Over the past few weeks and months the weather has truly been something
quite amazing. Last year we had a rather mild autumn, and I wondered if this
was typical for living “down south”, but this year has not only been colder, it
has also been considerably wetter. In fact the one Monday morning when we
had severe rain, the car park was literally turning into a shallow paddling pool,
and water was flowing past the presbytery door down to the garden, and they
closed the school. I also had water leaking into the presbytery in three different
rooms. And if that isn’t enough, look at what has been happening elsewhere in
the country, and also in places such as Spain. We are just not used to this
volume of the sea being dumped on the land!
Are we approaching the end of the world? Our Lord spoke about the “distress
of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people
fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world”, but we
haven’t yet seen signs in the sun and moon and stars, although I could have
missed them. But what would be our response if, say, two shooting stars left a
horizontal and vertical trail that intersected, forming a cross, making the sign of
the Son of Man in the sky?
The point is, that when Christ does return, it won’t be anything vague.
Everyone will see Him and there will be no doubting it. Before that, though,
there will be warning signs. But the best thing to do is to be always prepared.
The second part of the Gospel reminds me of a technique St John Vianney said
used to be used to capture stray enemy soldiers. If a lone soldier or two from
the enemy side made their way to a village, rather than trying to fight or arrest
them, instead they used to make them welcome. “Put your feet up, have a
drink!” they might have said. But it was all a trick to detain them, whilst their
own soldiers arrived to take them away. As Christians, the world is not our
permanent home, and neither is it always friendly to us. Even when it is, we
have to be careful. If we slacken off and get led astray by the world, will Christ
recognise us as His followers, or followers of the world?
St Cyprian has something interesting to say about all of this. He puts it this
way: “Since the world hates the Christian, why do you love that which hates
you, and why do you not rather follow Christ who redeemed you and loved
you?” He continues: “In his epistle John cries out and exhorts us not to pursue
the lusts of the flesh and love the world. ‘Do not love the world’, he says, ‘or
the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in
him.’” (See the Office of Readings, Friday, Week 34.)
We have to be careful at this point not to grab the wrong end of the stick. The
Scriptures use the expression “the world” in two different ways: it can refer to
the bad things in the world, or alternatively just to the world in general. God
made the world, so we can’t say that everything that isn’t spiritual is bad,
otherwise we end up resurrecting ancient heresies. Catholics have at times
been criticised for indulging in alcohol and gambling. These are fine, as long
as they are in moderation. There’s a difference between a social drink, and
becoming drunk and disorderly. It’s one thing to buy a Christmas Square or
support the 200 Club, and another to gamble the house, the car and all your
savings at the casino. We are called to be in the world, but not of the world; so
we are allowed to enjoy ourselves, but not to take things to excess.
Above all, we are called to love God, and that means both knowing and doing
His will. It means that whilst we love our family and friends, our town and our
country, we love God and heaven more, and look forward to meeting family
and friends in heaven one day, and want to make sure that we all make it, and
no one gets left behind. One day, Christ will return in glory. It could be in our
lifetime, or it could be after that. Either way, we need to be prepared to meet
Him.
On Tuesday I’ll be going to the next deanery meeting, and then I can let you
know when the parish reconciliation service will be. But I’ve also expanded
regular confessions as well, to Saturday 9:45 – 10:15 am as well as 5:00 – 5:30
pm. Of course, you can also make an appointment or ask me before or after
Mass (but not eight seconds before Mass is due to begin, please). I know that
sometimes, when people are returning back to their faith, they want to book a
time when things won’t feel quite so rushed. You can, of course, go to another
parish, perhaps where your voice won’t be recognised, and even make sure that
it’s in a different diocese, so that that priest won’t ever become your Parish
Priest in the future. It’s up to you. The important thing is that you do go and
receive that healing and forgiveness. That way, if Christ doesn’t return this
Advent, your Christmas will truly be one to remember. And if He does, it will
be out of this world.
Curious about exploring things further? If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk