Holy Family of Bordeaux - Province of Ireland and Britain

Jesus was above all a man of prayer. The Gospel often tell us how He spent the night alone on the mountain in communion with His Father. In today’s Gospel St. Luke gives us a glimpse of Jesus praying spontaneously in the presence of His Disciples. He had sent out 72 of them to proclaim the good news and they had come back rejoicing. Their mission had been a huge success. They had cast out the evil spirits and trodden them underfoot – all done in the name of Jesus.

Our Lord shared their joy and filled with the Holy Spirit He burst into prayer of praise and thanksgiving to His Father. Jesus, the only Son of God, always directed His prayer to the Father, in the Spirit. As baptised Christians, members of Christ’s body we are privileged to unite our prayer with His. The Church’s official prayer is always Trinitarian. The Mass, our greatest act of worship is offered daily “through Christ, with Him, in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit to the glory and honour of God the Father.” (Eucharistic Prayer)

As we continue our Advent journey let us ask Our Lord to help us deepen our prayer life. Let us beg Him to unite our faltering prayers to His. United to the powerful prayer of our great High Priest our prayer becomes worthy of our Heavenly Father. So we can pray with confidence using the words that Jesus Himself taught His Disciples “Our Father in Heaven hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come.” (Luke 11 : 2)

Many people came to Jesus during His public life looking for healing but none with greater faith than the Centurion whose story is told in todays Gospel (Matt. 8 : 5 – 11). As a Roman soldier the Centurion was a Gentile – a pagan – whom the Jews despised. Yet this is the man who approached Jesus with great humility and faith. He had no doubt that Our Lord could cure his servant who was paralysed even without seeing him. No need to touch him. All that was needed was the master’s word. What faith! No wonder Jesus was astonished. Here was a Gentile whose faith surpassed that of any of the sons of Israel. It was the Centurion’s faith that brought about the instant cure of his servant back at home.

Over the centuries the Church has remembered the Centurion as she offers us his words in preparation for receiving Jesus in Holy Communion. “Lord I am not worthy to receive you but only say the word and I shall be healed.” If only we had the humility and faith of the Centurion what healings would take place in us when we make this prayer. Let us strive during this Advent to make this prayer our own. Then we will be well prepared to welcome Jesus when He comes to us at Christmas.

It is also worth remembering that the Centurion wasn’t begging a miracle on his own behalf. No he was pleading for his servant who was in great pain. We too can make this prayer on behalf of someone else. It may be someone suffering from an addiction, depression, anxiety or some physical illness. Let us approach the Lord with the humility and faith of the Centurion praying “say only the word Lord and my friend will be healed.”

Today we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the Church year. Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Christ. It is a time to be renewed, refreshed and above all a time to “Stay Awake.” (Matt. 24 : 42) As we look forward to Christ being re-born sacramentally in our hearts at Christmas,  we also recall his first coming into our world as a helpless babe. But it is above all to the third coming of Christ that today’s liturgy directs us – His glorious return at the end of time.

We are told that the first Christians eagerly awaited the return of Christ in glory. In fact they were so excited about it that St. Paul had to admonish them not to neglect their daily duties. Now if we are honest with ourselves we’ll probably find that longing for Christ’s return doesn’t really form part of our daily prayer. Even though we are reminded in every mass that “Christ will come again in glory” (Eucharistic Prayer) and we proclaim that “we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour.” (Communion Rite)

So as we begin this season of Advent let us listen to Our Lord’s call to “Stand Ready” because He will come when we least expect Him. St. Paul repeats this same warning in his letter to the Romans (13 : 11-14).  It’s a wake up call to prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming by living Christian lives. As Isaiah says “Let us walk in the light of the Lord.” (Isaiah 2 : 5) If we do this then we’ll be ready to meet the Lord with gladness whenever or however He makes His appearance.

We are familiar with the custom of making ‘New Year Resolutions’ where we become conscious of our attitudes, our relationships and their impact on our lives during the year. Today, we are on the brink of a new year in the life of the Church and we turn our thoughts to the growth of our relationship with God. The strength of our relationships with the people in our lives very often depends on how much we trust them, that they are faithful to us and us to them. Depending on the value of our relationships with people, we know perfectly well when we have been hurt by their actions and when we have hurt others ourselves.

Such is our relationship with God, though unlike us, his love is eternal and always present. What I need to do today is reflect on my own infidelity in my relationship with a loving God. Where have I allowed self-pity to cause anxiety or worry in my life and perhaps encroach on my attitudes to others.

We began this week celebrating the Kingdom of God. From Christ’s teaching in the Gospels we know this Kingdom to be not only in heaven, but also here in this present life. As the leaves on the trees around us change their colours, and having completed their function in feeding the fruits of the tree, so we can look back on the year and reflect on the growth of the Kingdom in our hearts and in society around us. As the memories become like the leaves on the trees we ask ourselves “What ‘fruits’ have I helped to grow during the year and how will these fruits develop in coming years?” Will God’s Kingdom grow in me and produce even more fruit? What have I still to do?