Today is the first day of the new Liturgical year and the first day of the new liturgical season-Advent. We begin a new cycle of readings which will be focused on the gospels of Mark and John. Mark is the shortest gospel and the first of the four. John is the last gospel and the most advanced in  literary terms of the four.

Today we look at Mark 13 which is also known as Mark’s Apocalypse. This is the last section of the passage where Jesus describes the end of the world. However, we need to look at this within context. Remember, in forty years the entire political entity which is the Jewish state and the religious structure in the temple will be destroyed. The Romans will come in and destroy the temple and eliminate the from the map the Jewish state. That will not exist again until 1946. The temple has never been rebuilt and now cannot because there is a mosque built on the temple mount. That famous dome that is an icon of Jerusalem is the Dome of the Rock where the Temple once stood and where Islam believes Mohammed ascended into Heaven.

So, when Jesus says that there will not be stone upon a stone when talking about the temple, He is predicting the destruction of the temple by the Romans. So all those who believed they could maintain the status quo find out that in fact that is not possible and they lose everything.

This is the message of today. It may appear that we are able to be in control, but in fact only God is in control. If we understand that and prepare ourselves for that, we will never be caught off guard. However if we fall into trap of believing there is no god. If we decide that we are gods and we are in control, we will be caught off guard and lose everything.

What is at the bottom of Jesus’ message is something that is key to our faith. We are creations of God and, therefore, part of God’s creation. The universe is greater than we are and we are at best a small part of it in light of all the physical forces around us. Understanding this is humility. Deciding that we are like gods, is the work of the enemy who sowed that thought in the minds of Adam and Eve. So we come to understand first and foremost that we are humans, and God is God. Therefore, our ability to control our world is limited, God’s is complete.

I remember as a child being shocked as a neighbor described a car accident in the snow. She explained what we would call today a pile-up. What surprised me and scared me was that she said the car began to slide and she headed right into another car and  could do nothing to stop it. I was frightened in a sense in my young mind thinking of being in a situation where you were headed for a car accident and could do absolutely nothing about it. You and I know that reality is not uncommon whenever there is snow, what is worse is that it is more common in the south where snow is rare and just a small amount of snow can lead to great accidents that look just like that. You can be prepared all you want but there are times, either through black ice or some other road condition in winter where such a scenario happens and there is nothing you can do about it. The laws of nature are greater than you are.

This is what Jesus tells us. He is in control, but you and I are not as much in control as we believe. Forget that and you will discover the truth by surprise and it will not be pleasant. Yet, here in Advent we address this on a more cosmological level. We focus on the first coming of Christ which is remembered at Christmas as we look forward to the second coming of Christ. We see the Old Testament Prophesies come true and remind ourselves of the New Testament prophesies that also will come true.

So what are you going to do during Advent. This first week is a good time to look at what we need to change before Christmas. May I suggest that we look at what kind of stuff we have in our lives and how much of it controls us and how much we control it. It might be a good time to ask ourselves if we are making good use of our time and what we need to do to improve on that. However, be careful. Do not be over practical. Jesus reminds us that it is important to be ready, that means we need to make sure we orient ourselves to Him and that takes down time from doing things. So if you are resting and recreating that is not by default a bad use of your time. It is most likely a good use of your time.

Let us look at today and ask not ‘are we ready?’ But what are we doing to be ready?

God bless you,

Fr. Robert J Carr

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