1st Sunday of Advent ( A-cycle )
December 2, 2007

On the first Sunday of Advent, the Parish Council of the Church of St. Timothy sent an e-mail to Jesus Christ, address unknown, try right hand of the Father.  The message read as follows:  Dear Lord, We notice that in this weekend’s Gospel, You say, “You do not know on what day your Lord will come,” when you come in power and glory, ending the world as we know it.  This seems to us unfortunate. We’d love to fit you in, but not knowing the day or the hour, entails a massive scheduling problem for us.  We have, for example, business trips to go on, kids’ basketball games to attend, Christmas shopping to do, and restaurant reservations to make.  If we had some notice, we could make plans and put things in order.”

 

An e-mail came back from Jesus:  If that’s what you want, I’ll give you notice.  I’ll come back next Sunday for the end of the world.  P.S.  Be careful what you pray for.

 

The parish council replied, “Lord, not so fast. We didn’t mean to rush you.  May we suggest you put it off, say, a hundred or two hundred years.  Or if you’re coming within our lifetimes, give us the date.  Just so we know, so we can be prepared.”

 

Jesus wrote back:  “Be prepared?  Aren’t you supposed to be prepared all the time?  In today’s Gospel, I tell you, “Stay awake!”  Too many people are sleepwalkers.  They go through life as if this present one is all there is.  Don’t they realize this life is only a tiny fraction of their existence?  The really important part is yet to come.  Be ready for it.”

 

The parish council replied, “Well, that’s why we want to be prepared.  A lot of us are corporation executives.  If our companies had a really important meeting coming up, you can be sure we’d know the exact date and hour well ahead of time.”

 

Jesus answered, “Well, my dear executives.  Maybe if you really kept up on your work, they could call surprise meetings and it wouldn’t faze you one bit.  A lot of my great saints were asked, “What would you do if you knew the world was ending today?”  And whether they were hoeing a field or writing a book, they all gave the same answer:  “I’d just keep on doing what I’m doing.”  They were prepared. They were leading the kind of lives that wouldn’t make them afraid to face judgment.

 

The parish council replied:  Lord, we need more time. Since you gave us the date, St. Tim’s is filled with people waiting to go to confession.  On the confessional, Fr. Cody left us a sign:  “Be back soon.  I’ve got to go to confession myself.”

 

And Jesus wrote:  If you had gone to confession regularly, you could have beaten the lines.  If you had made use of my grace, you could care less when the world ends.

 

But Lord, the Council replied, give us a break.  At least not next Sunday…

 

O.K. Jesus wrote:  Not next Sunday… but maybe Thursday…

Lord, the Council replied, there you go again.  Why do you have to do it this way?

 

And Jesus wrote:  Love, tough love, my friends for your own good. Stay awake, be prepared. And as my friend St. Paul says:  You’ll find your salvation is near at hand.