1st Sunday of Advent 2022

Since the middle of October, Russia has been attacking the Ukrainian power supply in its war against that country. They have shelled Ukrainian power stations and their electric supply network attempting to cast that country into darkness and cold. The Russians hope that depriving Ukrainians of heat and light will demoralize them, break their spirit, and cause the Ukrainians to surrender. 

A recent news program showed two satellite images of Ukraine. One was from before the war, showing many dots of light illuminating the various Ukrainian cities and towns. The other picture was from a recent blackout, and most of the country was in complete darkness. 

Having experienced a post-winter storm blackout for only hours or days, we know how demoralizing suffering from cold and darkness can be. The prospects of facing winter without electricity and heat are crushing. The people of Ukraine need our material and prayerful support.

Light is one of our basic human needs; we need it to move about our surroundings. Light generates warmth and makes us feel more comfortable. We need light to grow food, and it is necessary for human physical and emotional good health. We get vitamin D and other essential nutrients from sunlight. This time of year, a lack of sunlight causes many people to suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, resulting in feelings of depression.  

Light fills us with hope and joy. We use bright lights to celebrate. This time of year, our need for more light causes us to string them up to celebrate Christmas. We even tour neighborhoods looking for bright displays of Christmas lights. When we are in the light, we feel more secure and can move about easily. When darkness envelopes us, moving must be slower. We must be careful about our movement from fear of falling over an unseen object, and we know that dangers and harm often hide in the dark.

We come into our world in darkness. We are not born with the ability to know right from wrong. At birth, original sin clouds our souls. We are naturally prideful, greedy, selfish, and envious when we enter the world because of our original sin. Only the light of God’s grace can overcome that darkness. Baptism opens our hearts to God, who is light.

God’s sharing of light was God’s first work of Creation. Genesis tells us:

"Then God said, 'Let there be light. And there was light.' God saw how good it was."

God’s creation of light was the starting point for Creation. Once God created light, then the rest of Creation followed, and God declared it all good. In the fullness of time,  God sent Jesus Christ into our world to make the world even brighter. In John’s Gospel, Jesus said:

“I am the light of the world. 

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, 

but will have the light of life."

Today as we begin the Advent Season, our Christian time of preparation for Christmas, our first reading came from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. We’ll hear from Isaiah every Advent Sunday this year. Scholars often refer to Isaiah as the Prince of the Prophets because he wrote prolifically. Isaiah lived about 650 years before Jesus and wrote a great deal about the coming of a messiah. He lived just before and during the Babylonian exile. That was after the Jewish people were defeated and taken from the Holy Land to live among the Chaldeans in modern-day Iraq. It was a very dark time for the people because they were isolated from the land of their fathers.

Before the exile, Isaiah had preached against the darkness descending on Israel. He had warned that the king’s government’s decisions to depend on foreign alliances and not on God’s grace would backfire, and God would ignore their prayers and sacrifices. He preached against their unfaithfulness and warned that God would reject them just as they had rejected God. 

Isaiah sees a brighter future, though. In today’s reading, Isaiah wrote:

"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 towards it."

He foretold that Jerusalem would be a beacon of light for the world, not just the Jewish people. 

Since he had a strong relationship with God, Isaiah saw into the future. Isaiah, with God’s grace, can see through the darkness. He saw a coming time when God’s light would shine on the people, and their faithfulness to God would cause people from around the world to want to come to the light and worship the one true God.

This worship would come about because of a strong leader or messiah. This leader would not only be a bright light to the Jews but to all people. 

“He shall judge between the nations, 

And impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into 

Plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. 

One nation shall not raise the sword against another,

Nor shall they train for war again."

Isaiah saw this mighty leader as someone who would bring peace and light into the world. His example of faithfulness to God would inspire enemies to beat their swords into plowshares and their lances into pruning hooks. Everyone would walk in God’s light, and no one would stumble in darkness. Everyone would feel pleasant warmth and not suffer from cold. 

How do we walk in the Light of the Lord? By listening to God. Advent is a great time to commit to listening to God because we tend to get very busy, and there are so many preparations to attend to as we prepare for Christmas. We can let anxiety and busyness overcome us. During this season, we must commit to reflection and focusing on our relationship with God. 

If you are praying for five minutes now, expand it to ten. If ten minutes is your prayer time now, work it up to fifteen. This Advent is when prayer must be grown, not overlooked. There are countless prayer and devotional resources this time of year, and many are available online. Sign up for one like that from Dynamic Catholic. Set aside a particular time and place to pray. You must be consistent in your prayer. That is critical. Reflect on what is going on in your life. Start with what is going right, and don’t be tempted to focus on the negative. If we think about the positive, we might be surprised to realize how much more of it and not the negative is happening in our lives. The bad gets put in perspective after we count our blessings.

To walk in the Light of the Lord, give God the time and space to communicate with you. Listen to some beautiful Christmas music; not the silly commercialized stuff, but worship music. It isn’t all classical pieces like Handel’s Messiah, although that is truly inspiring, but many more modern works. Be intentional in your efforts to walk in the Light of the Lord, and you will end up there. 

Most of all, set aside your swords and spears. They can be easy to grasp this time of year. Support and encourage one another, especially the strangers you meet. Share light if you want to walk in the light. 

Who are you fighting with today? Is it someone who let you down, messed up, or you feel owes you? Are they your marriage partner, sibling, parent or child, a former friend? Please put down your sword or lance and beat them into a farming implement. Mature and healthy people make the first move to heal a relationship. Show off your maturity and good mental health by initiating the healing of relationships. 

The world can seem like a very dark place unless we go looking for light. Jesus, the Light of the World, is with us when we celebrate the Eucharist. When we receive Christ’s Real Presence, His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, we step into the Light. If you haven’t found your way back to Mass since the pandemic, now is an excellent time to return to the light of Grace. 

Everyone knows someone who needs the light of Christ in their lives. Someone who has fallen out of the practice of Mass attendance or become hardened to the darkness and needs to be brought back into the light. This Christmas is an excellent time to invite them back to renew a relationship with God. A warm invite won’t be offensive to people of goodwill. Don’t feel rejected if they say no. There may be another opportunity later. You will have planted a seed, and God’s grace will cause it to grow. There is no life without God’s light and no light without God.