In the season of Advent, we focus on that which is most real, most enduring, in life.
This year’s Advent is the longest possible liturgically. We will have a lot of time to ponder Advent readings, to participate in Advent Masses and to “hold fast to what endures” as the closing prayer of this Mass puts it. Human words and realities will pass away, but God’s word will not pass away, it is the most real of all things. God’s word in the readings we have heard tells us that the Lord will return. The day of the Lord, the day of the Son of Man, is coming. Today, I would like to spend some time on how we can prepare for this day, so that it may not catch us unaware.
In the Gospel, we heard of the Lord’s Day arriving suddenly. We heard of images of one person being taken, the other one being left, we heard of thieves breaking in, unexpectedly, to a dwelling. In the weekday readings leading up to the first Sunday of Advent, we listened to accounts of plagues, distress among nations, wars, and great signs in the sky. These images, rightfully, get our attention, they help us to “keep awake” as the Lord says in the Gospel. Now, why would a merciful God allow these tribulations, these unexpected events, these worrying things? St. Paul VI, Pope, writes in his document Indulgentiarum Doctrina: “It is a divinely revealed truth that sins bring punishments inflicted by God's sanctity and justice” (Pope St. Paul VI, Indulgentiarum Doctrina, 2, January 1, 1967). What the Pope is saying is that immoral acts bring God’s punishments, and that this is a divine truth, a divine reality. In the Gospels, Our Lord speaks of things that can be called “natural disasters,” such as earthquakes and great signs from heaven. St. Paul VI continues, “These punishments are imposed by the just and merciful judgment of God for the purification of souls, the defense of the sanctity of the moral order and the restoration of the glory of God to its full majesty” (Pope St. Paul VI, Indulgentiarum Doctrina, 2, January 1, 1967). In other words, God uses these punishments to purify our souls, defend the moral order and restore His glory, as the day of His return draws nearer.
There is yet another thing to keep in mind, when we speak of restoring God’s glory and preparing for His return. All holiness has positive consequences, and all sin has negative consequences (cf. Pope St. Paul VI, Indulgentiarum Doctrina, 4, January 1, 1967). There is no such thing as a private sin: the evil deeds that we do in secret, weaken the entire body of the Church, and the more authority we have, the more we weaken those around us. When we ask for forgiveness, in the sacrament of confession, the punishment due to sin is taken away. However, the negative consequences of our acts remain. We should do our best to atone and repair these negative consequences. For example, if we have stolen something from someone, we need to return the goods stolen, or compensate for them in another way. If we have slandered or spoken untruths about someone, we need to do our best to take back the words of slander. If we have injured someone, then we need to pay compensation for the injuries. However, the reality is that we are not able to repair or undo all the negative consequences of our sinful actions: for example, once you’ve spread a false rumour about someone, it is impossible to take back the words, as others begin to spread (and maybe even add to) the rumour that you’ve started. God, in His infinite mercy, allows us to make reparation for our sins, allows us to atone for our sins, already here in this life. In the words of St. Paul VI, we make expiation for our sins by accepting “the sorrows, miseries and calamities of this life and above all through death” (Pope St. Paul VI, Indulgentiarum Doctrina, 2, January 1, 1967). So, through the voluntary acceptance of life’s sufferings and miseries, and through a voluntary acceptance of death, we have an opportunity to undo the consequences of the wrong actions that we have done.
If we are unable to make reparation or atonement for our sins on this earth, we will do so after death. As St. Paul VI says, the souls of those "who died in the charity of God and truly repentant, but before satisfying with worthy fruits of penance for sins committed and for omissions are cleansed after death with purgatorial punishments” (Pope St. Paul VI, Indulgentiarum Doctrina, 3, January 1, 1967). To use the words of St. Paul from the second reading, if we didn’t atone here on earth, then we will need to “put on the armour of light,” then we will need to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” in purgatory. This will happen through a time of purification.
Purgatory is the spiritual place where, the souls of the faithful departed atone for, make reparation for, their sins. Our task here on earth is to assist the souls in purgatory with their purification through our prayers, Masses, spiritual acts, writing their names in the Book of the Dead, and yes, through indulgences. We need to stop presuming that those who have died have already gone to heaven. In some obituaries, but also in some funeral homilies, the enthusiastic assumption is made that the person is already in heaven. We hope for that, but we must not presume. Instead, we should offer our prayers for that person, and allow God to dispose of our prayers for the dead in whatever way He wishes.
In the season of Advent, we focus on that which is most real, most enduring, in life. Human words and realities will pass away, but God’s word will not pass away. Today, God’s word in the readings has told us that the day of the Lord, the day of the Son of Man, is coming. This day need not catch us unaware. In preparation for this day, we can choose to accept the misfortunes and difficulties of life in atonement for our sins, and for the sins of others. May Mary, the Mother of Atonement and Reparation, help us in this great task. May she also help us to live well these days of Advent.
(Fr. Paweł Ratajczak, OMI, Nov. 27, 2022)