1st Sunday of Advent (30.11.14)
Watchful Humans http://www.liverpoolcatholic.org.uk
Efficient though radar, satellites, CCTV and flying drones may be, they cannot replace the human, professional ‘watchman’ or ‘doorkeeper’ because they have no soul. A dedicated watchman’s ability to be alert, hour and prevailing conditions notwithstanding, is only part of his contribution to the survival and welfare of the community he guards. In fact, electronic machines can be more efficient and cost less. What is unique to the human watchman is the ability to differentiate between good and evil in the broad sense. His personal moral compass enhanced his skill in reading people and would have frequently marked the difference between life and death, here and maybe hereafter!
On this first Advent Sunday (30 11 14) Jesus’ message is ‘Be alert’! What is he asking of us? We are to use not only the natural skills inherited through our particular family but also the accumulated skills with which we are graced at our Baptism. These remain active and collaborative within us, provided we are open to the Holy Spirit who is working to draw us closer to God in the actions of our daily life.
The grace of the Holy Spirit enables us to identify evil, our principal enemy, whichever disguise it employs and Satan is masterfully deceptive. The closer our daily life is lived in communion with Jesus, the more alert we are to the approach of evil, sometimes seen, more often sensed. A spiritually thriving conscience is irreplaceable in watch keeping!
Baptismal grace also helps us identify genuine need in another or others and prompts us towards an appropriate response. Matthew 25: 34 ff: recalls Jesus’ teaching on the Final Judgement:
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink…” “Then the righteous will answer the King, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?… “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers or sisters of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
Jesus also spoke of our failure to respond: “’Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in.” “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’…
“Then the Lord will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’…”
We can identify ‘community’ to include: our first Baptismal assembly which is our particular family within which we have a duty of care. Then the Roman Catholic Church, in which all families and individuals sharing Baptism belong. Then, in conjunction with others, we have a duty of pastoral care for the wider community of the area, the town or city, country and the world. The vocation of Christians is to get involved, to use their vote and their voice, when necessary. It may be helpful to recall Jesus’ words that “where two or more are gathered in my Name, there am I in the midst of them”. The ‘two or three’ could be situated in a much larger group of people who, as yet, do not know Jesus.
Some may wonder at the difference between a watchman and an observer. The observer observes but is to remain neutral, to be impartial. A watchman is never impartial. He is committed to his calling and to the people on whose behalf he is acting. The Christian watchman acknowledges a higher accountability. He is answerable to God, in the first place. Therefore, should his own betray either the Truth or Justice he cannot overlook or excuse it. He must point it out to them even if his words are unwelcome. The prophet Jeremiah suffered much from his own people because his first loyalty was always to God and then to his people. Jesus links the first and second Commandment but he does not make them interchangeable. The first is the first.
Each September 9th the Church marks the life of St. Peter Claver SJ who, in Columbia in the 1600s, brought life saving relief for 34 yrs. to the 10,000 African negro slaves who arrived at Cartagena, each year, to work in the slave owners’ gold mines.
How Peter Claver, born into a prosperous Spanish family, arrived in Cartagena identifies the wondrous role of a human and holy ‘watchman’ / ‘door keeper’. It’s a double story really. After graduation Peter applied to join the Jesuits and was sent to study at the Jesuit College in Majorca where Alphonsus Rodriguez was already the watchman / doorkeeper.
Alphonsus’ journey itself was remarkable. Married with three children, he lost his family to illness. A bereaved widower, he wanted to dedicate his life to God and chose the Jesuits. His own health let him down and he was judged unsuitable for training. The Jesuits provincial at the time is reported to have said: “If Alphonsus was not qualified to become a brother or a priest, he could enter to become a saint.” His words were prophetical.
Alphonsus was sent to the Jesuit College at Majorca. There, for 46 yrs, he faithfully fulfilled his humble position of doorkeeper / watchman. His personal holiness drew many to ask for comfort and advice. In answering the many calls at the door, Alphonsus always imagined that it was God who was standing outside. It was Alphonsus who discerned Peter Claver’s special calling and encouraged him to volunteer for the South American missions. Peter landed at Cartagena, Columbia in 1616.
Peter Claver, though timid and lacking in confidence, became a daring and ingenious defender of the negroes. Whenever a shipload of negroes arrived, Peter went out to meet them on the pilot’s boat, carrying food and medicine. The negroes, cooped up in the hold, arrived crazed and brutalized by suffering and fear. Claver went to each, cared for him, and showed him kindness, and made him understand that henceforth he was his defender. He thus won their good will.
The slave merchants and fashionable women of Cartagena refused to enter the churches where Father Claver assembled his negroes. In 1651 Peter caught the plague. In the last years of his life Peter was too ill to leave his room and died September 7,1654. He was canonized in 1888 by Pope Leo XIII. In 1896, he was proclaimed the special patron of all the Catholic missions among the negroes.
Alphonsus Rodriguez the humble, spiritually observant watchman / doorkeeper for 46 years was canonized on the same day as Peter Claver. We’ll never know, on earth, how many saints-in-the-making this unsung man of God influenced. Perhaps, like me, you hadn’t really heard of him. Perhaps he could be a special patron for all who are called to be watchkeepers?