Sunday December 7, 2008 Fr. Martin Stillmock

My dear friends in Christ if I were to tell you that the season of Advent could be compared to hummingbirds you would probably think that my intellectual elevator finally went down the shaft. But I think I can validly make that comparison by going to the beliefs of Native Americans. They considered hummingbirds messengers of joy. And to the Native Americans hummingbirds symbolized not only something magical but something miraculous because they believed they had the power to accomplish what seemed impossible.

Hummingbirds are capable of feats, doing things that no other birds can perform. They can fly backwards and sideways. They can move their wings in a figure-8 pattern. And because of that they are considered symbols of infinity, symbols of the eternal that we all have to strive for and some day will reach. As hummingbirds flit from flower to flower, feasting on nectar and pollinating their hosts they flap their wings 80 times per second.

There is a big hummingbird sanctuary just outside of Tucson, Arizona. I went there about 12 years ago to see it. You really have to experience hummingbirds up closely to fully appreciate their beauty. There is kind of a iridescent rainbow of colors that accent their tiny bodies. And they are really startlingly beautiful and stunning. And when you watch them I think they teach you to experience the present moment and to lighten up. I think we all realize it’s impossible for our spirits to soar if we are burdened by fear and anxiety.

And that’s really what the Advent season is about, to help us get rid of fears and anxiety because someone special is coming into our lives.

So often in the past we used to equate Advent with Lent which is a penitential season. Definitely we can do penance in Advent but it means that our spirit should realize the great gift of God in its joyfulness.

I remember many years ago a friend was telling me about, they had a son and they expecting a little girl and they were wondering how this boy was going to take an arrival of a new member of the family because they felt he was kind of spoiled, and all the attention was centered on him. So they kept telling him that there was a special miracle that was coming into his life, that he was going to have a little sister and they taught him the song, “You are My Sunshine”. And they said, “Now this little girl is going to be your sunshine, this little sister of yours is going to be the sunshine of your life.” And they taught him to sing that. And everyday he would sing that and when the little girl arrived he sang that song almost everyday. Almost drove the parents crazy. He sang that song for his little sister. They kept up that wonderful relationship all the way to adulthood.

Now we need probably not awaken Our Lord with a song but it could be a good way to do it. You probably get these too. I get about 10,000 stickers a month from various charities. One of them said, “Life is a song, sing it.” Now that’s not a bad attitude for us in life, it is a song and that we should sing it.

One of the real meanings of Advent is to awaken the Lord in our hearts for the coming of Christmas Day. How do we awaken our hearts? Well we waken it through prayer. Prayer awakens us to the reality of Christ and to the reality of our needs.

There also should be awakening of peace and joy in our lives and in our hearts to help with stability to our relationships. Not only to God but to each other.

So we really should not be over-awed by the problems and anxieties of life. There is a Chinese proverb that says, “The way to move a mountain is by beginning to carry small stones.” Our Lord said that too, “If you have faith, you will say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will prove impossible for you.” And maybe we can’t move that mountain at one time but we can move it piece by piece.

We should also hunt this Advent season for what I would call a better self. The great philosopher, Plato, said that, “The greatest victory in the world is the victory of self conquest.” It’s really something to meditate on. “The greatest victory in the world is the victory of self conquest.” So we can hunt out the faults in our lives that may be hurting our relationship with Christ or with our spouse or with our children.

Sometimes we think the most serious diseases in the world are cancer and AIDS and paralysis and so forth, but really the greatest disease in the world is hardness of heart. And we should all realize that we have a mission in life. We learned in today’s gospel what John the Baptist’s mission was. It was to prepare the way of Christ. We have that same challenge, to make a difference in the lives of those around us. To use our talents to make this world better for others and even for those who will come after us.

So that’s the challenge of Advent, I would say, to truly radiate Christ to others because of our goodness and kindness. It may sound a little bit sentimental but I think it would be too bad to keep this in our hearts, to let Christ be the sunshine of our hearts.

Now I’d like to end this homily with just a short prayer.

Lord, come to teach me the way of truth. Come to bring me new life. Come to open my prison doors and set me free. Come to bring lightness to the darkness. Come to bring light to the darkness in my life. Come and save me. Come and give me peace. Stay with me and send me forth in your name. Amen.