Homily First Sunday of Advent Year A (2016). Fr. Michael Ufok Udoekpo
Preparing for Christ’s Coming· Isa. 2:1-5;
· Ps. 122:1-9;
· Rom. 13:11-14;
· Matt. 24:37-44
Every
year we set out with joy on a spiritual journey of reliving and reflecting on
the mysteries of Advent, the coming of Christ. Or as the Psalmist would put it, every year we
set out on a journey to that holy mountain, to the house of the Lord- for
salvation, for eternal life! The Psalmist says, “Let us go rejoicing to the
house of the Lord.” We are joyfully gathered here today because today ushers-
in 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. Advent is a new season of hope and joyful expectation and
preparations for the coming of Christ. Scripture readings today 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 the distressed, frustrated and even waring nations to stream to
the mountain of the Lord with hope. On that mountain 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).
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, members of the United Nations 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 me 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 betray 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, that today’s Gospel (Matt 24:37-44) proposes. The
Matthean Jesus, the new Moses proposes that unlike Noah’s generation, in the book of Genesis,
who were careless, indifferent, and carefree in their drunkenness and
merriment, we must avoid their past mistakes, rather 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.
This conscious awareness also demands our being sensitive to our environment, 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 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, watchful 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 life's vicissitudes?
Reflection
Questions:
1. In what way are
you consciously aware of God’s presence, his nearness in your life, family or
in your faith community? Or avoid an attitude of indifference to the plight of
your neighbors, especially the poor and the less privileged?
2. How do you help
members of your faith community, reconstruct their lives, faith, hope, love,
relationship, and stay awake for the coming of Christ?
