Advent is then a privilege time of grace and mercy to recognize that the greatest threat to the world, is not some great worldly power, not some evil empire or even evil terrorist; it is not the failing economy or threats to the environment; no, the greatest threat to the world is the People of God’s own infidelity to the Lord; that is, our own individual infidelity to the Lord and His Holy Will, and to His Holy Church and to her teachings.

Today we continue in our Advent Hope. And we pray that our Lord would quickly come and save the nations, including our own. We ask our Heavenly Father this Advent to stir up our hearts that we would ourselves prepare the way for the Lord, first in our own hearts and then in our parishes, our families, our community, our nation and our world.

A few years ago I read a serious of books on the Life of Christ by the Pope Emeritus, Benedict the 16th. In one of the series of three books, I don’t remember which one, the Pope quotes a famous Modern Jewish Scholar. This Scholar very honestly gives his own personal reasons for rejecting Jesus, as the Messiah whose first coming was foretold throughout the Old Testament. This scholar points out that the prophecies which tell of the coming of the Christ speak about what the world will be like after he comes. It will, according to the prophecies be a time of great peace among the inhabitants of the world…one just as to think of the great prophecy of Isaiah which speaks of the lion and the lamb laying down together.

Pope Benedict praises this Jewish scholar for both his honesty and his candor, not to mention his scholarship. The pope admits that given the situation of the world in our present day, it seems that this Jewish scholar does indeed have a point. But yet, the Pope mentions that Jesus does fulfill all of the prophecies and that there is a major difference between the time before Jesus came to earth and the time after.

The pope says that even though on the surface it doesn’t seem that the world is much different after Jesus, in reality it is entirely different. And this difference lies in the fact that now that Jesus Christ, the true messiah, has truly come, was born, lived, suffered and died and most importantly that He has truly resurrected from the dead, the world now has something it did not have before, now the world has hope. In Jesus, the world has hope, before His coming it had no hope. And so, the world has Hope not just in the fact that there is more than just this present world of suffering, pain and sorrow, of death, but that in Jesus the world has been redeemed, saved. Now it is possible in Jesus that this world can become a better place, that people can change, and most importantly, that souls can be saved from unending death.

This is the real hope that Advent brings, that in Jesus, in His birth, in His life and in His death, we can look forward to and begin already in this valley of tears, a share in the victory that is Jesus,’ A victory over sin, and so a victory over suffering and death..In this world we will have tribulation, yes, but be of good cheer, of good hope Jesus has truly overcome the world…Now we have hope in this world, and our Hope has a name, it is Jesus Himself.
In Jesus and only in Him can we defeat the evil in this world, only in Him can we defeat the true cause of that evil, and that is sin, which is ultimately man’s rejection of the Creator and God’s plan for man. Evil ultimately stems from Man not adoring with his whole heart, soul, mind and will, the Good God who created man and man’s world. Evil in the world is not God’s doing, but man, and any triumph of evil stems from man not entrusting himself to His loving Creator and obeying God’s commandments, especially the first which is to love, to adore the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength”

Advent is then a privilege time of grace and mercy to recognize that the greatest threat to the world, is not some great worldly power, not some evil empire or even evil terrorist; it is not the failing economy or threats to the environment; no, the greatest threat to the world is the People of God’s own infidelity to the Lord; that is, our own individual infidelity to the Lord and His Holy Will, and to His Holy Church and to her teachings. God has fixed this! But now that fix has to be accepted by individual hearts, hearts open to God’s grace and mercy in order to be converted and so saved. The world has been redeemed by the redemption must be applied to each soul by the souls own free choice, to it’s openness shown by its repentance of sin.

Again, this is why Advent is time of repentance, a time of turning away from sin and time of turning back to God who loves each one of us so much; it is time to confess our sins, to amend our lives to the better in order to make way for the defenseless babe who was born into a cold evil world some two thousand years ago, but a babe who was the only begotten Son of the True and Living God sent into this world, not to condemn it but to save it from its sins, and to save it from its own destruction.

I would like to share with a quote from St. John Paul II the day after the horrific events on September 11th. 2001. It not only speaks of Hope, but it is also very appropriate considering the horrific events in San Bernardino California this past week:

Yesterday was a dark day in the history of humanity, a terrible affront to human dignity. After receiving the news, I followed with intense concern the developing situation, with heartfelt prayers to the Lord. How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty? The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people. But faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail. Christ’s word is the only one that can give a response to the questions which trouble our spirit. Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say. Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our prayerful trust draws strength from it. (St. John Paul II, General Audience. Wednesday 12 September 2001)

In a few days, this Tuesday December 8th, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the womb of her mother Saint Anne. It is a Holy Day of obligation binding on all Catholics in the United States; and this year, it begins a whole year dedicated to God’s greatest attribute, His Divine Mercy…It is truly a “Year of Mercy!”

Faith reveals to us the Immaculate Conception is a pledge of and so the hope of salvation for every human creature. It is interesting that in years past, for the Holy Mass offered on the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the priest did not wear white as he did and still does on the day of the feast. On the vigil the priest actually wore purple. Purple signifies hope and the Blessed Virgin Mary is the cause of our Hope.

Faith reminds us that by virtue of the unique privilege of the Blessed Virgin Mary she is our steadfast support in our arduous struggle against sin and its consequences. In her Immaculate Conception she has become for us the very channel of the grace we need to love Christ and His Holy Church more fully and completely. She will, if we are loyal to her and love, she will obtain for us the grace to be loyal to, to defend and even to die for love of Christ and His Holy Church and for love of our parish family, thus showing our loyalty our love for Christ even to the point of shedding our blood for Him.

In Mary, with Mary and through Mary, Christ hastens to come to us more intimately, in order that He may live in us, through us and with us. She is the one who will help us prepare the way for the Lord in our personal lives, in our parish family, in our families and in our world. And through her, we who were not born immaculate, can be purified and made immaculate, as we hasten to meet Him. who has come, who comes and who will come again, Jesus our only hope. Through our praying of the rosary and our wearing of the brown Scapular as a sign of our consecration to her, she will help us give our hearts totally to God in order to defeat the present threats against us, and so usher in the greatest time of peace that the world has ever seen (As promised at Fatima. It will be the second greatest miracle since the resurrection).

Holy Mary, Mother of the New advent, pray for us, pray for our families, pray for our beloved country. —