that path to Jesus.
We must grow in knowledge by gathering the truth from what is out
there in scripture, in tradition and in other spiritual writings.
The “people of the whole Judean countryside and all of the inhabitants
of
acknowledged their sins and were baptized by John.”
Part of our preparation during Advent
can be
in sharing our faith with others.
There is a community-wide element to our preparation;
WE
prepare just as the candidates and catechumens
also
prepare for Jesus to come to them.
Whatever you do, keep God at the center.
Talk to those around you, parents, children, relatives
about how and why God
sent his Son.
Let your friends know that God is important to you
and
that you pray to him.
Don’t be afraid to praise God. Be sure to thank God every day.
Know that God has given you whatever is needed to deal with the worst.
Know that God is there in the midst of all you do.
That whole first reading from the prophet Isaiah is centered on God.
III
God was there for me in those five teachers:
My sixth grade teacher – Sr. Catherine David
of the Sisters of Charity of
My Math
teacher – Sister Evangelista of the Order of St. Benedict
My English teacher – Sister Loretta Marie
of the Convent of Divine Providence
My
Chemistry teacher – Sister Rita Marie of the Sisters of Notre Dame
My first Spiritual Director – Sister Barbara Ann
of the Sisters of the Precious Blood.
They each did so much for me in my continuing preparation for Jesus
to be in my life.
Many others like them, sisters and brothers, in religious orders
have done so much to help so many to welcome Jesus into their lives.
They have done it as teachers, as hospital workers, as missionaries,
as administrators in schools and hospitals, in parishes as pastoral
associates and DRE’s, as advocates for the poor, as diocesan workers.
It is no accident that these teachers, dear to me,
have been included in this homily.
On next Sunday, the collection for the Retirement Fund for the Religious
will take place.
This is a yearly collection to provide funds for the retirement
of sisters and brothers who have served the church so faithfully.
They have dedicated their lives to God’s work;
many now find that, because of the infirmity of old age,
they must retire from their active ministry.
Since most of these sisters and brothers were paid little for their work,
their
orders did not have the opportunity to set aside
sufficient funds to provide
for their retirement.
With so many sisters and brothers in retirement now
and
with the lower populations of younger members
to bring in salaries to the orders, these orders are in need
of our financial help.
Please be generous in your support for the Retirement Fund for the
Religious next weekend.
By helping these sisters and brothers to live out their lives
in their religious communities, we can help them
to continue to prepare for
the coming of Jesus.
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