First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5
Second Reading: Romans 13:11-14
Gospel: Matthew 24:37-44
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 on him. In the liturgical calendar, the season of Advent means a joyful waiting, a waiting for Jesus prayerfully, with affection and love. There is the eagerness within us to receive him and we look forward to this great event when God becomes man. However, it is a special kind of waiting for a God who has come already, who is coming regularly into our life and who will come again at the end of time. We know that Jesus came into the world already, two thousand years ago, and we remember this event with devotion. We know that he will come again at the end of time as a judge and unite the whole universe to himself.
In the first reading (Is 2:1-5), Isaiah describes his prophetic vision of all nations making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, affirming their Faith in the one true God.
In the second reading Paul’s exhortation to the Roman Christians shows them, and us, how to bring about Isaiah’s vision of peace. Because of its concentration on the Parousia, or the Second Coming of Jesus, the Christian community was neglecting its actual day-to-day duties. The Jewish Christians among them lived according to the Law of Moses, a moral code which even pagans admired. But the Gentile Christians were not yet fully free from the drunkenness, and lust of their pagan days. Hence, Paul advises them: “Conduct yourselves properly.” He warns them against their evil ways. He condemns their “rivalry and jealousy” and advises them to get ready to meet Jesus at his Second Coming.
In today’s Gospel (Mt 24:37-44), Jesus warns us of the urgency of vigilant preparation for his coming on our part that we may meet him as our Judge both at the end of our lives on earth and on the day of the Last Judgment when he comes in his glory. Jesus reminds us that the unrepentant, ill-prepared evil people were destroyed by the flood in the time of Noah and that a thief will be able to break in and plunder the precious belongings of an ill-prepared householder. Using additional examples later, Jesus repeats his warning for us to be vigilant and well-prepared all the time, doing the will of God by loving others. We need to be alert and watchful while spiritually preparing for Christmas by beginning each day by praying for the strength and power of the Holy Spirit to prepare ourselves for Jesus’ rebirth in our lives; by offering our daily work to God for His glory; by practicing more self-control in resisting our evil habits and inclinations; by seeking reconciliation daily with God, our families and our neighbours; by asking God’s pardon and forgiveness as we extend our unconditional forgiveness to those who have hurt us and by trying to see the face of Jesus in everyone we meet today and sharing with them Jesus’ sacrificial love, mercy, forgiveness, and selfless service.
We need to have an Advent project to become alert and watchful in the spirit of today’s Gospel. Every morning when we get up, let us pray, “Lord, show me someone today with whom I may share your love, mercy and forgiveness.” St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), once said, “Whatever you do in your family, for your children, for your husband, for your wife, you do for Jesus.” Every night when we go to bed, let us ask ourselves, “Where have I found Christ today?” The answer will be God’s Advent gift to us that day. By being alert and watchful, we’ll be getting an extra gift: Christ himself. We need to be wakeful and watchful: We are so future-oriented that we frequently forget the present entirely. We spend too much time trying to protect ourselves against future misfortunes. We save for a rainy day, to get married, to buy a home, to send the children to college, to retire in comfort, and to protect ourselves against future misfortunes with varieties of insurance. But we need to be more spiritually wakeful to prepare for our eternal life. Let us make this Advent season the time of such preparation.
There was this very strong woodcutter who asked for a job with a timber merchant and got it. The wages the timber merchant paid were really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day the woodcutter brought 18 trees. “Congratulations’ the boss said “go on that way.” Very motivated by the words of the boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder but brought only 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing fewer and fewer trees. “I must be losing my strength,” the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologised, saying he could not understand what was going on. “When was the last time you sharpened your axe? The boss asked. “Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees..” — We may have been busy with so many things, we may have neglected our spiritual life. Like the axe that needs sharpening, we also need to sharpen our spirit. Let us sharpen our spirit this Advent by becoming more loving, more prayerful, more compassionate, more generous and more faithful. Life is not about finding yourself — Life is about recreating yourself!
Advent is God’s marvellous gift to all of us. Let this season unfold slowly and nicely.