Don’t worry about it!
Homily originally presented November 29, 2020
by Monsignor Deering
“Don’t worry about it.”
Those 4 words were spoken 80 yrs. ago by a man by the name of Kermit A. Tyler
and those 4 words would haunt him for the rest of his life!
You see, Kermit Tyler was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Force ...
and he was on temporary duty at the radar information center at Fort Shafter
on the Hawaiian island of Oahu on the morning of December 7th 1941.
A radar operator at the northern tip of the island reported that he and another private were seeing an unusually large “blip” on their radar screen, indicating a large number of aircraft about 130 miles away and approaching fast.
Thinking it was a group of U.S. B-17 Bombers coming in from the mainland,
Tyler told the radar operator: “Don’t worry about it.”
But Tyler was wrong!
Instead, the blip on the radar screen was the first wave of more than
180 Japanese fighters, torpedo bombers, dive bombers & horizontal bombers
whose surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and the island’s main airfields
shortly before 8 a.m. on a peaceful Sunday morning ...
plunged the United States into World War II.
Ignoring the Warning of the Radar Blip enabled the Japanese to catch
the Americans off guard and pull off a Surprise Attack that totally crippled
the American Naval fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu!
Afterward, it was determined that the radar equipment had worked effectively,
but the information on the screen had not been properly interpreted and acted on.
If only that large blip had been properly interpreted and acted on …
the outcome of that attack would have been very different
as the Americans would have had the time it took for the planes to fly 130 miles
to get ready to respond to the attack by the Japanese.
It also would have affected the length and the course of the war with Japan
as we would have had more of our ships and carriers afloat to fight with.
But sadly, the Americans were caught sleeping in the wee morning hours of Sunday.
Over the next 4 weeks, the Church is going to remind us again and again ...
to be vigilant in watching ... our Spiritual radar screens
and to properly interpret and act on ... what they show us!
The Sunday Mass Readings will emphasize the need to be awake and alert
so as to be prepared for a coming event.
In the 4 verses just proclaimed from Mark’s Gospel, Jesus uses the word “watch” 4 times!
And what does Jesus want us to watch for? Him!
Jesus is clearly talking about the end of time ... when He will come again in glory.
And He reminds us that no one knows when that will occur, saying:
“you do not know when the lord of the house is coming,
… whether in the evening, or at midnight, … or in the morning.”
So he warns, “May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”
Are people watching? Yeah, I think so ... but not necessarily for Jesus!
For example, an article from the Saturday morning Tuscaloosa paper said this:
“As the no-lines-for-2020 night before Black Friday wore on, two exceptions arose, both at GameStop electronics and gaming stores ...
the Tuscaloosa store in Midtown Village, and the Northport location on McFarland.
At 10PM Thursday, the Northport GameStop
had about a dozen people bundled up and waiting out front;
the Midtown location had roughly double that number.
Hopefuls camped out as early as 2 AM Thursday for this year’s holy grail:
the recently released Sony PlayStation 5!
Really? You’re going to stand outside in the cold
from 2 AM Thursday till the store opens at 7 AM on Friday ... a total of 29 hours ... to do what? To buy a game?
When reporters asked one of the guys in line how he could do this?
He laughed and said: “I have plenty of spare time.”
I wonder if he uses some of that spare time to get up early for Church on Sunday!
Surely he goes…I mean what else would he be doing? staying home playing games?
These examples and many more show that we humans can do what it takes
to get ready for something that we decide is important.
Well, as important as a getting the new PS5 Play Station might be,
there’s another prize ... one that has infinite and eternal value
that’s available at the end of our life ...
and that’s the prize ... we should be standing in line to obtain!
It’s a prize we can’t see just yet, but we have God’s promise that it awaits us …
if only we’re awake and ready when the time comes for us to claim it.
St. Paul reminds us of this today in his First Letter to the Corinthians,
by first giving thanks to God for the graces bestowed on us in Christ Jesus
and then reassuring us that we are well prepared
to “wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jesus is coming and will be revealed as King of Kings at the end of time as we heard last week when we read from Matthew 25 on the Feast of Christ the King.
Jesus said He will come in his glory and all the angels with him to sit on His glorious throne w/ all the nations assembled before Him to separate the sheep from the goats.
But since this event is beyond our sight right now, there’s a good chance that we may procrastinate in our preparation to experience it.
Which is why we need to listen to the Church regarding the celebration of Christmas.
The Church in her wisdom has intentionally placed a special 4-week long Season in front of Christmas in order to help us to slow down and prepare for
2 very important events. ... events not related to a sale … but to sal-vation!
This special season is called the Advent Season and it has a 2-fold purpose.
First, it’s a time to prepare ourselves to remember and celebrate
the First Coming of Jesus Christ ... that took place 2020 years ago.
Wow! It’s been a long time since Jesus came to be with us as Savior.
and it’s been a similarly long time since Jesus said he’d come again as Judge .
But then God seems to operate over long periods of time,
yes, it was 1700 years before Jesus that God called Abraham to gather the Israelites together as His Chosen People ... promising then to send them a savior.
1,000 years passed before the time of the Prophet Isaiah,
who spoke and wrote of the people’s great yearning for God to help them.
In our First Reading today, we hear Isaiah beg God:
“Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down.”
How providential his words were!
Because 700 years later ... in the fullness of God’s time ... God did indeed
rend the Heavens and come down to be with us ... taking on ...
our humanity in the womb of Mary and being born a babe in Bethlehem.
We call this the Incarnation … God becoming man and being present to us.
So awesome is this event in all of history that we make a reverential bow ...
when we refer to the Incarnation as we recite our Creed. After we say,
“For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven,” we bow as we say, “by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”
So the 1st purpose of the 4-week season of Advent is to reflect on God’s great love for us in that He would send His only-begotten Son to be with us and redeem us.
This Christmas will mark the 2020th Birthday of Jesus. With joyful anticipation, we spend time preparing to celebrate the Birthday of the Savior of the world.
Just as we don’t celebrate all the days leading up to our own Birthday,
We also don’t celebrate all the days leading up to Jesus’ Birthday. We prepare.
The 2nd purpose of the Advent season is to also prepare ourselves to be ready for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, when He will rend the heavens ... and come
down again … not as Redeemer … but as Judge ... on the Last Day.
We profess this truth in our Creed when we say,
“He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”
St. Paul speaks of the great need to prepare for this event when he guides us,
“to remain firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
In each of the 4 Gospels, Jesus promised that He will come again. When will that be?
We don’t know. But we do know ... that we need to be ready.
In today’s Gospel from Mark, Jesus warns, “Be watchful, be alert!”
Here’s the question: If you died today, would you be prepared to meet Jesus?
One month ago, I was called to DCH hospital at 8 o’clock on a Friday night to minister to a 19 year old student who drove down from Indiana to attend an Alabama football game. Unfortunately, he never saw the game ... because he got into an altercation on the Strip and was shot. He died the next day ... Game Day!
He didn’t plan any of that ... but it happened.
Last Monday, one of our former parishioners, Dr. Joven de los Reyes went into DCH with Covid-19. I anointed him that night. He died on Friday.
Are you ready to meet the Lord? Are you in the state of Grace or in the state of Sin?
Now is the time to think about your relationship with Jesus.
Don’t be fooled to think that shopping is the most important thing to do.
There’s nothing wrong with giving gifts at Christmas, but just be sure that when you make a list of all the places you need to go,
such as: Penney’s … Lowes and Wal-Mart, be sure that Confession is on your list!
There’s just no better way to prepare for Christmas
than to reconcile your heart and soul with Jesus … while you’re alive and able.
In 2 wks, on Mon. Dec. 14th, Fr. Tom and I will offer Confession at 5 for 2 hours.
It’s the greatest gift you can give yourself. And it’s free! It doesn’t cost a dime.
And there’s no coupon required.
And you won’t have to wait in line all night! No waiting in line for 29 hours!
What’s required is for you to examine your conscience, have sincere sorrow for your sins and then confess them in the Sacrament of Reconciliation & be cleansed!
The beauty of your soul is far more important to God
than the beauty of your House or your Tree.
You’re free to spend your time any way you wish. And you can race around and end up having the most beautiful Christmas Tree, and the most decorated house in the neighborhood. But when Jesus comes, He’ll only be judging your soul!
So, be sure this season of Advent includes some devout spiritual preparation.
While Society says you need to shop in order to be ready for Christmas.
The Church says you need to purify your souls to be ready for Christmas.
The decorations on your house and the gifts that you give will some day go away, but your immortal soul will live forever. That realization should help you to spend the appropriate amount of time preparing each.
The Church, wants us to celebrate Christmas when it really occurs, December 25th, and to use the time before Christmas to contemplate the reality of Jesus’ First and Second Coming.
Let’s trust the wisdom of the Church and use these next 4 weeks of Advent
for some personal, prayerful reflection on
the wonder of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Think of how He came to us some 2020 years ago to be a “Doorbuster”!
Yes, the doors of Heaven were closed … and Jesus came and busted them open!
And He promised to come again & take us through the doors Heaven if we’re ready.
Remember Jesus’ warning in the Gospel, “What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”
We need to take Him seriously. We need to watch and stay ready!
A Friar once asked St. Francis of Assisi,
“What would you do if you knew the Lord was coming tomorrow?
St. Francis said; “Nothing different. I’d just keep hoeing my garden!”
You see, he wouldn’t need to make any 11th hour changes … he’d already be ready!
So be ready and take a Little Blue Advent Prayer Book home to help you
Please remember the words of Lieutenant Kermit Tyler, “Don’t worry about it.”
They haunted him the remaining 69 years of his life.
Those are the words the devil speaks when people look at
the spiritual radar screen of their soul and see large blips there.
The devil says, “Don’t worry about it.”
The Church says, “Those are sins ... get rid of them … right away.”
Let’s give the coming of Christ our full attention.
If we take the time to prepare ourselves for His Second Coming, then we’ll receive the most precious Christmas gift ever, the gift of Eternal Life with God in heaven.
Don’t be distracted by the world.
It’s not about getting ready for a sale.
It’s about getting ready for sal-vation!
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