Father Thomas Welbers' Homily

Today we stand at the beginning of another year of grace, in which we follow the Lord Jesus in the mysteries of his coming, his life, death, and resurrection, immersing ourselves in them, so that He may transform us into his image and likeness. As we walk through the year, Sunday after Sunday, the Lord nourishes us at the Table of his Word and the Table of the Eucharist, so that we may become more perfectly in action what he has already made us in the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. That is, so that we may live more consciously and intensely as members of his body, sharing in his life and continuing his mission in our own day.

Today, as we do every Sunday, we are invited, even urged, to dedicate ourselves again to Jesus Christ, our savior and our master. Today, he tells us that his followers must be awake and watchful, preparing for his coming and ready to greet him, not with fear and dread, but with joy and eager anticipation.

He also tells us how to prepare. Staying awake and watchful does not mean standing by passively and idly, looking at the clock from time to time. In fact, Jesus uses the image of a householder protecting his estate from burglars. Does that mean Jesus wants us to keep a gun under our pillow or a baseball bat by the side our bed?

Well, actually, St. Paul in the second reading does tell us to be armed, but not with the armor of darkness. Instead he says to put on the armor of light. The world uses brute force and violence to protect what the world holds valuable. Our values, however, lie in something else. What is this “armor of light”?

Throughout the Old Testament time of waiting for the Messiah, the prophets over and over emphasized that the reign of the Messiah would be characterized by peace and justice. The image in Isaiah of beating the swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks conveys this message clearly and unmistakably.

Sadly our world seems only to know how to build new and more destructive weapons, and we seem to be so ineffective at bringing about a world characterized by justice and peace. Violence just begets violence in an ever-descending spiral. How can we be true followers of Jesus and servants of his kingdom of justice and peace? How can we, who profess Jesus as our Savior and Lord share more effectively in his mission?

There really is only one way, and that is to be sure that we ourselves live the kind of life that we envision for the world. The world will not beat its weapons of destruction into tools for growth and abundance for all until we ourselves, individually, become builders of peace in our own lives, our families, our circles of friendship and community. This does not mean convincing others to make any change. Instead it means changing ourselves, converting our own weapons of war into implements of peace.

And what are our own weapons of war? Think about what makes you defensive, and how you react. Think about the ways that you have of getting your own way to prevail over others, or perhaps of blocking others out of your life. Think of the situations in which you become argumentative or even vengeful.

And then ask the Lord to show you how to react differently, to be open to the other person’s point of view – not necessarily always to agree, but at least to try understand and acknowledge difference. Perhaps peace most effectively comes from sincere prayer for the persons we have difficulty with, a prayer that puts them into God’s hands, and allows God to take the initiative that God wants, rather than our telling God to straighten them out the way we think it should be.

And in that way, we can take the first step towards turning our own weapons of antagonism and defensiveness into tools of growth and love for building up God’s kingdom. Advent is a good time to do this. Pray about it. Ask God to reveal to you in your own life the swords and the spears of your personal wars, and to give you the wisdom and the courage to transform them into instruments of healing and love.

© 2004 Thomas Welbers