1st Sunday in Advent

Gospel Reflection

Matthew 24:37-44

Today we begin a special time of ‘waiting.’ It is called Advent. We wait for Our Lord’s ‘coming’ – in Latin we would say adventus. We wait for his birth in the spirit of those who waited in times past. It was the devout members of the people of Israel who waited from generation to generation for a saviour to be born who would establish a far reaching kingdom of peace, justice and love. This hope was spurred on by men inspired by God, largely those we refer to as prophets, like Isaiah whose words we heard in the first reading.

“Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares” (2: 3-4).

This great expectation and hope was maintained and even intensified in the period just before Our Lord’s birth. It existed in the hearts of men and women like Elizabeth and Zachary, Anna and Joachim, Simeon and the other Anna who so often frequented the Temple. Above all, it was in the heart of Mary of Nazareth.

This reliving of the waiting time before the birth of the Saviour, in the spirit of Mary, will be more and more, as the days of Advent go by, what dominates the Church’s liturgy of the word. Nevertheless, what comes to the fore at the very beginning of this season is the knowledge that the Church is now waiting for a second coming of Jesus. Because this coming will be the final and permanent establishment of his rule of justice and love, we need to be awake and doing our best to live what we know about God’s way. Jesus has already come and taught us this Way. In today’s Gospel it is He himself who urges vigilance. We must not be lax, behaving selfishly and shamefully, as if there was no objective morality or no need to ever give an account of our actions. Some time ago a sporting celebrity spoke of his deep remorse for choices he had made, for a time in which he had let himself go. It had tragic consequences even in the short term, especially for a person he valued. His way out of that pit was his turning to God.” Even in St. Paul’s time he already found it necessary to warn some Christians against this kind of carelessness, in which they were tempted to revert to what were old and bad habits. “The night is far gone,” he says, “the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy”(Romans 13: 12-13).

These passages of Scripture make it apparent that in every period of history, as well as in the lives of each individual person, there is no certainty about when we must give our account. Nevertheless as history moves on, or we as individuals get older, what is certain is that “salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed”(Romans 13: 11). So it is “full time for [us] to awake from sleep”(idem, v.11).

Advent is a ‘strong season.’ It is a healthy wake up call. We are encouraged to pray more attentively and sincerely. We are moved to be more generous to and caring of those around us. We are asked to make a better effort to do our work conscientiously and without unnecessary   complaining. We are prompted to guard ourselves against excesses of any kind, and to be content with what is strictly necessary. Of course, these attitudes and this behaviour conflicts with some aspects of the season as it is lived by secular minded people. Let’s not be overcome, but rather let’s bring to others a more genuine sort of joy, one that does not resent but rather feeds on little sacrifices and acts of self-giving. We will be able to achieve this if we seek the greatest source of peace, consolation and strength - friendship with God, a filial relationship with our Creator and Redeemer. All in union with Mary.