Archbishop of Sydney

His Eminence,
Cardinal George Pell
Cardinal Priest of the Title of S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello

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Home > Our Archbishop > Homilies 2001 > Article	Printable Version

First Sunday of Advent

Carnes Hill Parish - 2 December, 2001
Isaiah 2:1-5, Rom 13:11-14, Mt 24:37-44

By + George Pell
ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY
2 December 2001

It is the start of Advent today; the start of the season of preparation for the feast of Christmas, the celebration of the birth of the Son of God, Mary's son among us. The term advent is from the Latin "advenire" to come.

We know that Christ came among us more than 2000 years ago. We would not be at Mass this morning if Christ was not welcome already in our hearts. We know of life's two certainties; death and taxes. So we will all meet Christ again at our death.

The readings are a contrasting mixture of joy and sadness, hope and fear, anticipation and dread. The psalm's refrain asks "Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord." It will be daylight soon and we are people of light, not those chained by habit to drunken orgies, promiscuity or jealousy. All people will go to the mountain of the Temple of the Lord, where the swords of traditional enemies will be turned into ploughshares, spears into sickles to collect the harvest.

But the gospel warns us of the careless, unthinking days before the great Old Testament flood, where Noah escaped in the Ark and most people carried on right up to the disaster and never knew what hit them. Christ tells us again that we do not know when the master will come, so we should be on our toes, be prepared.

Every adult knows both sides of this coin, of good personal times, happy and carefree, and of the times of personal crisis or tragedy. Nations too know times of peace and prosperity; of tragedies like September 11 and of uncertainties like our present period. The war continues against terrorism; we are not out of the woods yet.

I am sure you will all be preparing for Christmas here in this new parish. Christmas is a feast I love; extra people in the church, traditional hymns, happy family gatherings. But I know too that Christmas can be very hard for some who are alone; or caring for someone sick or dying; or caught up in some ongoing sadness or strife. Part of our preparation for Christmas should be to help someone like that; visit our old relatives; help a poor child to receive a decent present; take out the shut-ins at home for a Christmas dinner. That would give a core, a substance, to our preparation for Christmas.

However, in this parish you have your own particular dimension to your Christian advent, because here you are the pioneers of a new Catholic Christian community in this developing area. Here you will build a community of faith and love to support one another in good times and bad times. Here you will build a church, a place of worship, for regular prayer and the sacraments, where your children will be baptized and married, where some of you will be buried, where your sins will be forgiven. Through many years of prayer this will become more and more a sacred place. Your community should be like a powerhouse of faith and love for the local community, like yeast in a loaf, like a river of life watering the district.

You will build a school, to prepare your children for this life and for heaven. Please God it will prepare them well on both counts.

Support your parish priest in his pioneer work; support him personally. I am sure he will serve you well.

I am sure you will take great pride in being the Catholic community's pioneers at Carnes Hill. On many jubilee occasions, silver and golden, people, some of them very old will tell me they helped to plan or build the school or hall or church. Sometimes it is their children or grand-children who remember with pride their family's contributions. It is a privilege and an honor, as well as hard work and hassles.

And finally to return to Advent and Christmas.

I remember an Irish-born Cistercian explaining that in his home village there was a practice of leaving a light in the front window of each home on Christmas Eve, so that if Mary and Joseph were to return, there would be a welcome there for them.

Many or most Catholic homes in his village had this light in their front window. A beautiful practice.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.