The First Sunday of Advent—Hope

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, there are many " Christian " organizations offering hope this time of year. Indeed, I think we all need a little hope to get through these difficult and uncertain times. However, many of these Christian organizations offer false hope, the hope that will ultimately let us down or, worse, lead us astray, away from God the Father’s love.    

Many wondered and continued to wonder why the world has turned away from the earthly Church. Why are the pews empty in churches.   It is because the Catholic Church and other denominations of Christianity do not offer real hope, the hope that is only found in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. One might ask how anybody can be loyal to a religious organization that actively works to strip away their civil rights?  How can anybody be loyal to a religious organization that actively works to force a young woman to carry an unwanted baby and then not help her, cutting off critical support in the form of SNAP benefits or worse charging her tuition for a child to go to their school while the free public school is being dismantled?  How can anybody be loyal to an organization that would fire a teacher who marries his and her partner and not call it discrimination? 

I hate to remind people that the people who parade down Constitution Avenue waving pro-life banners and holding pro-life signs are the very same people who would allow strangers to come into their houses and kidnap their gay son or lesbian daughter taking them away to a conversion therapy camp and effectively killing them by way of suicide.

 The Salvation Army offers false hope by not providing help to all in need.  For years I have been preaching do not give money to the Salvation Army or any of the anti-LGBT charities, because they do not embody the Holy Spirit, let alone the holiday spirit.  Perhaps that is why Charles Dickins made his character Ebenezer Scrooge so cynical about donating. Maybe it is not one person who says, “If they are to die, let them get on with it and decrease the surplus population.” Perhaps he saw the dangers of capitalism.  But a whole organization.   Why would somebody go to an organization that would tell you to have hope but then tell you, you are not equal because of your disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation? Why would you go somewhere only for them to oppress you?  For hope does not see anything, except one’s pure soul.    Remember hope marches on while the Salvation Army gets left behind. 

I saw the rededication of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France this week, after a historic fire that gutted the sanctuary and destroyed the church.  Just like the mythical bird, the Phoenix, Notre Done was raised from the ashes.   It is just in time to start the liturgical year. However, as much as we like to mix old with the modern in construction, we still cannot come to terms with equality and acceptance.  Most people just cannot accept that marriage equality is right even though most historians have determined the guy (Jesus) we worship on the cross was at the very least bi-sexual.  They want to point to outdated scripture and laws about sacrificing animals or, heaven-for-bid children to please God.  If we use outdated scripture, then we negate Jesus’s sacrifice. 

Like all four pillars of Advent, hope is an idea.  We need to realize that idea and let it manifest in our hearts.