November 25, 2001

Every so often in the newspaper, the government lists the names of funds in bank accounts which, for one reason or another, have gone unclaimed. Anyone of sensibility should feel frustrated at such neglected wealth. So much good could be done with it, and one reasonably expects that the government machinery will not use it as economically as a private citizen. But I am no financier, although all Catholics should know a lot about a form of spiritual finance called the Treasury of the Saints. This Treasury means the accumulated wisdom of the holy ones and, even more importantly, the power or "merit" of their prayer for us which has accumulated over the generations. We cannot afford to neglect that wealth. You can claim a share of it through spiritual reading (the writings of the saints and writings about the saints) and by praying to those great saints "who were giants in their day."

One of the greatest treasures is the season of Advent, which seems hardly claimed these days. The last feast of the church year, Christ the King, sums up all that has been celebrated about Christ in the last twelve months and signals the approach of Advent. The four weeks - beginning this year December 2 mark the start of the liturgical year in preparation for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, or Christmas. When Christmas decorations go up earlier each year, Advent can get lost in the rush. This may be more than absent-mindedness. Advent is not an "easy sell." It is a hard challenge to minds and hearts, for it focuses on the four most demanding mysteries of faith: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. The current world crisis is prompting our culture to think again about these. Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer, for all his charm, does not pay as much tribute to our human dignity as does the Church when she bids us to draw on this Advent treasury of wisdom. Advent is serious training for a real celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25 to the Epiphany on January 6). In my brief bulletin notes these next four weeks, I want to plunder a bit of the Advent spiritual wealth known as "The Four Last Things."

Fr. George W. Rutler