Listening to the words of Jesus at times is not easy to understand or figure out. It would be akin to listening to Coach Bill Belichick in a coaches-only meeting speak about what’s supposed to happen on this defensive play or that offensive play. Most of us would ask, “What language is he speaking?” The words of our Lord in this Gospel on the 1st Sunday of Advent are not over-the-top million-dollar words to understand. “Be watchful! Be Alert!” Okay. Easy words. “You do not know when the time will come… What I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” Pretty basic words. But try figuring out what Jesus is really saying. Be watchful for what? A vaccine? That sounds good. The sooner the better. Return some semblance of normalcy to a passing world, where life passes by in a flash. “Be alert!” he tells them. Be alert for what? For someone to show up at midnight? Be alert for the owner of the house to return? That play is really hard to figure out. The language is basic; no multi-million dollar words. But the idea, the concept, the concrete answer and full understanding is not so obvious. They can be used – these words of Christ - in a thousand different contexts. Be alert when crossing a busy street so you don’t get flattened by a Mack Truck. Good advice. Be watchful for your family member to arrive home safely after a long trip. A loving a caring attitude. Be alert for signs of depression in a youngster who’s been “unsocialized” by adults because of the adults’ intense fear of a virus. That’s a useful thing to be alert for. Be watchful for signs of drug abuse or any abuse, and all other addictions that break hearts and can ruin faith in God within families. Be watchful and bring them to some peace through determination and care. Be alert for many dangers, physical and spiritual. Be watchful for numerous pitfalls as we journey through this God-forsaken world that God created so beautifully. Be alert for a bad homily! I suspect that all this sort of alertness and watchfulness that touch on everyday parts of our lives, they still do not capture the understanding of what our Lord speaks to today. That this play he’s calling and setting up with his disciples is a play that is altogether different, and most unexpected. Where we need to think outside the box. Our understanding of what Jesus means by these very simple words that point to a complicated idea, to grasp what he’s teaching here, means that our understanding must be divine. That there are times in our lives when thinking as humans, or thinking as a Democrat or Republican or any other weird sort of politics, will leave us way back there somewhere…when our Savior is calling us way up here in front of him. Where God is front and center, and not our politics. So, what’s way up here in the context of “Be alert! Be watchful!”? Our understanding of ourselves, the greater purpose of our lives, and where this entire show is going, is that our alertness and watchfulness are centered in Christ Jesus. Jesus tells them to be alert and watchful for him, because he’s coming back. He’s the gatekeeper, inviting us all to walk through his gate, and not go back to that village of pagans, where all us Gentiles came from. The one word not present in this Gospel is the word “return.” But the entire scene centers on this word. Return speaks to our faith in three ways. First, he’s returning at the end of this human experiment. At the end of time, when time is no more. When time will no longer be wasted. In the words of St. Augustine that capture this truth so well, he wrote that Jesus is returning whether we like it or not. It’s good that our Lord’s Second Coming is beyond our control. We would likely do something to prevent it if we controlled the consummation of the world. Second, his return to his disciples in the most personal way means his resurrection. “I’m coming back to you after they kill me,” he says, “and we’ll be dancing in the streets and shouting for joy, because the only thing killed will be death. Don’t give up hope when they tell you I’m dead. Don’t allow their lack of alertness and watchfulness to adversely affect your life. Because I’m returning to you, and I’m carrying you forward with me.” And third, what Advent is all about; be alert and watchful – again – for his return in a crib in a smelly barnyard. Don’t ever tire of the Word becoming flesh. That never gets old for a person of faith. For a faithless person it does get old. The word is Incarnation. Be alert, be watchful, and be ready to be “incarnated” into the human body of God’s Son. We are one with him in his birth. God reveals his human face in Jesus. And when Christ returns at the end, and raises our bodies to be like his, we will be way up there in the house of the Gatekeeper. God keeps his promises. I finish with the words of St. Paul in today’s reading from 1st Corinthians: “God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Amen.

There are few who move out. There are many who move in. That statement certainly applies to our nation. Despite the threats of this or that person moving north of the border or to some European nation infested with a pandemic because this person or that person got elected, we still have a country that few move out of, and many want to move in to. We are blessed in many respects. We are also challenged to become better in many areas, but we are blessed. We pray this remains so in the years ahead for our present young folks, so that our thanks to God will be continuous and true as time marches on. There are few who move out, and many who move in. Not only in the context of our nation of red, white, and blue, but also in the setting of a leper colony. Once you move in, it’s almost impossible to move out. A truer observation would be, “Once the many are forced into that village of contamination, one can move out only through a miracle of healing.” Easy in, but not easy out. In a leper colony, the easy out is when they carry out your dead body. It’s no wonder they yell so loud, raising their voices to fever pitch; “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us. We had to move into this village years ago and we cannot move out.” Lepers in the time of Jesus were no more than caged animals. Restricted in movement; forced to live in the city garbage dump; no friends to rely on. About as bad a situation as a roomful of patients with coronavirus. So, Jesus does what he does best. And if you think I’m referring to his healing power, I’m not. What the Lord does best is mercy. His miracles are made possible only through a heart that loves every part of his creation, except sin. But today, Thanksgiving Day, is centered more on the reaction to mercy rather than the mercy given. On the opposite reactions of returning to render thanks, or walking away without going out of one’s way to say “Thank you.” I believe we would all agree that “going out of the way,” which the Lord did, deserves another in return. After Jesus, we highlight the other All-Star in this Gospel story, the leper who returned to offer thanks. And we raise him/her as a model this day for all of us who have moved into the Kingdom of God, into this community, with the hopes of never moving out. Of course, the difference between our situation and that of the 10 lepers is, through faith, we’ve moved into a glorious community of believers, with all our health issues, personality traits, and idiosyncrasies, whereas the lepers cannot escape fast enough. Their community is not glorious at all. The one nameless leper who returns to Jesus is the Bible’s one continuous reminder for all people in all places and times to thank our Savior for his merciful actions that have moved us out of the community of sinners that Adam & Eve shoved us into, moving us out of that horrible place into the kingdom of light. We thank God for countless blessings bestowed, both physical and spiritual over the years. But more so for the move caused by his mercy; moving us from the country of Hades to the nation of Heaven. A good move indeed.

St. John Paul II called it “the feminine genius.” The genius of the woman who either cares for her family with the love only a wife and mother can give. The genius of a woman like Mrs. Barrett who was recently appointed to the United States Supreme Court, balancing her demanding work, her Catholic faith, raising seven children including two adopted from Haiti, being a devoted wife to her husband. And for good measure, handling with total grace and patience some of the dumbest and crudest questions she’s ever been asked by Senators who were anything but graceful. Her value is far beyond pearls, as the writer of Proverbs expresses so nicely today. And Mrs. Barrett’s value far beyond pearls will reach its limit in the legal profession if one day she’s the deciding vote in the overturning of the horror called Roe vs. Wade, allowing all the children to live. The feminine genius, understood from the genius teaching of St. John Paul II who raised the dignity of the woman to her highest measure. A value that is far beyond pearls. And far beyond the parable of talents too. In the Gospel parable that Jesus teaches, let’s pretend the 3 servants, instead of being men which Jesus calls them, let’s assume for the sake of a Sunday homily the 3 servants are women. This would match up best with the reading from Proverbs. They’re called in by the Boss who knows the gifts and talent ability of each one. One servant receives 5 precious pearls owned by the Boss, and she’s told to go and increase the number of pearls. Another woman receives three, and the third receives one. Each according to their ability. We can’t all be a St. Teresa of Calcutta, or a St. John Paul II (even though I look like him). We can’t all be a St. Therese of the Child Jesus, or a St. Francis of Assisi. That’s the 5-talent crowd. Or more like the 500-talent group. Each of us is given the responsibility in our Baptism to return to the Lord what we’re capable of increasing through being open to his grace. And God, the Boss, is satisfied with each respective investment. The problem here that may arise is allowing our pride to get in the way because we may think, “I belong in the 5-talent group.” Anyone who believes this, you best be ready to ready to lay down your life for Christ. Literally, spill your blood for Jesus. It’s more like, “No, you belong in the three-talent group.” Back to the women servants, beginning with the one talent, the one precious pearl worth much less than a worthy wife. The one who goes out and buries the pearl because she was too afraid that her husband would be angry if she showed she was smarter than him. A more profitable Christian investor than him. We thank God that Mrs. Barrett’s husband doesn’t think this way. He was mighty fine with her becoming a Supreme Court Justice. And women, like men, at times make the wrong decision with the placement of one precious pearl, and what to do with the joy of the Baptism entrusted to us by the Boss upstairs. All this servant had to do was to go out and make another disciple for the Lord. With all her friends, one would think the possibility was easy. But hiding her Baptism, and burying her Baptism in the ground happened for two reasons: fear and selfishness. Fear, for not trusting that God would provide all she needed to make another disciple, another pearl. And the selfishness of keeping one’s faith to oneself, when faith is a virtue to be spread like mayonnaise on a tuna fish sandwich. The woman servant entrusted with the 3 talents and makes 3 more for the Boss, is most of the holy woman I’m blessed to know and love. To add three more pearls to God’s account requires a long list of goodies: a devoted wife; a caring mother; a single woman who loves God and neighbor (one need not be married); a woman devoted to daily prayer; one who builds up her intellectual feminine genius in a thousand different fields for the good of those who benefit from her genius….women doctors, nurses, counselors, judges, and teachers. All called to care for and build up others in truth and dignity. And do so as a joyful Christian woman embracing the fullness of her faith. There’s a lasting genius in such faithfulness. And so many other areas of life. My own mother would be in this group of 3 talents. And the women with 5 pearls who go on to make 5 more, or 500 more. Like men, they’re fewer in number. These are the worthy wives, mothers, and single women whom God called to have a direct role in salvation history, alongside all the other great women in the Communion of Saints. There is no one above Mary of Nazareth. The theotokos, the Mother of God. She is the premiere 5-talent holder who said “yes” to Gabriel. She’s the woman servant entrusted to carry within her the five great talents of her Son: life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return to raise our bodies. For 14-plus years of priesthood I’ve been trying to convince young ladies who seek a female model in their lives to avoid Hollywood and New York and look to the small village of Nazareth where the perfect female role model is found. After Blessed Mary, the 5-talent servants are St. Mary Magdalene and her conversion; St. Veronica who wiped the face of Jesus as he carried his Cross; the mothers of Peter & Andrew, James & John; the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s Well where Jesus thirsted for her faith; the Syro-Phoenician woman who convinced Jesus to heal her daughter. And all the great women Saints over 20 centuries of the Church. They brought many souls to the Savior of the world. Burying their 5 pearls was never a thought. So, for all the women servants of the Boss, all that feminine genius - and all us men servants too – we don’t want to be the number one talent. The three and five talents are the ones who produce for Christ, who is Lord forever and ever.

At some point later in the day or early evening, most of us will get a little tired and drowsy. If we expend much energy, or even do nothing at all, the body will tire after a certain number of hours of being awake. A handful of us are like the Ever-ready bunny, banging on the drum of life from early dawn until late in the evening, burning the midnight oil. But many of us could settle for a short nap for our bodies later in the day. Having accomplished much good, or nothing at all, we enjoy a rest. The theme for this Sunday’s readings is drowsiness, and not joining certain groups of drowsers, but holding fast to our faith in Christ. I do question at times – when I reach a certain level of frustration – whether the Bishops in our country have become collectively drowsy for the past number of decades with regard to proclaiming the entire Gospel openly with forthrightness, while holding others accountable who subvert the Gospel. There seems to be a collective silence that hurts the Church as Christ founded Her, commanding the first Apostles to go out and teach the nations, baptizing the world in the name of the Holy Trinity. One re-reading of the Acts of the Apostles can bring their collective voices back to where they need to be for the good of God’s People. As the world expands its godlessness through actions and laws that destroy human life and settle for human saviors, their collective voices are much needed today. One re-reading of the Acts of the Apostles and meditating on the courage of the Shepherds Peter and Paul would remove all the contemporary drowsiness and deafening silence. When our Bishops do not collectively have the oil of fortitude in their lamps, they become, like Jesus says in the parable, foolish. We want leaders who own an entire oil company, where the oil for their lamps never runs low, like it never did for Peter or Paul. Fortunately, our Worcester Bishop has lots of oil. We are blessed. But all of them as one voice collectively? Not as much. Today’s second reading from Paul to the Thessalonians is centered on death. The death of loved ones who believed in the resurrection. They expected that great and terrible day to happen while they were still awake. In their lifetime, the belief was that Jesus would return. Instead, they all went the way of dust. Paul, being the courageous Bishop that he was, settles the matter by writing about the necessity of hope. Paul instructs these virgin believers to place the oil of hope into the lamps of their faith. With other believers dying around them - their family members and friends, which we all can relate to – now some oil needs to be discovered that will allow their faith to stay lit, and not hold onto lamps that burn out. Many Christians today have allowed their lamps to be burned out. It makes me wonder as a priest how much of the burning out of their faith lies at the feet of episcopal silence for so long. Either way, the Thessalonians are hurting because of the death of their loved ones. That sounds familiar for many of us. Some things never change for those who love others. And hurting because of someone’s death is one of them. In this month of November when we lovingly remember the souls of all the faithful departed, St. Paul, the great Apostle and Bishop, places into all our lamps of faith the type of crude oil that keeps us true to Jesus until the end. It’s the oil of hope, which is anything but crude. “We do not want you to be unaware about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.” Grieving is allowed for any of us who are faithful, but never without the hope of being together again with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. As Catholics, there is no pretending like our stock of oil runs dry for the lamps of our faith. Do not allow such complacency to overpower your faith life. As some people moan and groan and bewail the results of the election this week, pretending like that’s the only part of life that matters, Christians do not lose hope in what concerns us first. When we die from this world, when Jesus shows up at midnight knocking on the door saying “Let me in to collect my faithful people,” and you’re outside slumbering while smoking a pack of Camels, or outside with our crying towels because one of them is going to lose, pretending like heaven has fallen never to be picked up again. When Jesus shows up, the first way we are ready with an abundance of oil in our lamps of faith is to stay focused on him. Stay centered in Christ. For those who are angry, this is an opportunity to draw deeper into the Lord, letting go much more of this world as we walk toward eternal life. Maybe that’s what he’s asking you to do. And if your candidate wins, then do the same. Death is the great equalizer, as the Thessalonians found out. We’re all on the same page with that reality. It’s best to be wise than foolish, possessing hope as the oil for our lamps.