Below is the full text of the homily delivered by Bishop Paul Hinder for the First Sunday of Advent 2021 at St. Joseph's Cathedral Abu Dhabi.
Readings of the Day: Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:12 – 4:2; Luke 21:25-28.34-36
Advent is a time full of promises. Every year the texts of the Holy Scripture make us dream of a better world, where with the words of Isaiah “the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them” (Is 11:6). Today, the prophet Jeremiah speaks about the coming of “a virtuous Branch grown for David”. He will “practice honesty and integrity in the land” and the capital city will have as name “The-Lord-our-integrity”. When the prophets spoke about the coming messiah it was always connected with a new social order, where dishonesty and corruption, injustice and slavery will be conquered. We believe that in Jesus the realm of “honesty and integrity” has come into existence, although it will be fully achieved only with his second coming at the end of the times.
Saint Paul shows us in the first letter to the Thessalonians the way, how we can be part in building the city named “The-Lord-our-integrity”. He says that we should “love one another and the whole human race”, have “hearts in holiness” and live “blameless in the sight of our God and Father”. Through our living witness as Christians, Christ remains present and visible, and we become co-builders of a society where “honesty and integrity”, “justice and peace” prevail.
Jesus is a realist and knows that we are living in a broken world: people are killed, injustice reigns, natural calamities torture humanity, social conflicts arise, wars break out, pandemics threaten, and so on. Amidst the turbulences, conflicts and calamities, the Lord calls on us to remain sober and not to lose courage: “Hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand!”
Though there are reasons to be desperate in the face of so many threats, Jesus tells us “Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen.” The time until his second coming is given us to pass the test of faith. It requires constant prayers. Furthermore, Saint Paul reminds us that the Lord is daily coming when we practice our personal and common faith in mutual love. Then we shall get the strength to stand erect, hold our heads high and avoid “debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life”. It helps us to keep the stand against the powers of evil.
In view of his second coming, Jesus tells us: “Stand with confidence before the Son of Man.” He refers to the encounter at the end of times, which we call the last judgment. In the Creed, we profess it with the words “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.” Not fear and anguish should prevail, but confidence and joy as we find it in the last book of the Bible, the Revelation. It finishes with the promise of the Lord: “Yes, I am coming soon.” The Christian community answers impatiently: “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” Advent is therefore not primarily a time, when we look back to Christ’s first coming, but much more a time when we look forward full of hope and expectation. It is the time when we long to meet Jesus Christ who took flesh to save us and will come again to achieve his work in the final judgment. Then he will bring our lives to eternal fulfillment.
In the Holy Eucharist, after the consecration the celebrant says “The mystery of faith”, and the community responds: “We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again”. While waiting for his final coming, we work on the city, which Jeremiah named: “The Lord is our integrity”. Each one of us is a living building stone in the city of integrity and honesty when we follow the word of Jesus and address in faith and love the daily challenges. We ask for this in each Holy Eucharist after the “Our Father”, when the priest invokes God on our behalf that “By the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.”
Sisters and brothers, with the first Advent Sunday we begin a new liturgical year. We shall live it joyfully with Jesus who has promised to be with us “until the end of the age”. Trusting his words, we can “stand erect, hold (our) heads high, because (our) liberation is near at hand!”
In this confidence, I wish you a blessed time of Advent.