ADVENT PEOPLE.
November 29, 2020
First Sunday of Advent - B
Readings: IS 63:16B-17, 19B; 64:2-7; PS 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19; 1 COR 1:3-9; MK 13:33-37.
A Masai proverb says, “Life has seasons.” And an Ashanti proverb adds, “It takes a season for a snake to change into its new skin.”
In the life of man, there are seasons or moments which have
a very special connotation. When these moments arrive, the whole of life takes
on another meaning and at times a different color and flavor. We cannot live
these periods without them making their mark on us. The Advent Season, in the
liturgical year, the year of the Church is one of those moments. It has a very
special character and is felt by the message it conveys and for its great
theological and spiritual significance.
Through the Eucharistic celebration of today, we open a new
liturgical year, the Year B. Advent, the first season of this year carries the
message of preparation and awakening for greater dawn. The word Advent itself
is a message. Advent, from the Latin "Adventus", coming or
commencement, is the period of four weeks preparing us for Christmas, the
coming of the Lord already realized and at the same time a projection, a
continual preparation or expectation of his second and glorious coming, the
Parousia. During these four weeks, the liturgy will successively hum these
hymns as imperatives: “Stay awake!”; “Prepare the way of the Lord!”;
“Rejoice!”; “Behold, the Lord is coming!” All these messages have a single
purpose, to keep us alert and to invite us to continual conversion, to a
constant change of life.
The Advent Season carries with it a greater message, that
according to which, we are an Advent people, that is to say, a people on the
move and waiting. This is felt more in our daily existence marked by continual
dissatisfaction, thirst, or expectation of something greater... Not only our
past always leaves us feeling thirsty, but the present also seems not to be
enough to satisfy these thirsts and the future is most uncertain. And because
of this uncertainty and dissatisfaction, waiting and staying awake seems to be
the best fit for us.
The word of God of this first Sunday of Advent urges us to
do this. The prophet Isaiah, with poetry, apostrophes the Lord from the heavens
where he resides: “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down.” Tired of
the sufferings of the present day, weary of the trials that the people are
going through, the Prophet, as the spokesperson for the people, implores the
Lord, the Redeemer, to come to the aid of his people, for, without him, Israel
runs adrift, losing reference. In the words of the prophet, this dependence of
the people on their God is clearly felt. “We are the clay and you the potter:
we are all the work of your hands.”
For those who know a little about pottery, the potter is the
only master. It is he who gives clay the shape he wants and destroys it when he
wants. This is in fact what the Lord is to his people and each of us. We are
his. This time we are in reminds us of this perfect dependence. And because of
our dependence on God, our first action should be repentance, that is, turning
away from sin and returning to the Lord. In everything, we owe it to ourselves
to implore the grace and mercy of God, in order to come back to him and that his
face might shine and bring us to life.
St. Paul, in the second reading, urges us on the attitude to
take since we are waiting “for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This
attitude is one of watchfulness. As you stay awake, Paul says, God “will keep you
firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our
expectation, however, is not for a moment. Advent does not orient us only to
the future Christmas, but opens us to the greatest dawn, the coming of the Lord
in glory. Firmness in faith, resolute expectation, and irreproachable life,
such should be our attitude in this time of preparation.
To stand firm, however, one has to take the right stance.
Not to be lying on the bed of our conveniences and selfishness, but to be on
our feet and active. A security guard on a bed is in the perfect position to
wait for Morpheus, and he is assured that Morpheus will not surprise him,
having made all the necessary arrangements for its arrival.
I remember a short story about a security guard, commonly
called watchmen. When I was in Kenya, we had a security company that sends us
guards for the night. Among our sentinels, one was everything except a
watchman. Often at night, I would go out to do the rounds. And surprisingly, I
very often found this gentleman in intimate communication with the goddess of
sleep. In the morning when I spoke to him about it, he denied the facts. So,
one night, having found him in this same situation, I managed to take
everything he had on him, torch, guard stick, badge... The next morning, when
the time came for him to go home to rest, the good gentleman was circling
around but not saying a word to anyone. After watching him spin around for over
half an hour, I asked him why he wasn't going home. The gentleman's response
was, "By the way, I don't know where I left my tools, so I'm looking for
them before I go."
The Lord Jesus tells us in today's Gospel: “Watch,
therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the
evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning...” Here is the
keyword and the primordial attitude of Advent: Stay awake! For, the coming of
the Lord will be unexpected. None of us know when that will happen. Because of
this uncertainty, one thing will have to be the constant in our life, vigilance.
It is for each of us to take heed of what we do and what we experience today.
As Advent people, we are on hold. Waiting, however, does not mean letting go of
our responsibilities for the present and sinking into laxity and idleness, both
physical and spiritual. Our expectation is made more perfect if we keep our
feet on the ground and our heads on our shoulders.
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