Dec. 9, 2007: 2nd Sunday Advent:
Do you remember how old you were when you were taught to wash your hands before eating? Let me rephrase this. How old were you when you began washing your hands on your own? When it’s lunch time my 2 ½ yr-old niece now knows how to go to the bathroom sink, step up on a stool, dab her hands on a dinosaur soap dispenser, and turns on the faucet. Then she comes right back to the kitchen and climbs up on the high-chair. We learn early on that it’s important to have clean hands so that we don’t put into our mouth bad stuff when we eat. As an adult, I appreciate this lesson. When I worked at a chemical plant, you can literally get on your hands stuff that can do some serious damage to your body. So the rule of thumb at the plant is ‘wash your hands, always.’
Did you know that priests also wash their hands during mass? They do this after all the gifts are brought to the altar. The altar servers bring water and towel, and as they pour the water, Father washes his hand. Why do you think he needs to wash his hands? The hand washing prayer that he says in silence gives us a clue: “Lord, wash away my iniquity; cleanse me from my sin.” Father is praying that he may be cleansed of sin before he touches something so pure and so holy. This reminds me of when Moses approached the burning bush, and God told Moses, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
So here is my question. Have we washed our hands before coming to mass today? I don’t mean the kind of washing we do with soap. What I mean is the kind of washing that Father does during the offertory—washing ourselves clean of sin. Why should we be clean of sin? Just as our mothers ask us to wash hands before meal, our Church asks us to wash ourselves clean of sin before the Lord’s Supper. In Psalm 24 we read the following: “Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? The man with clean hands and pure heart, who desires not worthless things, who has not sworn so as to deceive his neighbor.” The Church, like a good mother, asks that we should be free of serious sin or mortal sin prior to receiving communion. If we are aware of such serious sin, the Church asks that we wash ourselves clean by going to confession.
Let me give you an analogy from my chemical plant days. I go out to the plant and get my hands dirty with some chemicals which are known cancer causing agents. Suppose I eat some boiled shrimp with these hands, licking my hands as I go along. What happens? I take in both the food that is good for me and chemical that can kill me. Likewise, we can do some serious damage by receiving communion when our hands are dirtied with mortal sin. St. Paul tells Corinthians the following: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup" (1 Cor. 11:27–28).
We find a similar warning in today’s Gospel. John the Baptist cries out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” The kingdom of heaven is Christ himself. And we are about to receive him into our heart during communion. Do you remember what Jesus did when he saw all the money changers and merchants in the temple? He became angry; he overturned tables and drove them out. Our Lord is about to arrive into our soul, the temple of the Holy Spirit. What will he see? Are we prepared for his arrival?
It is for this reason that our parish is offering Advent Penance Service at 7pm on this coming Thursday. We’ll have many priests here to hear confessions. All of us will have ample chance to wash our souls clean before welcoming Our Lord into our hearts during communion and during Christmas.
I would like to close with the opening prayer that Father read at the beginning of mass. Listen carefully what we should be asking Our Lord on this second week of Advent.
God of power and mercy,
Open our hearts in welcome.
Remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy,
So that we may share his wisdom and become one with him
When he comes in glory,
For he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
