Bishop Olson with UTA students

First Sunday of Advent
December 1, 2019
Catholic Student Center at University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, Texas

Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44

“Wake up! Be alert and prepared!” Advent offers us three things: hope, peace, and decision. “Wake up! Be alert and prepared!” To be alert is to recognize that the beginning of things and the end of things are related to each other. Today, Advent begins with our preparation for the second coming of Jesus at the end of the world; we end Advent with our grateful celebration of His first coming as a baby in Bethlehem, the event that is the beginning of our redemption. Pay attention, wake up, and be alert means that it is time to be converted from egoism and selfishness to availability to doing what the Lord asks me to do. Selfishness occurs when we don’t bother to think of the connections between the beginning of our actions and the end of our actions. Selfishness involves not thinking of the consequences of our words and actions and easily living only for our own satisfaction in the here and now without paying attention to God and to our neighbor. Advent is a time of hope because this conversion is not only necessary for salvation; it is truly possible to convert and to become selfless as God is selfless with His Grace in Christ Jesus.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is an example of hope for each of us, especially during Advent, because she pays attention and is prepared to surrender her will to the will of the Father in complete and perfect trust: an expression of her perfect and human love. Mary has confidence in God and permits the Holy Spirit to overshadow her and to receive the Word of God as her own Son. Her response of “yes” to God’s will empowers each of us to say “yes” to God’s will instead of demanding our own will. Mary’s “yes” in Nazareth at the Annunciation — the beginning — is related to her presence at the foot of the cross of her Son at Calvary. The beginning and end of Christ’s life and mission on earth are related through hope.

“Wake up! Be alert and prepared!” Hope blossoms into peace. The peace that is expressed in the Hebrew word “shalom” means more than simply a truce between adversaries. Peace is more than the distraction of being pacified. Peace is a complete and total integrity of life that nurtures a just order of relationship between human beings and God and among human beings and each other. It is a peace that only God can give to the world. God chooses to give that peace through His Son Jesus who established His One True Catholic Church of which each of us is a baptized member. The function of the Church is to be an instrument of unity and not simply a collection of individuals brought together in a truce established in self-interest. This peace requires each of us to surrender our own will to that of God: that all might truly be united as He wills us to be united and not simply as we desire to be united on our own terms.

“Wake up! Be alert and prepared!” For us to move from hope to peace requires us to make a decision that leads to a new way for us to act. Advent is a time for each of us to decide. The Gospel focuses on intentional awareness or mindfulness for the coming of Jesus. As Catholics, we are not preparing for an event that requires a plan like a disaster plan. We are preparing for the return of Jesus. We are preparing to meet and to embrace Him in gratitude and in love with contrition for our sins. To prepare to meet Jesus means that we must decide to be able to recognize Him. We will be able to recognize Him when He comes at the end of time because we have decided to recognize Him now at the beginning of our conversion. We recognize Him in the Eucharist, in the Gospel, in the assembly, in the priest celebrant, in our neighbor and in the poor. We have to decide to be watchful as members of His Church by first being willing to trust Him working in His Church. We have to ask God for the gift of willingness that precedes our free decision to place His will before our own will and to be converted to a people of peace united in God alone. Wake up! Be alert and prepared! Christ is coming!