Most of us have many habits, good, bad, or indifferent. Habits, of course, are those things we do day in and day out, usually without having to think much about them. I get up each morning, I take care of personal needs, I eat breakfast, I walk the dog, and I drive to work, but I certainly don’t think this routine through every day.

Habits are not "hard-wired"—they have to be learned, and, when they become unhelpful or even harmful, they have to be unlearned. These actions that we do because they have become part of us help to give structure to our daily lives. They help to reduce unproductive stress, by removing the burden of decision-making.

Just as habits are useful in daily life, so they are a basic element of discipleship. Our formation as disciples is essentially the acquisition of habits that build up our relationship with God.

The season of Advent is primarily devoted to one such habit—the habit we call Hope. Hope is the life attitude that enables us to keep going, to rise and greet each new day that God has given us. Hope lets us face the fears and anxieties of life, giving meaning today, and confidence for tomorrow. Only if we hope can we watch and wait.

The scripture readings for Advent 1 can be a shock. When the commercial world has been flooding us with the songs and images of Christmas seemingly for months, today’s Gospel seems ominous and unsuited to the season. While it is true that end-times messages like this are sometimes presented in a negative and fear-inducing manner—trying to scare people into heaven, if you will—what we can fail to notice is that these are at heart messages of hope. Yes, bad things will happen, and we will be sorely tried. But just as surely, God will see us through it, because God keeps promises.

There was a time when all hope seemed to have been lost for the people of Israel. The kingdom was shattered and dispersed; its leaders were in exile and the temple had been destroyed. God seemed to have abandoned them. But into this came Jeremiah’s message of hope—God will keep the promise made to David, establishing the kingdom under the "Righteous Branch," who

and then,

There was another time, when followers of Jesus found themselves threatened by the Jewish authorities and by the imperial might of Rome. But into this came the words of Jesus as Luke reported them, encouraging his followers to stand firm through this time of trouble and danger.

Jesus will come to save his people: let us therefore live in hope!

Today we lit a candle. It is one small candle, one tiny flame, but nonetheless a sign of the hope we celebrate at this season. Once more we purposely don the habit of hope, reminding ourselves that this world has meaning and goodness, even though we often struggle to perceive God’s ways and to understand his purpose.

Friday was World AIDS Day. As we proclaim our hope in Christ, let us resolve to live into it, materially sharing our hope with those millions whom the AIDS pandemic has left without hope.

Today is also the first day of the church’s year. The year ahead will be a time of celebration for us, as we mark 125 years as a parish. Celebrating a church’s anniversary is another act of hope: 125 years is a good beginning, but God is not finished with us. As we remember and celebrate the past that has brought us to this present time, we reaffirm our hope for the future vitality of the mission and ministry of St. Matthew’s Cathedral.

We enter this Advent season, this New Year of the church, in joyful expectation that the one who came at Bethlehem will indeed appear again, at the end of days, and in our midst.

Let us again put on the habit of hope, as we prepare to greet Our Lord anew.

The poet Emily Dickinson wrote:

May hope find its perch in our souls, and may it sing its joyful song, now and always.

(1) Nouwen, Henri,, Out of Solitude, Ave Maria Press, 1974, p. 59