Mk 13:33-37 What If...

First Sunday of Advent
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By Fr. ALFONSE NAZZARO

Jesus said to his disciples:  "Be watchful!  Be alert!  You do not know when the time will come.  It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch."

God is always faithful.  Today's first reading, a letter from St. Paul to the Corinthians, is a great way to start off the season of Advent.  It is a heartfelt letter written to a community that is experiencing a lot of heartache, all for the sake of the Gospel.   

Are you going through tough times?  Are you experiencing a lot of drama in your life?  Has this year been dragging you down?  Have you been torn apart - physically, emotionally, and spiritually?  Then tis the reason for the season. 

Nearly five years had gone by between St. Paul's founding of the Church in Corinth and the arrival of this letter.  During his absence the community had fallen victim to a number of vices that were beginning to fracture its unity and drag members away from the faith.  St. Paul sees only blessings and graces in it all, for they are experiencing what he and the other Apostles experienced early on in their journey of faith. 

"Brothers and sisters:  ...I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way..."

"He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

God is always faithful.  Are you? 

Sin has a way of separating ourselves from our true Love.  Life without the Lord is Hell, literally!  Advent is that time of year when we invite the Lord back into our world and back into our lives. 

What would life be like without Jesus Christ?  Recently, I saw a trailer for the movie "America" by Dinesh D'Sousa.  I haven't watched the movie, yet, but I did find the trailer very interesting.  The narrator begins his presentation with a series of questions: 

"What would the world look like if America did not exist?... 
What if George Washington had been killed by a sniper's bullet?...  What if the Civil War tore our country into two or ten?... 
What if Hitler got the atomic bomb first." 

We could never know the answer to any of these questions, and any attempt to answer them would be highly speculative. 

But what about this:  What would the world look like if Jesus had never entered it?  Can we know?  I think so, by breaking it down and asking the question:  What would I be like if Christ had never entered into my life?  Now this I can know! 

And I can even tell you...it wouldn't be pretty. 

I know that if Christ had not entered into my life, then it would be an "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."  I would be like a terrorist, and I would have no qualms about it.  I would do whatever it took to succeed.  I would do whatever it took to get ahead.  I would allow my "natural" instinct to govern my emotions and my decisions.  I know...because I have it in me. 

And so do so many of us.  Just watch the nightly news. 

If someone had wronged me, my fury would go out of control.  My bitterness would only grow.  My resentment would find no quiet until sweet revenge had been achieved.  I would be unchained!

All of us need Advent.  We all need to be put back into that awkward - yes, awkward - position that Christ has placed us in:  Love your enemies...Do good to those who harm you...Forgive seven times seventy times. 

For what would my life be like if Christ were not a part of it?  Oh...so easy! 

But an easier life does not necessarily mean a better life. 

What would have happened to America if George Washington had been killed?  We don't know.  But we do know what happened to the Apostles when Jesus was killed.  They prayed and kept going. 

What would have happened to America if America had been torn into two or ten countries?  We don't know.  But we do know what happened when the Apostles were scattered like sheep and ran off in every direction.  They prayed and regrouped. 

What would have happened to America if the Nazis had invented the atomic bomb first?  We don't know.  But we do know what happened when Christ's enemies crucified Him:  they fell apart or converted. 

The Lord has already given His followers the worst case scenario.  We don't need to imagine a world lost or a world without Him.  We already know...and it isn't pretty.

Advent is all about praying, regrouping and converting; that is, preparing ourselves for the coming of the Lord.