Advent I [B]: Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7; 1 Cor 1:3-9; Mk 13:33-37

 

Years ago, when 20th Century Fox advertised in the New York papers to fill a vacancy in its sales force, one applicant replied: "I am at present selling furniture at the address below. You may judge my ability as a salesman if you will stop in to see me at anytime, pretending that you are interested in buying furniture. When you come in, you can identify me by my red hair. And I should have no way of identifying you. Such salesmanship as I exhibit during your visit, therefore, will be no more than my usual workday approach and not a special effort to impress a prospective employer." From among more than 1500 applicants, this guy got the job. ////Jesus wants us to be ready like that man. We don’t know when He’s coming back, so we should be prepared all the time.

In this gospel Jesus illustrates the need for alertness and readiness by comparing the situation of his followers to that of a gate-keeper in a house when the owner was out of the country.  Since the gate-keeper did not know when the owner of the house would return, he must always be ready if he did not want the owner to find him asleep.  In the same way, there is no reason for Christ's followers to be fearful, provided we are ready every day for Jesus' return.   Thus, our whole life should be a preparation to meet the master. We base this constant watch not on fear but on hope in God’s promise of eternal life.

Using Christ’s parable, the Church reminds us of the alertness and preparation needed for the four-fold coming of Jesus into our lives, namely: at the celebration of His Incarnation during this Christmas season, in His active presence  in our daily lives, at the moment of our death, and in his final coming in glory at the end of the world.

Jesus said to his disciples, "No man knows  about that day and that hour. Be watchful, be wakeful and be praying, for you do not know when the time is."  These words of Jesus place a great demand on us, that we must so live that it does not matter when he comes. It gives a great task of   being ready to receive him at any moment. Natural calamities and man-made disasters creep into human life unannounced, at the most unexpected time. 

 

To have an Advent project of being alert and watchful in the spirit of today’s Gospel is recommended.  Every morning when we get up, let us pray, “Lord, show me someone today with whom I may share your love, mercy and forgiveness.”  Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "Whatever you do in your family, for your children, for your husband, for your wife, you do for Jesus."  Every night when we go to bed, let us ask ourselves, “Where have I found Christ today?”  The answer will be God’s Advent gift to us that day. By being alert and watchful we will receive an extra gift:  Christ himself.  Let us remember the saying of St. Thomas Aquinas: "Without God, I can't.  Without me, He won't."  

 

The season of Advent also reminds us that of all foolish things, to forget God and to become immersed in earthly things is the most foolish. In the fast pacing world, we do not have time. Often we wish that the day had at least a few more hours, that we can complete all our tasks. But, unfortunately, it cannot happen. So, we compromise, and postpone certain things. Always, the things that are postponed and dismissed are the things that are relating to God, the family prayer, Holy Mass, a get together in the Parish and other services. Leaving aside our obligations to God, we chase after fleeting momentary things. They stand ahead of us, like a mirage, appearing to be near but never within our reach. Thus, life becomes a futile chase, which leaves behind only a handful of regrets. In this season, the church advises us to be like a wise man who sets his goals high, and makes use of all the earthly things as a means to reach his goal.

In India, the natives use a technique to catch monkeys. They hollow out one end of a coconut and they put peanuts in there. The monkey puts his hand in the coconut and when he makes a fist to grab the peanuts, he's trapped. It doesn't occur to him right away to just let go of the food to get his hands back. Often we behave in this way. We sacrifice important things just for getting some small and insignificant things. Advent reminds us to set priorities and free ourselves of insignificant things we spend most of our time on and free up time for God and His concerns. Advent is a moment for giving the Lord our undivided attention so he can guide us to a better life.

In this season of Advent let us dedicate some time for introspection, for strengthening the family bond through family prayer and for encountering the Savior by personal prayer.

 

OT 33 [A] Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; I Thes 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30

Back in the 1940’s Clarence Jordon founded a farm in Americus, Georgia, and called it Koinonia [Christian Fellowship, Communion with God and with Fellow-Christians] Farm. Koinonia was a community of poor whites and blacks who cooperated in earning a living. The integrated status of this community bothered many local citizens. They tried everything possible to wreck Koinonia. They boycotted its farm products, and slashed the workers’ tires when they came to town. Finally, in 1954, the Ku Klux Klan decided to get rid of Koinonia Farms. One night they came and burned every building except Dr. Jordon’s home. They chased off all of the families except for the Jordons and one black family. The next day a local newspaper reporter came to the farm to see what remained. The rubble was still smoldering. But Clarence Jordon was busy planting and hoeing. With a haughty spirit, the reporter said to Dr. Jordon, “Well, you got two of those Ph.D. s and you’ve put fourteen years into this farm, and there’s nothing left to show for it. Just how successful do you think you’ve been?” Clarence stopped hoeing, turned toward the reporter with his penetrating eyes, and said quietly but firmly, “Sir, I don’t think you understand us Christians. What we are about is not success; what we are about is faithfulness.” In order to be faithful, we must be willing to take risks for that One who dared to march into the very jaws of Hell for us.

 

The main theme of the three readings is an invitation to live in such a way that we make the best use of the talents God has given us, so that at the hour of our death Our Lord will say: “Well done, my good and faithful servant! Come and share the joy of your master” Matthew 25:21). 

 

This parable has a number of messages for us. First of all it tells us that God gives man differing gifts. One man received five talents, another two, and another one. It is not a man’s talent which matters; what matters is how he uses it.  God never demands from a man ability which he has not got.

The parable expresses that men are not equal in talent; but men can be equal in effort. It is quite remarkable that the man simply entrusted the talents to the servants. He did not tell them what to do with them. Neither did he tell them that he would demand them back on his return. The servants drew conclusions for themselves. Two of them decided to take risk and put them to use. While the third decided to play safe, burying it.

As the man expected his servants to be fruitful we are also expected to be fruitful. We are also expected to appreciate all of the gifts that we have received, not only appreciate them but also use them to their greatest potential.

There are three steps we must follow in order to invest our gifts well - from a supernatural perspective.

First, we must identify what our gift is.

We should always thank God for all countless blessings, but we should also reflect on the one or two strong characteristics, traits, or talents that God has given us personally.

What type of thing do you enjoy most?

What type of activity has always made you excited?

What personality characteristic have people always complimented you on?

What have you always dreamed of doing but were afraid to get started on?

The second step is to get right with God and stay that way. The third servant left his life-mission unfulfilled because he didn't have a good relationship with his master. He judged him to be a tough master who demanded back what he had not given.

 

Our lame excuses invite punishment: The third servant decided to avoid risk-taking and showed too much caution with his talent.. His excuse was that, after all, he had not been given explicit orders about how to do his investing. Besides, any type of business was risky, and the Master might hold him accountable for any loss. He probably knew the long-standing rabbinic teaching that anyone who buries money that has been put into his care is no longer liable for its safety. Through this description of a lazy servant, Jesus teaches us that that there is no “safe” position in life. Christian living is strenuous business involving occasional risk-taking. God expects us to use our every talent for personal growth, and for bearing witness to the Goodness of God to all whom we encounter. As Pope St. John XXIII said, “We were not put on earth to guard a museum, but to produce new spiritual wealth from the talents God has placed under our stewardship.

 

We need to “trade” with our talent of Christian Faith: All of us in the Church today have received at least one talent. We have received the gift of Faith. Our responsibility as men and women of Faith is not just to preserve and “keep” the Faith. We need to work with it. We need to offer it to the men and women of our times. Unless we do this, we stand in danger of losing the Faith just as the third servant lost his talent. The way to preserve the Faith, or any other talent that God has given us, is to put it to work and help it bear fruit.

 

When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion, let's promise that starting this week, we will go out and courageously invest our God-given gifts.