A Sleep Study (2010-12-19, Advent)

This is my homily for Sunday 19 December 2010 (4th Sunday, Advent) for the on-campus Sunday Mass (7:30 p.m.) of Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) Teaneck, NJ. Mass is every Sunday during Fall 2010 + Spring 2011 semesters. I am the Catholic campus minister for this campus and for the FDU Newman Catholic Association.

** This is our final Sunday Mass of Fall 2010; we resume Sun. Mass on Jan. 23, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. **

Isaiah 7:10-14 | Psalm 24 | Romans 1:1-7 | Matthew 1:18-24

[__01] Perhaps, we could see this Gospel reading – of Joseph and the angel – as the time of preparation before an important event.
Imagine we are studying for something, for an examination. This is final exam season on campus.

Joseph is the student and the child of God who is preparing for a major examination.

Mary is also a student and the child of God preparing for a challenging test. In this particular reading, we are focused on Joseph and his experience in our salvation, in “how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.” (Matthew 1:18)

[__02] So – we go through times of preparation, study, evaluation.

What do we do the night before an exam?

What do we do? Usually, we study. But, sometimes – what I have done – is I stay up as late as possible trying to get the last bit of information into my brain.

Sometimes, I may be memorizing things I could have [should have] absorbed weeks ago. I stay up later rather than going to sleep at a reasonable hour.

This is what we are all tempted to do. We are tempted to use every possible moment up until the last minute. Sometimes, this means we are not as rested as we could possibly be for the examination.

What does Joseph do? He is the model student. He goes to sleep.

He is getting a good night’s rest the night before his final.

This rest is also helpful to us in our spiritual journey, our conversion, our repentance. We – on our spiritual journeys – also learn things gradually. Rarely – if ever – can we stay up all night and make a major change in our lives. And, if we are up all night worrying over something it is often because we have experienced some period of anguish over time.

And, though we speak of love-at-first-sight and the changes this brings, true love is also a lifelong project of caring for – and caring about – another person.

So, we need rest in our lives. We need rest so that we can –

• Recall what we have learned
• Revise and check ourselves.

Isn’t it true that , when we are patient, we are better able to check and re-check and correct our errors, to meditate what we have been writing?

[__03] Also, when rested, we are better able to absorb information, even new information, at the last minute. More information, unfamiliar questions.

Questions in a new format. Of course, we prefer the questions to be in familiar form. But, if we are rested, we are able to receive the question in a different format or even analyze the unexpected question and do the best we can. To receive the new information.

[__04] Joseph is confronted with some new information at the last moment, to say the least. He is confronted with information that Mary is now expecting a child, a child of whom he is not the father.

And, his first-draft answer is that they will separate. That they will go to separate rooms, be tested separately. No more helping each other out. No more talking between these two students.

But, then, the angel of the Lord visits Joseph.

This visit comes during Joseph’s good night of sleep. Joseph is asleep. But, Joseph is also open to God’s presence, to God’s inspiration through the Holy Spirit.

[__05] And, we are called to be open the same Spirit. Are we open to the Spirit speaking to us about our:

• Friendships – and what our friends may suggest we do or pressure us to do.
• The way we spend our time
• The way we spend our money

Sometimes, we have learned – or memorized certain responses – to God’s Commandments.

It is difficult to learn the new material, the new Good News of the gospel. Joseph also had a prepared answer that the angel is asking him to revise. But, when we rest, and rest in God’s presence – and pray – then, we can be more open to suggestion, to revision, even repentance.

This is means we are called to examine our lives and even to revise answers we have given before.

To change our minds as Joseph does.

Joseph shows us the example of someone who is well rested, resting in God’s presence. And, he gives us the example of meditation during Advent, waiting patiently for the Lord.

[__06] So well rested is Joseph that he is able to overcome distractions. What is this noises off stage, distractions?

Wouldn’t Joseph have experienced certain social distractions, the static of other people who would have told him not to listen to the angel?

But, Joseph overcomes those would have told him to separate from Mary. These are the other students who are always talking in class. They would be similar to the Scribes and Pharisees who are always talking in class, making trouble for Christ the teacher.

But, Joseph is able to overcome those distractions, to welcome the Holy Spirit into his life, as we are all called to do.

So that we might rest in God’s presence, both in and out of the classroom. [__end]