Leo Radel's Dignity Homily On November 28, 2004 The First Sunday of Advent

I grew up in a large family so mornings were hectic. First of all, we had two bathrooms and eleven people to get ready for work or school in about one hour. It meant you had to be prepared well in advance. It was a challenge to get the hot water for a shower or the dry towel or the first piece of coffeecake or bowl of “Cream of Wheat.” We older children each had a younger sibling we were responsible for.

I can remember my mother being Oh so cheery in the morning. She would sing our “Rise and Shine. Time to get up.” I hated to get up especially during the winter. The floor was cold and the morning light had yet to make its presence known.

In today’s readings, we hear Paul sing out to us, “It is the hour now to awake from your sleep.” Yes, it’s a new day liturgically for us and a new dawn full of all its promises and hopes. We are told to throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. In Isaiah we are told to beat our swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. And in the Gospel, we are cautioned to stay awake and be alert for the possibility of a “thief in the night.”

All of the war imagery resonates with what we are experiencing in our world and, to some extent, as far as GLBT people culturally in the church and the world. The first reading contains themes of God’s choice of Zion as his home, the destructions of weapons of war and the establishment of a reign of peace. If only that were true in our time. Instead it seems as though as a country we are spoiling for a fight with anyone or anything that does not agree with our viewpoints -- the war in Iraq and the fight against gay marriage, for example.

I feel we need to climb the Lord's mountain that he may instruct us in his ways. It seems we have gotten away from being people of peace and understanding. Just as the dawn allows for a new way of looking at the world, we need to be awakened to and be prepared to act in a new way. Do we hear the voices that call for disarmament or do we consider them a part of the enlightened fringe? What about the cries for justice and respect for human rights? What about peace in Africa and the rest of the world? Are we awakened to the problems and prepared to act?

We know all too well as GLBT people, since the passage of Issue One that we are becoming more marginalized and are treated as second class citizens. But as Advent people, we need to focus on the church and world that is yet to come. I think we eventually will prevail.

There have been people throughout all of history that have been discounted and shunned. But at this time of Advent, we need to remember that we have a message of hope and peace to share; that we will continue to speak the truth of our love; that we continue to be a witness for peace and speak out against injustice in our church and the world.

Just as in that first morning light and call to be awakened, while it may be difficult to leave the warm bed or comfort zone, let us rise and shine for all to see and reflect the light of the “Morning Star.”