When hardships come, you can choose the power of love or violence: choose LOVE so others can see Christ once more
First Sunday of Advent – December 1, 2024
Advent starts our new Church year. Many of us know it’s the season of waiting and preparing for the coming of Christ at Christmas. We hear this in the First Reading: “In those days and at that time, I will make a virtuous Branch grow for David.” And, yet, our Gospel seems to be full of doom and gloom, leading us to be both afraid and hopeful. How do we understand this?
God always meets us in our daily reality: are you amazed how accurate the Gospel is for our times today? When we look around the world and see the sad reality of many nations and people, we can recognise what Christ said: even here in Kenya.
“There will be signs in the sun”: the warming of the earth is causing chaos for many poor nations. “Nations are in agony”: the people suffering in Sudan, and even Kenya with the economic difficulties and political confusion. “Men dying of fear”: people are committing suicide at increasing rates; others, in Nigeria, live in fear of kidnap and murder.
So, we are all looking for a saviour, desperate to know someone good is winning. Over the last 30 years many people left the church, and the popularity of movies about heroes who save the people, have increased markedly: eg. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Ironman, etc.
It’s hard not to like the movies as they give us a feeling that someone will come with power to save us. But, all these movies rely on a greater “good” violence to defeat the evil violence. As Christians we believe that Christ is also coming with power, but not a power of morally stronger power. Christ comes with the power of love!
Throughout the world, we have swapped the “power of love” for the “power of violence”. And we see the results everywhere. Just as an alcoholic often can’t admit their problems until they’ve lost everything, sadly, once we are on the path of violence, it’s hard to even remember that there is another path we can follow: forgiveness and love, bringing us peace.
Despite the many challenges facing our youth in Kenya, I’m so proud of our Oblate youth members: many sacrificed some coins while others sacrificed their time to visit the patients at the National Spinal Hospital in Nairobi. We carried gifts of toiletries and phone credit.
In many ways it seems like a big sacrifice of time and money, but what we learned from the patients gave a certain new life to each of us as we listened to the patients share their stories.
As our Founder, St Eugene, often said: as we evangelise people, the people evangelise us. Our Oblate youth were evangelisers, even as they were being evangelised by the patients.
When we hear God say, “I will make a virtuous Branch grow for David,” of course we think God is talking about Jesus Christ. Historically, that’s correct. But what about today? Do we, as Christians, realise that Christmas is a reminder for each of us to become Christ?
For too long we have only celebrated Christmas as a celebration of thanksgiving that God sent Jesus Christ to save us by teaching us how to love. The more important part of Christmas is that we allow Christ to be so much in us, that we look like Christ for others.
Through our expressions of love, not violence, we can be beacons of hope for others even in the midst of hardship and war, like the bad events mentioned in the Gospel.
In the midst of all the challenges each of us face, we have a choice to make: will I use the power of violence, or the power of love? Many choose violence (physical, emotional or verbal). Our youth chose the power of love. But what do you choose? What do I choose?
The warnings of Christ are designed to encourage us to choose love: “Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with immorality and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap.” What Day is that?
It’s the Day of consequences flowing from our past choices. The invitation by God to live moral lives is not to keep God happy, but to protect us from sadness and pain the future. By frequently choosing the “power of love”, we create consequences of joy and peace.
I often remember an anecdote about Abraham Lincoln: after the last battle of the American Civil War, a General came saying “we’ve won”; Lincoln replied, “no, now we must win the peace.” As we walk to Christmas, the Gospel invites us to be Christ for others, so that, in their suffering, they can “see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory”.
Finally, my friends, let Christ encourage each of us today, “When these things begin to take place,” (our challenges and hardships), “stand erect, hold your heads high,” (by choosing the power of love) “because your liberation is near at hand.” (that Day will bring joy to us).
Let us choose the POWER of LOVE as we respond to whatever happens in our lives, and so create peace and joy for ourselves, and others, in the midst of hardship or war.
By Gerard Conlan, OMI
