FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT
Preparing
for Christ’s Coming
Fr. Udoekpo, Michael Ufok
v
Isa. 2:1-5;
v
Ps. 122:1-9;
v
Rom. 13:11-14;
v
Matt. 24:37-44
Every year we set out with joy on a spiritual journey to
the Lord’s House, and of reliving and reflecting on the mysteries of Advent,
the coming of Christ. This journey to the holy mountain, to the Lord’s House
for salvation, for eternal life is well captured by the Psalmist; “Let us go
rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”
Here we are again joyfully gathered in the Lord’s House,
relaunching a new Advent, a new journey, a refreshing journey, with new skills
of evangelization, technology, and musical equipment (look at the new things
around us) that we may not have had thousands of years ago. So many advantages
for this new Advent and new season of hope. Advent is also a season of joyful
expectation and preparations for the coming of Christ. Today’s scriptures
take us through that historical channel and propose ways in which we must
prepare for Christ and for our salvation!
In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah of
Jerusalem reminds those ancient distressed, frustrated and waring nations to
stream to the mountain of the Lord with hope. There God will re-establish
Jerusalem (Zion) as the peace center of his worldwide kingdom, reconciling
hostile nations to himself. Nations shall not raise sword against another, nor
shall they train for war anymore (Isa 2:3-4; Mic 4:2ff).
In a way, Isaiah is addressing
us. Even though Isaiah’s prophecy of hope was originally addressed to Ahaz,
Hezekiah and his contemporary Judeans of the eighth century BC, who were faced
with threats of war, exile and lose of the promised made to their father,
David (2 Sam 7), we too today, can be nourished with this
prophetic advocacy for peace, hope and reconciliation, especially in world that
wars, threats of wars, terrorisms, conflicts, neglects of the poor,
violence of all kings and divisiveness continue to be major issues. In
the midst of all these Advent reassures us, the new and renewed Jerusalem that
God is nearer to us, wherever we are, than we can possibly imagine- at home,
school, roads, and works places.
Since God is so near with us at all times, Saint Paul, in
that second reading stresses the importance of preparation for Christ (Rom
13:11-14). Writing originally to the Romans, who also had their issues,
Paul says, “Brothers and sisters, you know the time; it is the hour now
for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first
believe…Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of
light.”
Of course for Paul darkness represents all that is not
good in human communities, while light represents goodness, and the realm of
Divine which is nearer to us. The garment of light that Paul recommends is
nothing else, but hope for salvation when we tend to be hopeless. It represents
a renewal, or an effort to reconstruct, to repair that which was once
destroyed: hope, that city, peace, joy, good health of mind and body, a
beautiful Jerusalem, the house David, that beautiful mountain of today’s psalm
122. That question then remains: What in your life, in your family, in
your church, diocese, need a reconstruction, as we await the coming of the
Lord?
As we reconstruct our brokenness in Advent we
consciously strife to stay awake, positive, optimistic, joyfully, forgiving
ourselves, our neighbors and those who may have offended or betrayed our trust,
reaching out to the poor and the needy, the orphans and the homeless, shining
the light of Christ in our neighborhood and places of work.
This is the type of preparation and eschatological
watchfulness heard in today’s Gospel (Matt 24:37-44). Here, the
Jesus of Matthew, the new Moses proposes that unlike Noah’s generation who
were careless, indifferent and carefree in their drunkenness and merriment, we
must avoid their past mistakes. Rather, we are called to stay awake, for
we do not know the time nor the hour when the Son of Man will come. In other
words, being prayerfully vigilance, or a conscious awareness of God's presence
in our lives is key to Advent.
Such awareness also demands our being sensitive to
our environment, dialogue with our culture, towns and villages since each of us
can encounter Christ in most of our daily activities. It does not matter where
you are and what you do Christ is with us. Christ comes to us in our
children and in our neighbor’s children. Christ comes to us in our husbands and
in our neighbor’s husbands. Christ comes to us in our wives and in our
neighbor’s wives. Christ comes to us in our priests and pastors. Christ comes
to us in our brothers and sisters, in our neighbors. He comes to us in the
Scriptures and in the sacraments we celebrate.
In this season of Advent,
he comes to us in our friends, in the poor of out towns, cities and villages,
in the sick, and the needy and in the less fanciful. He comes to us even
in those that may be less friendly to us. He comes to us in every event of our
lives, in our sufferings, illnesses and crosses. The question then remains, can
we stay awake with hope, in whatever situation we find ourselves. And can we
offer hope to others who are struggling to recognize the nearness of Christ in
their lives vicissitudes?
Reflection Questions:
1.
In what ways are you consciously aware
of God’s presence, his nearness in our lives, families and faith communities?
2.
Do we make effort to avoid attitudes of
indifference to the plight of our neighbors, especially the poor and the less
privileged?
3.
In what practical ways do we help
members of our faith community, reconstruct their lives, faith, hope,
love, relationship, and stay awake for the coming of Christ?
