Be Alert! Watch!
Homily for the First Sunday of Advent
The season of Advent is actually divided into two distinct parts. The first part begins with the First Sunday of Advent and comes to an end on December 16th at which time we start preparing ourselves for the celebration of Christmas. During the first part of Advent, the Church concentrates our attention on what is often referred to as the Second coming of Christ. We are led through the prophets of ancient Israel who often referred to the coming of a Messiah. Messianic readings come to us primarily from the prophet Isaiah, but other prophets, such as Zephaniah, and Malachi, also wrote of the anointed one that is particularly prominent in the Hebrew Scriptures. Of course, the prophets of Israel were writing about the first coming or arrival of Jesus. By guiding us through these messianic promises, the church beckons us to think about the fact that Jesus has always promised that he will return.
Today, we listened to Isaiah as he addresses God as Father and Redeemer. This reading would be considered a lament or lamentation. Lamentations asked the question, “Why?” “Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways?” This lamentation is addressed to God while the children of Israel are sitting in bondage in Babylon. Isaiah suggests that God could simply set things right. God is all-powerful; God could simply clean up the mess into which we have gotten ourselves. He gets quite dramatic as he suggests that God simply rip open the heavens and come down such as he did when he freed the slaves of Egypt with mighty wonders. However, Isaiah does not end his lamentation without addressing the issue of their disobedience. They have sinned, but they have known God to be forgiving. He suggests that God treat them like a lump of clay which can be molded into something beautiful.
Actually, in the words of Eliza in “My Fair Lady,” wouldn’t that be “loverly!” Unfortunately, that is not how it works. If we have wandered away from God, we must put some effort into our return. We must change. We must convert. We are the guilty parties in this broken relationship. It is up to us to make the first move. This is why the very first word of the Gospels is “Repent!” John the Baptist, the man who bridges the gap between the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, calls out to us and points us in the right direction.
When Jesus came among us, most people did not recognize him. As St. John writes in the first chapter of his Gospel: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” So that this does not happen again, Jesus warns us in the Gospel text that we read today of the necessity of being alert, watching and waiting. If we allow ourselves to drift off into a moral slumber, we will not be ready when he comes again. “May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.” There is a bit of irony in this statement as it happened just that way when the apostles fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, a crucial moment in the life of Jesus.
No one knows when Jesus will return just as no one knows when we will die. You might call this particular event, our death, as the third coming of Jesus. Each of us will meet the Lord as we pass from this life to the next. Being alert and watchful at that time will be especially important. We must be ready when Jesus calls us home. For the past three weeks, we have been hearing stories from the Gospels warning us that Jesus will come like a thief in the night. Let us use this Advent to prepare for the Day of the Lord. The best preparation is our participation in the sacraments of the Eucharist and of Penance.
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