“Brothers and sisters:

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love

for one another and for all,

just as we have for you, 

so as to strengthen your hearts, 

to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father 

at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.”

Happy Advent! Welcome to the new liturgical year! We begin again anew and a whole year lays out before us full of possibilities. This turning of seasons, out of sequence with all the other common chronological measures of our time (calendar year, academic year, fiscal year, etc.), is an opportunity outside of worldly schedules to focus on possibilities. What will this year bring? How will, or do I want to, grow? Where is God at work in my life? Where is he leading me? In weeks ahead, we will all focus on New Year’s resolutions (and maybe as quickly forget about them), but in this Advent Season of waiting, it is the best time to take stock of our spiritual lives, to consider God’s path before us, and to prepare for where Jesus will lead us this year. Welcome to the world of possibilities!

This is really a focus on how we will grow in holiness. That is a tricky word. Saint Paul uses the phrase, “to be blameless in holiness.” To be blameless under the law means we follow all the rules and have not violated any legal requirements. We don’t speed, we pay our taxes, and we fulfill all our obligations under the law. To be blameless morally, we do not lie, steal, or cheat, or violate any other moral obligation common to all of humanity. We are morally upright. To be blameless in holiness, however, is something much more than simply following the rules. Again, as Saint Paul tells us, it is that we may “increase and abound in love for one another and for all.” We can be legally and morally upright, and still be cranks, judgmental, or quite divisive. We can seek confrontation or argument to just be victorious and be right. I know I love to win! Most often, this is not about following Jesus or being holy, but about my own pride. This can easily lead to spiritual death. A friend of mine used to say, “You may be right, dead right.” We sacrifice life and love for death and victory. It is possible to lack humility and love and still win an argument, still be right, but not be holy. 

This is a radical statement, but we are made for love. We are made for more than the limited horizon of our selfishness and self righteousness. More than the limited horizon of our pride. It is actually God’s righteousness that we pursue. It is his action, the total gift of himself in love for us, that we seek to emulate and follow day after day. An old adage comes to mind, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Holiness is about how much we care, not how much we know. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in a homily that the most difficult and longest journey many of us make is the 18 inches from our head to our heart. This is the journey of holiness, not how much we know, but how much we care. It is the path to empathy, understanding, compassion and love. It is the path to community, peace, and justice. 

Look, I struggle with this as much as anyone. In fact, if no one else gets anything out of this reflection, that’s ok. It’s mainly written by me to me. I am hoping this Advent that I (and maybe you) can pause and recognize that God is doing something new. He is coming into our hearts, being born within each and every one of us. He doesn’t come into our heads. Jesus comes into our hearts. Come, Lord Jesus, come!