December 1: Strengthen Your Hearts

First Sunday of Advent

How good is good enough? Do you have to be perfect to get to heaven? In the second reading this Sunday, Paul seems to think so when he tells us to be “blameless in holiness” (1 Thess 3:13.) In fact, he tells the Thessalonians who are pleasing God, to do even more. (4:1) Now Paul never considered himself as perfect: “I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.” (2 Cor 12:7-9) But even with his weakness, Paul always did the best he could. So what should we strive for? Maybe we can take a hint from his phrase “strengthen your hearts.”

Think of athletes who try to do their best. A great ball player takes batting practice every day to improve his average. A tennis player will practice her serve to get more aces. A hockey player will keep skating during the summer to get faster. Good athletes are always looking for ways to improve themselves. The keep in shape so they can be stronger, faster, smarter. So what about good Christians? That same attitude is what Paul means by “strengthen your hearts.” And Advent is a good time to start.

As we prepare to celebrate the coming of the Lord, we can get ourselves in spiritual shape. Spiritual reading can give us a stronger prayer life. But like the athlete who can read about the rules or strategies of the sport, we get a stronger prayer life by actually praying. If our spiritual reading just makes us feel good, we may be wasting our time. Hopefully, it will lead us to try praying more often and more seriously. Likewise, we can read about volunteering to feed the poor, but making the commitment and doing it is what strengthens the heart. And how can we be “blameless in holiness… at the coming of Our Lord?” Not by bragging about our goodness, but confessing what we have done wrong. Only God’s forgiveness can make us blameless. Then as the Gospel says, we may have “the strength…to stand before the Son of Man.” (Lk 21:36) 

Tom Schmidt