Prepare Early

Learning how to PREP to have a better Christmas

11/27/2022

Mt 24:37-44 Jesus said to his disciples: "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Our former associate pastor, Fr. Daniel Velasco, gave me some valuable tennis lessons through which he also taught me invaluable life lessons. One such lesson was to “prepare early”. What does that mean? He explained that whether I was going to hit a forehand or a backhand shot, I should have my tennis racket back and in the ready position long before I actually swing. Even while I am running to hit the ball, the racket should already be back and ready. At first I thought he was playing a practical joke on me because I thought I looked silly running with this racket sticking out behind me like a peacock tail. But eventually I learned that when I do prepare early, I hit the ball much better.

And by the way, Fr. Daniel practices what he preaches about preparing early. Do you know he write his homilies at least a week or two in advance? Heck, he has probably already written his Christmas homily by the First Sunday of Advent! When he was in seminary he did the same: he would write his theology papers for the whole semester within the first week of school. Why did he do that? Well, that is how you prepare early and how you can "play better" both in tennis and life.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, and Advent is the quintessential season of preparing early. That is why all the readings today – Isaiah 2, Romans 13, and Matthew 24 – all speak about preparing spiritually and preparing early. Let me just take one example, from the gospel of Matthew. Jesus summarizes his lesson saying: “So, too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Sun of Man will come.” In other words, not only should you prepare early, but procrastination will have catastrophic consequences, indeed, eternal consequences.

Louis Pasteur, the 19th century French chemist, who invented the process of pasteurization for milk – pasteurization comes from his name Pasteur – once said: “Fortune favors the prepared mind.” Well, not only fortune but also faith favors the prepared mind. That is, when we prepare early, we live our faith more fully and joyfully. Put simply, preparing early makes you not only a better tennis player, it makes you a better Christian.

I read this powerful point about preparation from Matthew Kelly’s book Holy Moments (good Advent reading, by the way). Kelly wrote: “Toward the end of his life, Michaelangelo observed, ‘I regret that I have done so little for my eternal soul and that I am but beginning to learn the alphabet of my craft.’”

Kelly continued: “He was eight-eight years old and indisputably a genius who had lived a life of astonishing worldly accomplishment. But what was his regret? Care of the soul.” In other words, if Michaelangelo had just taken some tennis lesson from Fr. Daniel, he would have learned to prepare early, both on the courts and in Christianity, and been happier in both arenas.

Folks, I cannot teach you how to play tennis, but I can give you some free lessons on how you can prepare early this Advent and have a more successful and joyful Christmas. I have four suggestions that spell the word “PREP”. The first “P” stands for prayer. Do a little extra prayer this Advent. My favorite prayer is the daily rosary. Others love to spend an hour in Adoration. Still others read the Bible prayerfully for 15 minutes a day. Prepare early in Advent by adding more prayer to your daily routine, and you will have a better Christmas.

The second letter in PREP is “R” which stands for reconciliation, or confession. You know, I am so pleased with how many parishioners go to confession here at I.C. This church is full of a bunch of sinners! Actually, we’re all sinners. But I also know some people have not gone to confession in years, maybe 10, 15 or 20 years. We call those people “the big fish” we catch in confession. My friends, stop procrastinating and putting off confession. Prepare early this Advent by going to reconciliation and you’ll have a better Christmas.

The third letter in PREP is “E” which means Eucharist. This Advent go to Mass, the Eucharist, every Sunday without missing one Sunday. By the way also go on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8th, a holy day of obligation. When you go to the eye doctor and read the eye chart, what is the first and largest letter? It is the letter “E” which stands for Eucharist. Ask any eye-doctor and that’s what he or she will tell you. There’s your reminder to go to the Eucharist! Prepare early this Advent by keeping your eye on the “big E” the Eucharist every Sunday, and you will have a better Christmas.

And the fourth letter is “P” which indicates peace. That is, foster peace in your hearts and bring peace to others this Advent. Be a person of peace. John Maxwell said that every leader always carries two buckets. One bucket is filled with water, and the other bucket is filled with gasoline. Whenever he or she comes upon a fire in the organization, which is invariably a people problem, he can throw one or the other bucket onto the fire: water or gasoline. A great leaders is a person of peace, who splashes the bucket of water to extinguish the fires. In other words, prepare early this Advent by seeking and spreading peace, and you will be ready to welcome the Prince of Peace this Christmas.

Praised be Jesus Christ!