The darkest hours come before the dawn. Anyone who had to work at night, or has watched over a sick child, a gravely ill patient or had to get to an airport for an early flight, will agree with me on that.
Head begins to nod, surroundings become unreal, body becomes almost a separate entity in its effort to resist attempts of the soul to move it. It is the time when “who cares?” may become a guiding line. It it is very easy to make mistakes – some of them very serious – at that darkest hour before the dawn.
The message of the 1st Sunday of Advent is therefore – BE ALERT! Wake up! Keep your eyes wide open and your mind and heart on God! Do not drift into the temporary joys of the world, so tempting to your tired mind and body. Stay focused on the Eternal, on Him who is the truly worth loving, on the Joy that is coming.
St Paul says: “it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;
the night is advanced, the day is at hand.”
It is not only in Advent that we are reminded to stay alert and faithful: the wedding guests who come on time – or too late, the attendant maidens with their empty (or filled) lamps, the guests who refuse the invitation to the Feast because they are too busy.. There is also this heart-rending sentence “will Jesus find faith when he comes again”?
We look around and see those empty lamps, turned backs, careless treatment of the great legacy of the Baptismal promises made. I constantly hear from the young people who surround me “ I was baptized Catholic, I THINK ( they often do not know), but I really have no religion”.
It is easy to drown in the surrounding darkness and join the number of the perpetually worried who predict the end of Christian civilization and indeed even Christianity itself. True, there is a marked decline in numbers of Christians and also – related to this phenomenon – also vocations in the West. Some churches in Alberta (Canada) where I live look pretty empty on Sundays.
Yet – when I went to the new Corpus Christi church in Edmonton last week, there were close to 1500 people attending the Mass. Most of them came to Canada from Philippines, India, Pakistan, Syria, Africa and China. When I exchanged a sign of peace with the lady sitting in front of me I could not but admire her red-golden sari. A young woman sitting on my right had a typical loose, colorful African robe and splendid headdress. As we were walking to receive the holy Communion, I recognized softly spoken Urdu – a dark haired father behind me was instructing his son.. All altar servers were of dark complexion – and great dedication to everything they were doing. The atmosphere was amazing – so much enthusiasm and joy.. real, human, down to earth – joy.
Many of the parishioners have come from those areas in the world where Christianity is severely persecuted – Church for them is home, the centre of hope and life – here and in eternity.
So “nolite desperare!” – do not despair! God provides. When old Roman Empire was shrinking and about to go to sleep, its missionaries were bringing Christ to the still pagan world of Europe.
Now the tide of conversions seems to be reaching the East and some of it comes back to cheer up the old “Reminder”, at least here. Half of our priests are “on loan” from India, Africa and Philippines – as well as Poland, the only European country still rich in vocations.
At least one female European congregation that I know has reached towards China and within a few years has built its numbers to over 5000 sisters.
It is a pretty humbling experience for us, the inhabitants of the West (broadly understood) – and so very, very moving.. and wonderful.
God is not done with us yet – it is obvious. What we see here as decline, elsewhere is still nascent. Many people are still waiting for Christ to come to them through faith.
So – let’s keep ours lamps filled – and share the light generously.