Sunday Readings in Brief 1 Advent B

Is 63:16-17.19. 64: 2-7; Ps 80; 1 Cor 1:3-9; Mk 13:33-37

The Waiting and the Coming

Dear friends, today we begin a new year in the Church’s liturgical calendar which will have five seasons or moments if you like. These five seasons mark the five most important events in the history of our salvation. Every year we relive these moments intensely and this makes us understand more our faith. Briefly, the Advent season is the moment of waiting for the birth of the Messiah. The Christmas season is the moment we celebrate the birth of the Messiah. Lenten season is the moment of repentance and reliving the events that culminated in our salvation through the Messiah. Easter is the moment of Joy for salvation has been realized through the resurrection of the Messiah, and the Ordinary time is a moment of understanding the Kingdom of God with the Messiah as our Teacher. Now you know.

Today we begin the time of Advent which has four weeks. Advent means “coming” or “arrival” of that which has been awaited. It is an active waiting for the Messiah to be reborn in our hearts. Every year we relive this moment with renewed hope and more readiness to welcome Messiah “a new” in our lives. It is time to clean up and amend our ways so that the Messiah may find it comfortable to abode in our lives. Maybe throughout the year we have messed up our lives so much that we are even afraid to welcome him. Failing to love God and neighbour as well as failing to perform our duties honestly is messing up our lives and running away from God. Well, now it is the time to clean up that mess. We will find that our Lord is always compassionate to the repentant heart.

From the first reading, we hear how the people became devastated because things were not going well for them and the intervention, they used to get from God seemed not to come their way. The prophets recall how things used to be when the Lord was their king. Now that the people have abandoned Him and worshipped foreign gods, things have become worse and worse every day. This is also the case in our lives today. We are experiencing extreme weather conditions because of our own destructive actions against nature. Of course, some have done more destruction than others, but we are all paying the price.

Those who abandon the way of righteousness to try other alternatives offered by this world, eventually find themselves in trouble. It takes the grace of God and great humility to realize that our current predicament may be because of how we have been conducting ourselves. We like blaming everyone else for our troubles except ourselves. Many stop worshipping because they are angry with God. They think He has abandoned them. God does not take from us because he is the owner of everything. He is rather always patiently giving us opportunities to come back to his loving care. If we run away from him, we will have to face the world on our own and we cannot blame Him for the challenges we face out there. If we are faithfully close to Him, we may face challenges, but He will never allow us to be overwhelmed.

Waiting is a common thing in our day-to-day life. The long queues in the banks, waiting at bus stations and hospitals, waiting for a friend, etc. can teach us something. The waiting can be very unpleasant if we do not know how to wait. I have observed many behaviors when people are waiting. Some keep on complaining about the delay as soon as they arrive and find long queues, disturbing everyone else. Some bring a book or a newspaper to read as they wait and there are those like me who observe and study the other “Waiters”. Today with smartphones, the waiting has become even boring and even productive. We all know that complaining does not make the queues go faster but when we are active in our wait, we do not even notice how the time goes.

In the Gospel today Jesus is calling upon us to be vigilant while we wait for his return. Many have lost their belongings in bus stations, banks, hospitals, and other places as they wait because they were not vigilant. In our Christian wait for the kingdom of God, St, Peter is warning us, “Be sober and vigilant, for your adversary, the devil, is like a roaring lion, prowling around looking for someone to devour” (1 Pt 5:8-9). Unlike us, the devil is very patient and alert, waiting for the opportune moment to strike just like a hunting lion does. Like in boxing, whenever we lower our guard, we get punches in the face from the evil one. Our Christian waiting must be always vigilant and active. We do not know when the Lord will come but if we are vigilant, the exact moment of his coming is not an issue for us. Whenever he comes, we will be always ready.

My dear friends, as we begin this Advent season, I invite us to introspect, maybe we are suffering because we have strayed away from God’s will. May our messiah bring us joy and healing as we wait for his coming.

Have a blessed Advent.

Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD