Image of The Last Judgement, c. 1100 AD icon, by John Tohabi, in the St. Catherine’s Monastery
Pope Francis’ previous homily for 1st Sunday of Advent 2021“Come, Lord Jesus”.
1st Sunday of Advent Gospel
Luke 21:25-28
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the clamor of the ocean and its waves; men dying of fear as they await what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
Luke 34.36
‘Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap. For it will come down on every living man on the face of the earth. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.’
Pope Francis’ previous homily 2021
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Gospel of the First Sunday of Advent, speaks to us about the Lord’s coming at the end of time.
Jesus announces dark and distressing events, but at this point He invites us not to be afraid. Why? Because everything will be all right? No, but because He will come.
Jesus will come as He promised. This is what he says: “Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand” (Lk 21:28). It is nice to hear this encouraging Word: stand up and lift up your heads because at this moments, when everything seems to be coming to an end, the Lord comes to save us.
We await Him with joy, even in the midst of tribulations, in the crices of life and in the dramatic events of history. We wait for Him.
But how do we keep our heads up and not become absorbed in difficulties, suffering and defeat?
Jesus shows us the way with a strong admonition: “Take care that your hearts do not grow weary…
Be watchful at all times and pray” (Lk 21:34, 36). “Be watchful”: vigilance.
Let us concentrate on this important aspect of the Christian life.
From Christ’s words we see that vigilance is linked to alertness: be alert, do not let yourself be distracted, that is, stay awake! Vigilance means not allowing our hearts to become lazy or our spiritual life to become mediocre.
Be vigilant because we can become “sleepy Christians” – and we know that there are many Christians who are asleep, anaesthetised by spiritual worldliness – Christians without spiritual fervour, without intensity in prayer, without enthusiasm for mission, without passion for the Gospel;; Christians who always look inwards, incapable of looking to the horizon. And this leads to “dozing off”: to move things along by inertia, to fall into apathy, indifferent to everything except what is comfortable for us. This is a sad life going forward this way since there is no happiness.
We need to be vigilant so that our daily lives do not become routine, and, as Jesus says, so that we are not weighed down by the anxieties of life (cf. v. 34).
So today is a good time to ask ourselves: what weighs on my heart? What weighs on my mind?
What makes me want to sit down in the lazy chair? It is sad to see Christians “in an armchair”!
What are the mediocrities that paralyze me, the vices that crush me to the ground and prevent me from raising my head? And regarding the burdens that weigh on the shoulders of our brothers and sisters, am I aware of them or indifferent to them? These are good questions to ask ourselves, because they help guard our hearts against apathy. What then is apathy? It is a great enemy of the spiritual life and also of Christian life. Apathy is a type of laziness that makes us slide into sadness, it takes away zest for life and the will to do things. It is a negative spirit that traps the soul in apathy, robbing it of its joy.
It starts with sadness sliding downwards so that there is no joy. The Book of Proverbs says: “With all vigilance guard your heart, for in it are the sources of life” (Prov 4:23). Guard your heart: that means to be vigilant! Stay awake and guard your heart.
“Come, Lord Jesus.”
Let us add an essential ingredient: the secret to being vigilant is prayer.
In fact, Jesus says: “Watch always and pray” (Lk21:36).
Prayer is what keeps the lamp of the heart burning.
This is especially true when we feel that our enthusiasm has cooled down.
Prayer rekindles it because it brings us back to God, to the center of things.
Prayer awakens the soul from its slumber and focuses it on what is important, on the meaning of existence.
Even in our busiest days, we must not neglect prayer.
The prayer of the heart can help us, often repeating short invocations.
For example, during Advent, we could get into the habit of saying, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
Just these words, but repeating them: “Come, Lord Jesus”.
This time of preparation leading to Christmas is beautiful: we think of the nativity scene and of Christmas, so let us say from our hearts: “Come, Lord Jesus”.
Let us repeat this prayer all throughout the day: the soul will remain awake!
“Come, Lord Jesus”, is a prayer that we can all now say together three times
“Come, Lord Jesus”, “Come, Lord Jesus”, “ Come, Lord Jesus”,
And now we pray to the Madonna: may she who waited for the Lord with a watchful heart, accompany us on our Advent journey.