Pope Francis concelebrated Mass last Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica with 11 of the 13 new cardinals he had created the day before. His homily was striking. Here are some excerpts:
“Advent is the season for remembering that closeness of God who came down to dwell in our midst…
“The first step of faith is to tell God that we need him, that we need him to be close to us…
“Let us make our own the traditional Advent prayer: ‘Come, Lord Jesus’…
“If we ask Jesus to come close to us, we will train ourselves to be watchful…It is important to remain watchful, because one great mistake in life is to get absorbed in a thousand things and not to notice God.
“Saint Augustine said: ‘I fear that Jesus will pass by me unnoticed’. Caught up in our own daily concerns (how well we know this!), and distracted by so many vain things, we risk losing sight of what is essential…Be watchful, attentive…
“Being watchful in expectation of his coming means not letting ourselves be overcome by discouragement. It is to live in hope. Just as before our birth, our loved ones expectantly awaited our coming into the world, so now Love in person awaits us.
“If we are awaited in Heaven, why should we be caught up with earthly concerns? Why should we be anxious about money, fame, success, all of which will pass away? Why should we waste time complaining about the night, when the light of day awaits us?…Be watchful, the Lord tells us.
“Staying awake is not easy…Even Jesus’ disciples did not manage to stay awake…They did not keep watch, They fell asleep. But that same drowsiness can also overtake us…it is the slumber of mediocrity. It comes when we forget our first love and grow satisfied with indifference, concerned only for an untroubled existence.
“Without making an effort to love God daily and awaiting the newness he constantly brings, we become mediocre, lukewarm, worldly. And this slowly eats away at our faith, for faith is…an ardent desire for God, a bold effort to change, the courage to love, constant progress. Faith…is fire that burns; it is not a tranquilizer for people under stress, it is a love story for people in love!…
“How can we rouse ourselves from the slumber of mediocrity? With the vigilance of prayer…Prayer rouses us from the tepidity of a purely horizontal existence and makes us lift our gaze to higher things; it makes us attuned to the Lord…Prayer allows God to be close to us; it frees us from our solitude and gives us hope. Prayer is vital for life…
“There is also another kind of interior slumber: the slumber of indifference. Those who are indifferent see everything the same…they are unconcerned about those all around them. When everything revolves around us and our needs, and we are indifferent to the needs of others, night descends in our heart…
“How do we rouse ourselves from the slumber of indifference? With the watchfulness of charity. Charity is the beating heart of the Christian…being compassionate, helping and serving others…are the only things that win us the victory, since they are already aiming towards the future, the day of the Lord, when all else will pass away and love alone will remain.
“…praying and loving: that is what it means to be watchful…Come, Lord Jesus, take our distracted hearts and make them watchful. Awaken within us the desire to pray and the need to love.”
6 December 2020