We wait for so many things. Waiting can be frustrating. We wait to see the doctor in a room remarkably called the waiting room. And then when they take you in the back they tell you that you will wait some more. We wait in line at the bank or take the dreaded number and wait to renew our driver’s license. Sometimes we wait in anxiety; for our teenage child to arrive home after their first date or for results of a medical test. And sometimes we wait with joyful anticipation; as those labor pains announce the pending arrival of that bundle of joy or when a loved one returns home from an extended absence. We all know how to wait.
All of us are waiting for the holiday season ahead. Talk about waiting, do you marvel with me at the people who get in line on Thanksgiving night to wait for the 3 a.m. sales at the local stores? How many of us can’t wait any longer to dust off those Christmas trees and decorations and string the lights?
But today is the 1st Sunday of Advent. As people of faith, what are we waiting for? Who are we waiting for? How are we preparing?
Today we can truly wish each other Happy New Year. Our Advent celebration brings us once again to the start of a new liturgical year; the first day of the new church calendar. Our Gospel focus in this year shifts from Mark to Luke. So on this first Sunday of Advent, this first Sunday of a new year, we begin near the end of Luke’s Gospel. We read today about the second coming of Jesus and the accompanying signs that foretell of His return. Is this confusing? In her wisdom, the Church always directs us to the second coming of Christ in the 1st part of Advent. On this first Sunday of Advent we always read from one of the Gospels of the end times, associated with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, around 70 A.D. and how this prefigures the second coming of Christ in glory.
But isn’t Advent about preparing to celebrate again the events of the 1st coming of Jesus as the babe of Bethlehem born of a Virgin? Why do we hear of His second coming when the events of His 1st coming are so prominent in our minds and hearts? The answer, quite simply, is because we live between His joyful 1st coming and that glorious 2nd coming which is yet to occur. Our present is connected by these past and future events and it requires us to be prepared. Are we prepared? Do we prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ birth and His triumphant second coming as meticulously as we prepare for the holiday excitement that lies ahead?
In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us to be vigilant; to be on watch. Jesus is asking us in this generation to be prepared because we do not know the day or the hour of His second coming. And Jesus knows that for us, it is not easy to always be ready, to wait not with anxiety but with joy, to be prepared in the here and now. That is why this passage from Luke strikes such an ominous tone. He pleads with us, as He did with the generations that came before us and are yet to come: do not give in to the anxieties of daily life and do not be caught by surprise. In fact he encourages us with these words, “stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”
Jesus asks us to trust Him and His Father’s divine plan. Do not worry about when this second coming will happen and do not fret that Jesus’ triumphant arrival is seemingly delayed. Instead, be prepared.
What does this mean for us on this New Year, on this 1st Sunday of Advent? It means we should live our lives fully. Our lives should give worship to God, devotion to His Church and service to each other. At this time of year, we are presented with many opportunities to serve; through parish activities, our own "star" tree, food banks and food drives, in our daily acts of kindness. And Jesus wants us to be prepared spiritually too. On this new start to the new year, can we avail ourselves to make a good sincere confession? Even if we have not been in a long time, even a very long time, what better way to be prepared than to seek His mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation? And finally, can we assess our prayer life and in preparation for His coming, can we pray daily that our hearts will be softened and opened to He who comes to save us?
Reconciliation, prayer and service to one another and those in need; that’s living our lives to the fullest! Now that is how Jesus asks us to be prepared as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, the same Jesus Christ!
Hurry up and wait!
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