1st Sunday of Advent 29.11.09 Recognition of God
He came to His own and they knew Him not... sad words from the beginning of St John’s Gospel. In the beginning was the word and the word was God. One would think that if God came to the world He would be recognized, but apparently not.
Stranger still, if He came again after the first time He is still not recognized!
Our Lord comes to the world every day in the Eucharist and also in others ways, acting in response to prayer, absolving sin, seeking out the lost sheep – yet in all these activities He is largely ignored or denied by the human race.
The season of Advent is a time for us to Recognize Christ, to give Him due attention, to ensure that at least those of us who call ourselves His disciples will give the honour, worship, obedience and trust that should be given by everyone in the world.
Why is He so little regarded? Because the first time He came it was in humility, and humility is not the world’s favourite quality. If He had come as a great warrior, or miracle-worker it would have been different.
As it was when He worked miracles people would flock to Him but they cooled off when He gave hard teachings, or when He claimed to be God, which was seen as going beyond reasonable limits (even though true).
In the face of this general rejection we have the promise/threat of His second coming, which unlike the first will be very spectacular and obvious, and will leave no possibility of being ignored.
But by then it will be too late for repentance, and evildoers can expect only punishment at that stage.
God does not want to catch people unawares. He wants everyone to come to recognition of Him and repentance of sins before that final stage.
This is why so much of His word is directed towards eliciting repentance and warning us of what will happen if we do not.
Sometimes we wonder why God does not make Himself more obvious to the world. Given that many people do not believe in Him and many others who believe do not take Him very seriously, why can we not have more miracles, more obvious signs of His presence?
Our Lord, when He was on earth, pointed out that certain people wanted only signs and wonders, and always needed proof. As He said to St Thomas, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.
If God made Himself too ‘obvious’ it would take away the element of free will which is so much at the basis of our human nature.
Thus He ‘hides’ Himself to some extent in this earthy pilgrimage. He is found by those who seek; He is recognized by the poor in spirit, by those who can humble themselves. But He is rejected with scorn by the proud and mighty of this world, the Herods and the Pharisees, the false intellectuals and the self-sufficient (or those who think they are sufficient).
God may not work signs and wonders to order, but it is a miracle when a proud person humbles himself to accept the truth – a miracle of conversion.
Our Lord asks us to read the signs of the times. When you see clouds you know it is going to rain. When you see your life falling apart or realize how empty it is then you know you need something else. That ‘something else’ is faith and a life of obedience to God. You will never be happy without it.
So when we realize this we come into voluntary submission to God; we become His disciples, and begin to give Him due recognition.
Advent is a trumpet call to the world: Here He is, Behold Your God; do not ignore Him any longer. Enough damage has been done. Come right with Him before another day goes by.
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