Walking with Jesus: First Sunday of Advent

Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

We are now in a new Church year … Cycle C in the Readings. With the Advent Season comes a time of waiting and hope. All around us our culture and businesses are displaying the sights, sounds and decorations galore, focusing on Christmas. Am I looking at the calendar and what I have to do -- shopping, decorating, card writing and a thousand more things? Or am I focused on the birth of Our Lord God, breaking through to be with us in love? The readings still remind us to continue preparing, as the last two weeks' readings have, for the final coming of the Lord. It’s hard to focus on the Lord with all the seasonal distractions. Lets try this:

I focus on the time I was expecting a visit from someone very important to me. It could have been a long-awaited concert, a sensational speaker, a person from my childhood, or a dear relative or friend who is so special. My days were spent in excited anticipation, and the time is near. How am I focusing on being in the present and waiting for my “love-encounter?” How do I keep in touch with what is important and balanced while living my daily life?

Advent is all about what is coming. The readings remind us that God has always been present to His people, especially in their trials and hopes. They ventured through the unknown, uncertain of what would happen with no assurances or guarantees of peace. These wandering, insecure and doubtful people were often “afraid of their own shadow” yet pressed on, knowing that God loved them and needed them because they were part of His plan. The Israelites needed someone who would guide them and offer them a secure future. Their religious leaders were found lacking. God’s promise of a Messiah was so confusing, they didn’t know where to look for one. Today we are still searching for the right balance between living in this world while being part of God’s promised world to come. The people of Israel waited in anticipation for a king … a messiah who would set everything right for them. This is not unlike our anticipation for our long-awaited event or encounter. We look at the readings for glimmers of hope and clarification. ...

Jeremiah’s prophecy comes while he is still in prison: “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made … I will raise up for David a just shoot to do what is right and just in the land.” [Jeremiah 33:14] It hasn’t happened yet; for years the rulers and people have been resistant to God’s plan. This oracle stems from the period right before the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. The people have repeatedly violated the covenant relationship. They have chosen other gods, failing to do what was right and just. They attempted to secure the kingdom by earthly means alone and not by relying on God. “I can do it all by myself” … “I don’t need God” … “I don’t need His help.” How often do we do the same thing in our relationships?

Paul writes his first letter to the Thessalonians to strengthen a persecuted and worried people. He encourages their faith but is worried about their perseverance because of the harassment they are receiving. The missionaries are explaining the Lord’s love and direction in living with great joy during this period before the second coming of the Lord, which Paul feels will happen in his lifetime. “Don’t give up” … “God loves us” … “God helps us” … “be faithful to the Gospel of love.” The message has not changed.

Jesus spends more time explaining the end times. Previously He has mentioned wars, earthquakes, famines, persecutions. Now He is describing cosmic and unmistakably heavenly signs. These are fulfilling the prophecies in Isaiah 13:10: “The stars and constellations of the heavens send forth no light; the sun is dark when it rises and the light of the moon does not shine.” And Ezekiel 32:7: “When I snuff you out I will cover the heavens, and all their stars I will darken; the sun I will cover with clouds, and the moon shall not give its light.” And Daniel 7:13-14: “As the visions during the night continued I saw One like a Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven; when he reached the ancient One and was presented before him, He received dominion, glory and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him.”

Jesus is urging His disciples to stay firm: Believe, trust; continue to live the life of love. Do not succumb to the trap of being unprepared. If we are living Christ … His love … we are vigilant and ready as we await the Son of Man’s return.

So I reflect on:

• How has the experience of Covid-19 affected my sense of control of the future?
• In my own personal history, how have I seen that God has been with me?
• Our future is not something; our future is Someone. What do I need to be vigilant in remembering the Lord’s message and to be secure in faith no matter what lies ahead?
  

Sacred Space 2022 states:

“Advent is a season of hope and expectation. We are invited to prepare joyfully for the coming of Christ. He comes in history (His conception and birth), in mystery (through the sacraments, and especially the Eucharist) and in majesty (at the Last Day). In the first weeks of Advent the stress is on this third coming in majesty. Hence today’s Gospel, which we have already prayed with in recent  days. The old liturgical year has ended, and the new one has begun, with our calling to mind the Lord’s final coming at the end of time. We look forward to it with happy anticipation, not with fear.”