Friends, today’s
Gospel reminds us to be prepared as we await the Lord’s coming again.
I
don’t think it is the least bit accidental that when Paul wrote back to
the community at Thessalonika (the earliest Christian document we
have), his major motif was the end of the world as we know it and the
longing for Christ to come to remake the cosmos.
When
Paul speaks in that text of Christ arriving on the clouds and the
Christians going up to meet him in the air, he is not predicting a great
escape from the world of matter; rather, he is envisioning a welcome
committee of believers moving out to escort into the world
its new King.
The
entire Bible ends on a note not so much of triumph and completion as
longing and expectation: "Come, Lord Jesus." From the very beginning of
the Christian dispensation, followers of the risen Jesus have been
waiting. Paul, Augustine, Chrysostom, Agnes, Thomas Aquinas, Clare,
Francis, John Henry Newman, and Simone Weil have all waited for the
second coming and have hence all been Advent people.
During this season, let us join them, turning our eyes and hearts upward and praying, "Come, Lord Jesus."
Reflect: Would you describe yourself as an "Advent person"? Why or why not?
First Sunday of Advent
Lectionary: 1
This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz,
saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come,
the mountain of the LORD's house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
"Come, let us climb the LORD's mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths."
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!
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 believed;
the night is advanced, the day is at hand.
Let us then throw off the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light;
let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day,
not in orgies and drunkenness,
not in promiscuity and lust,
not in rivalry and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
Jesus said to his disciples:
"As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment