AWAITING A COMING.

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December 3, 2023.
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.

"Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming..." Mk 13:35

A French proverb says: “Hope is the dream of a soul awake.” A Nigerian proverb adds: “The pillar of the world is hope.”

Advent, from Latin ADVENTUS, “coming”, in the Catholic Church’s calendar, is the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas and also of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. We await the coming of the Lord, his first coming in the body that we commemorate every December 25th, and his second coming in the glory that nourishes our hope.

Advent is, therefore, a prophetic season. It is the time of expectation. And that expectation does not deceive, for the Lord will come.

Through this Sunday's celebration, we enter into this season of reflective and active preparation for Christ's Nativity at Christmas, and Christ's expected to return in the Second Coming. As such, we are urged for a prophetic attitude, and to keep watch.

Advent, thus, is a watchful season. The Catechism teaches us saying, "The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant." He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming." CCC 522.

While opening this first Sunday of Advent, the readings, unanimously, invite us to be watchful. In our daily lives, we can allow many things to distract us and take away our attention and longing for the Lord. Slowly, we can lose sight of what is really important, of what truly matters for us and our neighbor, and we can end up drifting along, living a superficial or mediocre Christian life. This season comes then to ring the alarm. We are called to be awake and to watch. To open our eyes and our hearts to see the many ways through which the Lord, daily, comes into our lives.

The theme of this Sunday is thus clear: Be vigilant and wait. It is a call to get ready to receive and recognize the Lord at his coming.

Through the Prophet Isaiah, we are given to see God as "our Father and Redeemer." That means his coming will open the era of human redemption. He will come down from Heaven to save us from our sin, wash away our uncleanness and impurities, and transform us like the potter transforms the clay. Isaiah ends by affirming that we are the work of God's hand. As such, he has power and responsibility over us. We went away from him and were enslaved by sin. He will now come and free us.

The message of the coming of the Redeemer is what the Gospel conveys. The Lord exhorts his disciples to be on the watch: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come."

More than four times, the Lord repeats this expression: "Watch!" A Christian who is not vigilant prepares himself for his own damnation. We must not sleep on our achievements or what we have already done. We must keep on doing and aiming for more in our relationship with the Lord. Advent watchfulness means to keep doing good and working for the coming of the Lord. We must not sleep, that is, to fall in the laziness of the body and worldliness. As we wait for the revealing of the Lord, vigilance in our actions, words, and lifestyle are needed. We are urged by Paul to give testimony to Christ, and this is through good actions and lifestyle.

To help us travel this Advent journey, the candle of hope is lighted. Christ's coming into the world brings hope to a world in need of salvation. We learn through him that God is the basis of all our hope and that such hope must also be the basis for increasing our love of this life. It is in our today we are supposed to get ready for the Lord’s coming. Not tomorrow. Not just as a future. So, let's be witnesses to that hope in a world torn by war, despair, futility, hatred, misery, and all kinds of evil. As we await the Lord with great hope, may we bring also hope to the people ravaged by the many situations, abandoned, forsaken, and marginalized. May we let them know that the Lord is coming as well for them.


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