A radical change is a change to the very roots of something. A radical wants to change everything to its roots. The word radical comes from the Latin word radix which means the roots of a tree. So the word radical means to change from the roots up.

Today is a day for radical change. There are several reasons behind this. As you know, today is the first day of  the Season of Advent and to it also begins a new liturgical year. It also begins a new liturgical cycle. The cycle is three years and we have just finished the third year and so we begin the cycle all over again. We also begin a new gospel and that is Matthew.

However, there is also another reason for change. This week the Pope released an Apostolic Exhortation called Evangelii Gaudium, which means the joy of the Gospel. This Pope, who is the first American Pope has challenged the Church to be a Church of mercy love and joy.  He calls us to a radical change in who we are in order that we may be missionaries in service to Jesus Christ in the world.

It is a powerful exhortation that has the world buzzing. Some happy others not so. Let us look at it in light of the second reading.
St. Paul calls us to wake up, that the night is far spent. St. John Chrysostom made an interesting observation about that phrase. The night may be far spent, but it is still night. Three o’clock is almost dawn, but it is not. Three O’clock is just as dark as midnight. So, if we look at this, we can see that we are surrounded by darkness. Well, then if we are surrounded by darkness, where does our light come from. It comes from Christ and is reflected in us. We are the source of light for the world, and this means that we need to be awake. We cannot clothe ourselves in darkness, but need to reflect the light. We do that by being different than those in darkness.

What is more important is that the greater the darkness around us, the more our light shines. So we have a call to get rid of that which makes us shine less. What is that? Well, Paul is talking to pagans who grew up in an environment where the listed deeds of darkness:
“orgies and drunkenness,
promiscuity and lust,
rivalry and jealousy.”

Now, the last I heard, the Hough’s Neck, Merry Mount area has not been a hot bed of orgies, promiscuity and lust. If there are those who may engage in those things they are probably not attending mass this morning.

But what is darknening our witness. According to Pope Francis, we have lost our missionary spirit. He is calling us to get it back. He is calling for all parishes to be focused on mercy and love to all around them and he literally says for  us to lead others to an encounter with Christ.

He enforces the role of parish and calls us as both Pastor, me, and parishioners, you, to be creative and develop a missionary spirit for the community around us.

In light of that, the deeds of darkness we need to eliminate is not a program to stop orgies in our parish, because I have no indication that this is going on. But what we must cast off is those attitudes, concepts and ideas that dull our brightness. That turn our divine brillance into a lone 60 watt bulb hanging from a wire in an empty, dingy room.

Our light must grow.  We must eliminate from our lives and our parish everything that turns that brightness of life in Christ into the dim light of an old incandescent bulb.

The Pope also called us to be people of mercy. He indicates what is the greatest of  problems for us here in the United States, (my words not his), that we put an end to hitting people over the head with rules and invite them to a personal encounter with Christ. That is essential. Too many times, I see in the US Catholic Church a list of rules and a condemnation of others for not following these rules, but not an invitation to know Christ. This is a horrible problem for our country. We need to invite people to Christ and let his transforming love transform them. We are not to tell people you have to reach this high bar before you can enter our church, but instead come meet Christ that He can lead you to the jump over the high bar.

It is time for a radical change in our lives and today is the day to begin a new path as Catholics individually and as a parish community.
God bless you,
Fr. Robert J Carr

Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor ofHoly Trinity Parish, Quincy, MA and is the editor of this blog. He also has a regular radio program on WebRadio Canção Nova. Which he podcasts for Canção Nova available at Mixcloud and here on Catholicismanew.
You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr. Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook