FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
(Jeremiah 33:14-16; I Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke
21:25-28.34-36)
Friends, we have finally reached Advent! Some think it is
the most wonderful time of the year. With Christmas less than four weeks away,
people tend to be more gracious and generous. However, there is more to look
forward to during this season than Christmas spirit; much more.
The word “advent” means that someone is coming. Who will it
be? It is not Santa Claus, nor the boss with our Christmas bonus, nor simply
baby Jesus. No, the advent that is expected on this first Sunday of time is
Jesus Christ coming to judge the world. It is the realization of what we feel
in our hearts. The good will receive the rewards they deserve, and the bad will
be punished for their crimes. All three readings bear witness to this turn of events.
In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah predicts the
coming of a king to judge Israel with justice. The nation is on the threshold
of exile, a grave situation, because its kings have neglected both God and the
people. Because they have cultivated corruption and infidelity, the people will
suffer. They are already subjected to the cruel and arrogant Babylonian king.
Nevertheless, Jeremiah sees the restoration of a Davidic king who will rule
with perfect righteousness. We Christians cannot see anyone filling this role except
Jesus Christ.
The second reading is an exhortation from St. Paul to the Christian
community in Thessalonia. He asks them to live in accordance with the morals of
Christ. He implies that Christ is coming to judge everyone precisely according
to these values.
It is not through humility that Jesus identifies himself as
“Son of Man” in today’s gospel. This title is how the prophet Daniel describes
the one who receives from the throne of the Most High authority to rule over
all peoples. The gospel pictures the Son of Man coming after signs are seen in
heaven and on earth. Jesus exhorts his disciples to watch for this event
because it will be the moment of their liberation. Jesus himself will judge his
faithful free of guilt. Better yet, he will declare them worthy of eternal
life.
Now some question the veracity of this gospel vision. They
say that two thousand years have passed without the return of Jesus. Generation
after generation has died without the resurrection of the faithful from the
dead. They have given up the watch. What
are we to do?
The true answer is to maintain hope. Properly Christian hope
trusts in God, not in other humans, much less in one’s own efforts. Hope does
not care that a person coming on a cloud seems ridiculous. We know that this is simply a way of
expressing that Jesus will arrive from heaven. Nor does it care that the
corpses of the dead have disintegrated into dust. God, who formed us from a
cell in our mothers' wombs, can take the earth again to recreate us.
Christian hope involves more than a desire of the heart. It
is an approach to life that corresponds to the demands of Jesus in the gospel
today. It is being alert, that is, careful not to fall into dissolute living
like that head servant in Jesus' parable who beats his workers in fits of drunkenness.
Hope also does not allow us to obsess over life’s vicissitudes. Rather, it
moves us to prayer when we feel worried.
St. Augustine lived until the middle of the fifth century
when barbarians were taking over the Roman Empire. Instead of hiding from the
invaders, he wrote a book that showed how Christians are ultimately citizens of
another land, not primarily of the world. This is Advent hope at work. It does
not look for worldly solutions to its greatest problems, but the presence of
God. During Advent we want to show such hope. We want to look for Christ as we
carry out his will with prayers in our hearts.
