Tomorrow night (Monday) we will have an Advent Penance Service at 7:30 here at St Stephen’s. Some of you have asked what a Penance Service is. It is a prayer service which celebrates the sacrament of Penance (Confession). I will lead the service along with three other priests. We will have prayers, readings, an examination of conscience all in preparation of individual confessions. At the end of the service, there will be the opportunity for confession. The theme is “Confession before Christmas”. We should all go to Confession before Christmas. If you can’t get here by 7:30, that’s ok…we should be here until at least 8:30 (depending on how many people come). I hope you all can make it.
Right after I was ordained a priest three years ago, I went to Ireland with some buddies of mine, two of whom were priests. We had such a good time! It’s a beautiful country with good and fun people. One day, we went up St. Patrick’s Mountain which is a big one. Halfway up, we stopped to celebrate Mass. It was spectacular! It was really an exquisite setting, and to celebrate Mass at that spot was incredible. A few days later, we were driving through the countryside and tried to find another mountain to celebrate Mass. We saw one off in the distance and took the road that led to it. Yeah, big mistake.
As our car climbed up the mountain, we realized that this may not be the right mountain for us. We were way up there when the car pretty much failed us; the tires couldn’t go any higher on the loose gravel. We almost slid right off the edge! We were definitely sweating it. One of the guys is an expert with driving cars. We all got out while he slowly backed the car down the mountain. It took a long time but we safely got ourselves and the car down to level ground. We laughed for a while and then celebrated Mass at the base of the mountain, thanking God for our safety. It was scary.
In the readings today, we hear much language about nature: mountains, hills, valleys, paths, etc. We should be used to hearing this language during Advent. It might sound to us like nice descriptions about the change that Christ brings to the world. “Every mountain and hill will be made low…every valley will be filled”. It might just sound really nice, that everything will be different with the coming of Christ, even in nature. But, these images in nature refer to us. Things will be different in us with the coming of the Lord. “Prepare the way of the Lord” needs to take place in our hearts. We need to repent…to change…to have a conversion of heart.
For example, the word ‘mountain’ refers to the proud and vain. In other words, Scripture gives to those who are proud and vain the name of mountain. “Every mountain will be made low” means the proud will be humbled. Jesus says in the Gospel, “those who are exalted will be humbled”. If we have a mountain of pride in our hearts, it needs to be lowered in order to see salvation and to receive Christ in our lives. Like that mountain in Ireland, pride can look good but it isn’t. It can be very dangerous. There are many roads on the mountain of pride that lead us away from Christ and into danger.
It can be the road of selfishness that says, “me first”. This is one way to define sin: “me first”.
It can be the road of resentment that leads to holding grudges and not forgiving others because of what they did to ME.
It can be the road of anger that leads to hatred.
It can be the road of self-service which says “I will not do what I God wants, I’ll do what I want. I wll do my will, not God’s will. I won’t serve God”. (By the way, this is the pride of Lucifer who refused to serve God)
It can be the road of intellectual pride that says “I know better than God. I know better than the Church”.
Pride is much more prevalent and dangerous than we might think. I think that pride is the root of all sin. During Advent, if we are looking to focus on one thing to change with the help of God, let it be our pride. Let us ask God to make our mountains of pride low. What will happen is that God will lower our mountain of pride and build a new mountain that is filled with the Grace of Christ. He will build a new mountain in our hearts that is filled with the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, based in humility. One of the best ways that God does this is in Confession. It is the best antidote to pride and it is primarily where our mountains of pride are lowered.
Finally, whenever you come to Mass, you make an act of humility, especially in college. It takes humility to come here each week because you might get some comments from friends (or even family): “oh, you go to Church” or “oh, you’re a Church-going person”. Your image is definitely lowered. You see that you need to be here…God has said that you need to be here to see and receive salvation through the Eucharist and you are here. It takes humility to see and follow that and to come here. Again, salvation through humility. God is very pleased whenever you come here. I just want to encourage you in your humility. May God reward you, especially during Advent. For your humility and confidence, may he reward you with an experience of His Love and Mercy.
1 comment:
Is drunkenness a mortal sin? When is it considered one if it isn't always? I have been having discussions about this with friends and some clarification on it would be greatly appreciated.
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