You know, I’ve never really understood how people run of gas with their cars or trucks. I mean, you’ve got the fuel gauge, you’ve got the indicator of how much gas you have left in your tank. And we all have a pretty good idea of how far you can drive on a tank of gas. How could anybody run out of gas? I always thought why in the world would you try to drive some place if you didn’t have enough gas? And so, you know you see these people on the side of the road carrying a can of gasoline, and you think, that 1.) their fuel gauge wasn’t working, 2.) maybe they didn’t have enough money to buy gas, or else 3.) they are too spacey or too irresponsible to remember to buy gasoline. In any case, they are not prepared. And when you’re unprepared with enough gas for the journey, you run out. And you end up stuck on the side of the road.

Then, six or seven years ago, and I can’t believe that I am admitting this in front of all of you, I ran out of gas. For the first and only time in my life, I ran out of gas. It was a crazy day. I had no time to go to the gas station. I had three Masses. And then I had to take a visiting priest to the airport. And when I got into my truck, I knew that I was in trouble. The gauge was already on “E”. I had meant to stop the day before and didn’t get a chance. And then, of course, the priest was late for his flight, and so I couldn’t stop on the way to airport. So let me tell you, I prayed that truck all the way to airport. I made a deal with God, that if He let me get the visiting priest to the airport, that I would be eternally grateful and I would get gas right away. I dropped the priest off at the airport and was heading back on 465. I was grateful. But did I stop right away? Oh no, I got cocky. Then for some stupid reason, I thought I could make it back up north to get gas. Well, I ran out at Keystone and 465. It was embarrassing. And it was all my fault. God had given me a miracle. And I couldn’t, or at least didn’t, take the hint.

Whenever I read today’s Gospel text, I think about running out of gas and about being prepared. As we start our season of Advent, God is giving us this wonderful time of miracles, to get ready for Jesus. It is a time of grace and blessing. It is time to fill up our souls and get the fuel that we need for the new year. And do we take advantage of the offer? No, so much of the time we don’t. We just keep pushing on. We run. And we get all caught up in everything going on in the month of December. Advent gets lost in the rest of our lives, and then we end up wondering why we feel like we’re running out of gas. This first Sunday of Advent is our chance to commit ourselves to using this time well. Our souls need fuel even more than our car and trucks do. What are you going to do to get spiritually prepared for everything going on in the next month?

And of course, this year, this is going to be more of a challenge than ever for all of us here at St. Maria Goretti, because right smack in the middle of our season of Advent, we are going to Dedicate and move into our new church. Advent is going to fly by and then it’s going to be Christmas. Will we be out of gas spiritually by that time? I hope not. The time to commit ourselves to being prepared is right now, this weekend. Four weeks from now we can be truly spiritually prepared for Christmas, OR… we can be crazy from every thing that we just had to do and from the rat race. The choice is ours. We can be prepared, or not.

You know, the Church tells us that we should pray more during this time. It says that we should listen more to God and be quiet more during this time than any other season. Eucharistic Adoration is essential to Advent. We should read something during this time to help us to get ready. We should go to reconciliation and make things right with God. We should give to the poor and help those who are in need. We can go to daily Mass. There are so many great things to do to keep Advent. What are you going to do? It’s not Lent. It’s not a time of penance. Instead, it is a time of preparation. Then let us prepare. Let us be ready. Let us be ready for Christmas and even more let us be ready for Jesus return. Time is running out. It’s time to fill up your spiritual tank – your soul!

We can all make excuses. We can all put off. But the more we do that, the more we risk getting caught unprepared. Sometimes we just have to take the time to do what we need to do. It’s the only way to not get caught off guard. It’s the way to not get stuck on the side of the road. And it’s also the way not to get left behind. Let’s be prepared. Jesus’ coming shouldn’t be something that we are afraid of. It’s Advent. Let’s use it well.

May God bless us during this holy season, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… AMEN !!!

St. Maria Goretti… Pray for us !!!