Dear Parishioners:
I hope you had a joyful Thanksgiving with family and friends. This Thanksgiving was especially joyous as I traveled to my sister's home in Saratoga, New York. Since the pandemic, we have not gathered together for Thanksgiving Day.
In fact, due to the pandemic last Thanksgiving, I ate alone in the Rectory, albeit with a nice Thanksgiving meal accompanied by a glass of fine wine and a good cigar afterward. So this year was a true blessing to eat Thanksgiving Dinner with my family once again! And to add to the blessings, our own Father Mahoney cooked a Thanksgiving Dinner for the Rectory, so we've plenty of leftovers for Turkey sandwiches, soup, and hash!
As we gathered together at the Thanksgiving table, we thanked God for the many blessings and bounty bestowed upon us. The blessings of family and friends, the blessings of being able to gather together, and the blessings of bountiful good food! In these turbulent times in our World, it is easy to forget the many blessings we enjoy and instead focus upon "what's wrong with the world." The London Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, "What's wrong with the world today?" The great British Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton responded succinctly: "Dear Sir, I am. Yours, G.K. Chesterton."
G. K. Chesterton
Chesterton would follow with his remarkably perceptive book What's Wrong with the World, in which he suggests: "In the modern World we are primarily confronted with the extraordinary spectacle of people turning to new ideals because they have not tried the old. Men have not got tired of Christianity; they have never found enough Christianity to get rid of. Men have never wearied of political justice; they have wearied of waiting for it."
As Christians, we must never give in to weariness and despair. Despair is the idea that even God cannot save us from looming disaster. We must be a people of hope and joy, not doom and gloom! And so as we begin this Sunday the great season of hope, Advent, we rejoice!
"Advent," says Pope Francis, "is a journey toward the horizon of hope. It does not disappoint because it is founded on the Word of God. A hope that does not disappoint, simply because the Lord never disappoints! He is faithful!"
As we begin the holy season of Advent and the Church's new year, we start in the hope of the Lord. Saint Thomas Aquinas taught the motive of hope is God's infinite power. We can hope because we believe that "for God all things are possible." The virtue of hope is not a warm feeling, a sunny mood, or a habit of optimism. As the great Catholic French novelist Georges Bernanos once wrote, optimism has nothing to do with hope. Optimism is often foolish and naïve. It is a preference to see good where the evidence is undeniably bad. Bernanos called optimism a "sly form of selfishness, a method of isolating oneself from the unhappiness of others."
Hope is very different. It's a choice to trust in God. "The highest form of hope," Bernanos said, "is despair, overcome." The hope of Advent is not to hope that Jesus will come back into the World at Christmas. Jesus did come into the World two thousand years ago—God-made-man, Word made flesh, in Bethlehem. This is a historical fact. Hope is rooted in history, but hope is also about our present and our future.
"To come to know God—the true God—means to receive hope," Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI taught in his encyclical Spe Salvi. Hope knows the Lord, believing in his promises, and trusting that he loves us, transforms us, and sanctifies us. Advent calls us to renew such hope. It is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, hoping and longing, for the Messiah.
During Advent, we must enter more frequently into silence, prayer and reflection, Scripture, and the sacramental life of the Church, especially at Mass and Confession. These practices prepare us properly and prayerfully for celebrating Christmas. Prepare the way of Advent! Overcome despair with hope in Jesus Christ. Our Messiah is coming! Make a good Confession, come to Mass and pray at Adoration! Renew hope and live the Catholic Faith!
Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!!!