Advent Prayer Service

Each Advent, we have about 2 prayer services during theology classes in our chapel.  Our first one is today and the focus will be John the Baptist and preparing for Christ's coming (our second one will be on December 12 with the focus being Mary as protector of the poor).  The students will pray the Canticle of Zechariah, the prayer of John's father after he was born, and I will offer the following reflection on this past Sunday's gospel:


The only food that we can rely on in the event of a major catastrophe - the Twinkie - no longer exists and the man who was on TV for every New Year’s Eve - Dick Clark - is dead.

Well played, Mayans.  Well played.

On December 21 - the first day of our Christmas vacation no less- the world is supposed to end.  Of course the Mayans were not the first group of people to predict the end of time.  For thousands and thousands of years, people have been running around telling us to repent and prepare for The End, for eternal judgment.  

I can assure you, no one - the Mayans or whack jobs on the streets of New York or guys who run cults - know when the world is going to end.  What I am pretty certain of, however, is that someday we will have to prepare for The End.  That time when Jesus Christ will come for the second time to unite heaven and earth, to raise the dead, and to begin the eternal reign of the Kingdom of God.  Until that happens, we should use the time we have to prepare and to get ready for that moment so that we can be with God forever.  

That is why the reading we just read encourages us to “be vigilant” and to be ready to “stand before the Son of Man.”  That is why this school, the Church, Theology classes, and boring Advent prayer services exist: to prepare us, to get us ready, to ensure that when that time comes, we are ready.  That is what Advent is all about (at least the first 3 weeks).  Advent is a time to refocus, to remember that someday we will face God, and to ask ourselves if we are ready.  If we’re not, we once again have a chance to start over, and to try again.

And so I encourage you to use these next few weeks to refocus your attention on God and on what matters.  Use the opportunities Trinity, your Church, whatever offers you to pray, to serve, to reflect.  Maybe the world will end on December 21.  I hope it doesn’t because I am not ready.  Are you?