First Sunday of Advent

Lectionary: 3

For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times 
and pray that you have the strength 
to escape the tribulations that are imminent 
and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Is it possible for an event to "assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth?" There are billions of people in many different habitats, speaking many languages, worshiping innumerable gods, organized by every form of government from democracy to dictatorship, from scattered farms to isolated villages to megacities. Some are wealthy; most are poor; many are loyal to kin; some prefer kith. Can 7.9 billion people be "perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves?"

Two years ago, anyone might have doubted Jesus's apocalyptic claim. 

In late 1967, my indulgent parents sent to the novitiate my Christmas request, a paperback, boxed edition of The Lord of the Rings. I had only heard of it; but, like many other Boomers, I was enchanted by: 

"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

Beginning the first book in 1937, J.R.R Tolkien described the world at war, as it again would be with the rise of the Japanese and German empires, and the decline of the British, French, and other European empires. After the devastation of the First World War and watching the universal rearmament, an Oxford don could imagine the entire world entangled by another holocaust and capitulating before a single evil empire. 

Fortunately the German and Japanese efforts were foiled. They readopted civilized standards, and the reunited world imagined progress toward representative government, economic equality, universal education, and health care for everyone. Even Communist nations described themselves with democratic words like republic and social.

As 2022 approaches, barely a century after World War I, that golden promise is fading as a new Ring of Power threatens to bind them in darkness. The Internet with its rosy promises can be converted easily to diabolical purposes. It used to be said that a lie can span the globe while the truth is still tying its shoelaces; but the social media move faster than that. 

If there is a new ring to bind them all, it might be QAnon or its kin, which are founded on the lie, "There is no truth, there are only opinions." This conspiratorial notion, as I understand, was first promoted by the American tobacco industry, and copied by Russian news agencies. American smokers want to believe a falsehood; many Russians know better. 

In today's Gospel, Jesus urges his disciples to,

Be vigilant at all times 

and pray that you have the strength 

to escape the tribulations that are imminent... 

We must stand before the Son of Man today in the darkness of conspiracies, distress, and confusion. We can do that because we love the truth and trust the Spirit of Truth which guides us day by day and hour by hour. 

Daily, before we turn on the computer or pick up the smartphone, we should ask for divine wisdom and guidance to make us suspicious of falsehoods and available to the truth. Everyone suffers the limits of their individual horizon; we cannot see beyond it. But God sees far beyond every horizon and will guide us individually and as Church. "We are his people, the sheep of his flock!" We have only to ask.

Advent must remind us of our desperate situation and the promise of salvation. As we pray, fast, and give alms in preparation for the Nativity of the Lord, we pray, "Open my Eyes, Lord. Help me to see."