I Sunday in Advent:[A]:Is 2:1-5; Rom 13: 11-14; Mt 24:37-44

I Sunday in Advent:[A]:Is 2:1-5; Rom 13: 11-14; Mt 24:37-44

Introduction: Today we begin our yearly pilgrimage through the events of our history of salvation starting with the preparation for the birthday celebration of Jesus and ending with  the reflection on his glorious “second coming” as judge at the end of the world. We are entering into the Advent season. Advent means coming. We are invited to mediate on Jesus’ first coming in history as a baby in Bethlehem, his daily coming into our lives in mystery through the sacraments, through the Bible and through the worshipping community and finally his Second Coming at the end of the world to reward the just and to punish the wicked. 

Scripture lessons: Today’s gospel speaks about the coming of the Lord at the end of the world and how to prepare for it. In our world today, there are two big mistakes people make with regard to the coming of the Lord. One is to prepare for it with paranoid anxiety. The other is to dismiss it with nonchalant abandon and do nothing about it. What does the gospel tell us about the end of the world and how to prepare for it?

The gospel uses two images to make the point that “you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42b). One is the flood which overtook the unprepared people of Noah’s time. The other is the analogy of a thief in the night, who always comes unannounced. The Lord’s coming and the end of the world as we know it will occur suddenly and unexpectedly. It will come unannounced, springing a surprise on an unsuspecting world. Like a wise householder, therefore, we are urged to be watchful and ready.

Anecdote: Early Sunday morning, June 30, 1974, a hundred young people were dancing to the soul-rock music at Gulliver’s in Port Chester, on the border between New York and Connecticut. Suddenly the place was filled with flames and smoke. In a few minutes 24 were dead, burnt by fire, suffocated by smoke, and crushed in the exit passage by the escaping youngsters. According to the Mayor of Port Chester, the dancing crowd ignored the repeated and frantic warnings given by the band manager when he noticed the smoke. Today’s second reading tells us about the warnings given by St. Paul, and today’s Gospel gives the warning to be vigilant and prepared given by Jesus.

Joke:  A man in the hospital gasping and near death.  Priest was called to give him last rite. During the prayers the patient asked for a slip of paper and pen and wrote something and handed over to the priest.  Priest, for it was during prayer, got it and put it in the coat-pocket.  That man died immediately after the prayers. Next day at the funeral service, the priest during his homily, thought of saying something about the dead, took the slip and read what he has written as something he has said at the last breath. It says, “Father! You are on my oxygen tube.”

Practical Application:  1) Be alert and watchful.  Every morning when we get up, let us pray, “Lord, show me someone today with whom I may share your love, mercy and forgiveness.”  Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "Whatever you do in your family, for your children, for your husband, for your wife, you do for Jesus."  Every night when we go to bed, let us ask ourselves, “Where have I found Christ today?”  The answer will be God’s Advent gift to us that day. By being alert and watchful, we’ll be getting an extra gift:  Christ himself.  There is a saying about being saved which goes back to St. Thomas Aquinas: "Without God, I can't.  Without me, he won't."  

2) We need to be wakeful and watchful: We are so future-oriented that we frequently forget the present entirely.  We spend too much time trying to protect ourselves against future misfortunes.  We save for a rainy day, to get married, to buy a home, to send the children to college, to retire in comfort and to protect ourselves against future misfortunes with varieties of insurance.  But we need to be more spiritually wakeful to prepare for our eternal life.  Let us make this Advent season the time of such preparation. 

First Sunday of Advent-Introduction

Message:   Let us rejoice in the Lord’s peace; let us live honorably as we await his return.

Saints and Events in this week:  3-Third-Tuesday-Saint Francis Xavier, priest; 4-Fourth-Wednesday-Saint John Damascene, priest, doctor of the Church; 6-Friday-Saint Nicholas, bishop; 7-Saturday-Saint Ambrose, bishop, doctor of the Church.