First Sunday of Advent, 11-27-16

In days to come,
the mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.”

As I have in the past, I will try to offer some reflections on the daily readings for Advent.

This morning I was able to attend one of the Spanish Masses at St. John the Baptist Church in Joliet, IL.  For the Responsorial Psalm, the choir sang one of my favorite songs.  It begins “Qué alegría cuando me dijeron: "Vamos a la casa del Señor.”  Or in English: “I rejoiced when I heard them say, let us go to God’s house.”  (Psalm 122) 

Having been involved in parish ministry for nearly 40 years, I sometimes wondered how many people in the congregation rejoiced to come to God’s house.  Or were they there simply out of habit or a sense of obligation?

“Zeal” is a word we don’t hear much any more—perhaps because in modern times it has picked up overtones of being inflexible and lacking in compassion.  But essentially zeal is the eagerness to do God’s will and to enter into God’s Presence.

Zeal is an eagerness to “climb the Lord’s mountain…that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.”  It is the grace that allows us to rejoice in the opportunity to enter into

God’s house.

Beyond the preparation for the coming feast of Christmas, Advent calls us to ready ourselves for the Lord’s Second Coming.  If we are zealous in entering into the Presence of the Lord on earth, the Second Coming should hold no fear for us.  Rather, we will transition gently from earthly Presence to eternal Presence.