Fr. Eugene Lobo S.J. –
First Sunday of Advent December 01, 2024
Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
Today we begin the season of Advent and with this, we begin the new liturgical year. On this day the church invites us to be ready and prepared to receive the Lord. Advent means waiting and we wait eagerly for someone we love, we care and we are ready to invest our time in him. In the liturgical calendar, the season of Advent means a joyful waiting, waiting for someone with love. Here we wait for Jesus and there is the eagerness within us to receive him as we look forward to this great event of God becoming a man.
During this season we anticipate and await the coming of our Jesus. There are three aspects of Jesus’ coming into the world. We look at the past as we anticipate the celebration of the birth of Jesus in History that took place 2000 years ago. Secondly, we look to the present as we prepare ourselves to receive him in our daily lives. We accept him in the Word and in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Finally, we look into the future and await his coming at the end of times in majesty and glory to judge the world.
Therefore the focus of Advent is by no means limited to just Christ’s first coming. An equal, if not more important theme found in the Advent Liturgy is the Second Coming of Christ when he comes again to judge and reunite the world. The name Advent comes from the Latin words, ad venire meaning to come to and adventus meaning an arrival of a person of importance, a king or a prince or a warrior leader, and in this context, it refers to Christ’s coming.
Today three readings from the Holy Bible prepare us to be spiritually uplifted according to these three goals of the Season of Advent. In the First Reading Jeremiah preaches to a Jerusalem that was shaky and insecure. Such conditions prevailed because the kings Jeremiah confronted refused to heed his call for repentance. They neglected the God of Israel and instead looked for security in the earthly resources available to them, chiefly alliances with other nations. While warning the people of Israel of the destruction in store for them, the prophet looks ahead to a brighter future. Further, God was now promising that a righteous Branch would spring up from the descendants of King David, the righteous one executing justice and righteousness in the land. The prophet tells the people that they will have a just king and his policies will bring security to the kingdom and bring them to the right relationship with God.
Today’s Second Reading from the First Letter to the Thessalonians gives sound advice as to how people should prepare themselves. Paul looks forward to the final coming of Jesus. It will be a grand entrance into the world together with all his holy ones. Paul invites all to welcome Jesus into their lives in the here and now which should take place every day. By it the followers of Jesus must both acknowledge his First Coming in Bethlehem and prepare for the Second Coming at an unknown future date. The important task for them is that they live holy lives. This reading reminds us that as the Lord comes into this world the community should abound in love for one another. Their love should not be limited to only their friends, but also should be for their enemies. This is because they too are the children of God formed in his image and likeness.
The Gospel of today speaks in special terms of the end of the world and what we refer to as the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of time. He speaks on the Lord’s prophesy and how we must prepare ourselves to meet it. The entire chapter focuses on the events that will accompany the final ends of the world. These signs will be cosmic in nature. “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” This reminds us that our life in this world is a kind of journey or pilgrimage. It is within this context of this final end that the Gospel proclaims the final coming of the son of man. No one denies that this earth is not our final home, yet many live and act as if it were. We have been forewarned and the words of Christ should forewarn us about the things to come. Some happenings have already taken place and there is nothing we can do to change them now. However, they have their influence in shaping our present situation.
The Gospel of today tells us that there will be time for the mission before the end, but this interim period will also involve intense persecution and the fall of Jerusalem. Jesus relates these cosmic signs that precede the Son of Man’s return, to himself when he comes on the clouds in the splendour. Jesus says that awareness of these signs will allow one to know when these key moments of divine history are near. Thus, they are to keep watch and must be prepared. They are to live soberly and pray for strength to endure, so as to be able to stand before the Son of Man. After the discourse, Luke notes that the people listened to Jesus’ daily teaching at the temple. Jesus further explains to the listeners that day of the Lord will come on them suddenly like a trap; for this day will come upon all those who dwell on the face of the earth.
The Gospel teaches that beyond the end of times stands the Lord who has come among us in the person of Jesus who will come as a judge. Since this will be the time of judgment, the Gospel calls for repentance and service. For Luke, the final end represents the ultimate consummation of God’s plan and that momentous event will be accompanied by the return of Christ. This is all part of Luke’s larger picture of God being the Lord of all history. Hence the day is called the day of the Lord.
Luke places before us the warning of Jesus to be ready and not to be bloated with the pleasure of this world. Living during Roman times meant corruption, immorality, hedonism, gluttony, and cruelty. It was the time of degradation of civilization. What Jesus tells us today is that we have to watch and wait for him. He does not ask us to ignore or despise this earth or this life, but he does ask us to estimate it for what it is for it is the means to prepare ourselves for eternal life. There will be some anxiety surely, and there will be an eagerness to wait for someone we love. There will be expectancy and hope as the saviour will surely come to us.
Since the coming of the Son of Man will be a time of judgment, the Gospel calls for repentance and service. Because the final end is generally spoken of in the future tense, there is a real problem of general complacency. The feeling is that there is still plenty of time to prepare and that there is nothing to get excited about in the here and now. Luke argues against that attitude. No human being knows when the final end will take place and the Son of Man will appear. Therefore one must be prepared for this possibility at all times. Each day should be lived as if it were the last. The emphasis here is on preparedness and not on undue anxiety.
Jesus stated that all the signs mentioned during today’s Gospel Reading were to be fulfilled before the passing away of the generation that lived in his days. All the tasks we humans embrace have an ending. Jesus calls us all to be on our guard so our hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, so the day of the Lord will not catch us unexpectedly, unprepared. No one knows when the end will come. We should be prepared at all times.
Thus Jesus gives us the warning: Watch at all times and to pray. He does not want us to be caught unawares. On his part Jesus gives us an eminently positive admonition and the guiding step for our salvation. The Christian who listens to the words of Jesus lives in permanent expectation of his coming and will welcome him. He tells us that is the occasion to take things seriously with a positive attitude to life. Secondly, to be on the watch is to be aware each day, through prayer and reflection that the ‘today’ of salvation is here and now. Therefore here in the season of Advent let us live by faith, walk in hope, and are renewed in love so that when Jesus comes at the end time to be our judge, we shall not merely know him, but come to him as a friend.
Once there were two warring tribes constant in fight. One lived on the mountains and the other in the forest on regular terrain. One night the mountain tribe attacked the other tribe and took away a baby from the village. The entire village went in search and however much they tried to climb they were unable to find the normal trail they used. They got their strongest men to do the job and they tried for several days to go the mountain tribe and were not able to. Finally they gave up the search and as they were packing their gears a woman walked towards them and had the baby strapped on her back. She was the mother of the child who had gone to secure the baby and she got it. They asked her how she managed since the best of their men could not. She simply replied, after all the baby was mine and not yours.
We have a little poem by an anonymous soldier who wrote on prayer as a request from God: I asked God for strength that I might achieve – But I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for help that I might do greater things – I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy – I was given poverty that I may be wise. I asked for all things that I may enjoy life – I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing I asked for – But everything I had hoped for. Despite myself, my prayers were answered. I am among all men most richly blessed.