Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the first Sunday of Advent 2021. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program. Note: The Gloria is not recited during Advent and Lent, so this will be skipped. Video and text of today’s homily below.
If you would like to have prayers offered for you, a loved one, a friend, for someone who is suffering, ill or who has departed, please email Archdeacon Mitch at mitch@heritageartsinc.com and we will pray for you.
At the end of today’s video stay tuned for a short tour of recent improvements to St. Barachiel Chapel. If you’d like to assist in the beautification and upkeep of the chapel, please click here to make a donation.
Homily for the First Sunday of Advent – Sunday 11/28/21
Readings: Jer 33:14-16, Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14, 1 Thes 3:12—4:2, Lk 21:25-28, 34-36
Brothers and sisters, in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus says, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.” What does it mean for our hearts to become drowsy? When we speak of the heart we mean positive emotions, empathy, and connection to what’s going on around us. And when we are drowsy, we are in the space between wakefulness and sleep, to be approaching unconsciousness, disengagement, and blindness to our surroundings. This isn’t just an exhortation against alcohol and drugs; it’s a reminder to be mindful and engaged.
In Jesus’ day, there was no private life except for the very, very rich. People lived in cramped homes, three generations or more plus animals all in one space. The only form of escape was to drink and party. We’ve invented plenty of ways to make our hearts drowsy since then, and Jesus knew we would do that. But if he’d spoken about video games, 24-hour news websites, and virtual reality headsets, people of his day would’ve called him insane. But rest assured, this is the “carousing and drunkenness” of the modern era. The average American household has more screens than people, and they’re running more than 8 hours per day. American adults average 8.5 hours of screen time per day, and two-thirds of us indicate in polls that we couldn’t live without them.
Does it matter that we’re spending more than 8 hours per day acting out crime sprees while playing video games, watching movies in which the heroes lie, cheat, steal and kill, and absorbing hours of ten-second home videos devoid of substance? When we watch lewdness, profanity, violence, outrage, callousness, and so on, are we committing those sins? Consider this from Gospel of Matthew 5:27-28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” It has been estimated that 35% of all internet downloads and 80% of web streaming is pornography-related. Now, I know what you’re thinking – “it’s just a video” or “just a movie” or “just a game” or “just a news show.” But that’s a cop-out. It’s a trap. If it’s insignificant – if it really is “just a whatever” – then it’s a waste of your time. But if it is significant, then you are engaging in those behaviors in your heart. Either way you lose – either way you need to be much more discriminating with your attention.
Jesus warns us about the “anxieties of daily life.” The past two years have been an exercise in the “anxieties of daily life.” On the one side we have people trying to tell us that COVID is a fiction, a mysterious plot to get shots into our arms. The other side proclaims that COVID will kill us all unless every man, woman and child is vaccinated, and that anyone who ask questions is irresponsible and backward. Meanwhile, the Evil One, who is a liar who sows discord through lies, laughs as we fight and argue with one another.
Jesus says, “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.” So when you are playing that violent video game, watching that movie or video, or absorbing endless news and propaganda, ask yourself if you are being engaged, mindful, and vigilant. Are you perhaps lulling yourself to sleep or, worse still, opening your eyes and ears to lies and falsehoods? Are you preparing yourself to stand before Christ in innocence and repentance, or are you fanning the flames of lust, anger, vengeance and outrage? Are you having honest conversations with real people and doing the work of the spirit, or are you being manipulated by computers, search algorithms, and lies?