A Reflection on the First Sunday of Advent ~ M.A. Allen

Be prepared, the coming of the Lord is at hand.




Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122:1-9
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44

The readings for today, the first Sunday of Advent, as well as the beginning of a new liturgical year, speak to us about being prepared.

On the surface, it appears that we are again preparing in a joyful though penitential way for the birth of the Christ Child. But there is more to the Advent Season than that. In the readings we discover that there is indeed another "Coming", and we must also be prepared for that one as well.

Jesus, in Matthew's gospel, describes what is to happen at this second coming. Jesus reminds us that at the time of the Flood, the people went about their lives without a second thought, while Noah followed God's instructions and built the ark and was thereby saved as the rains began to fall and the earth was drowned.

Jesus tells us to stay awake! "...You must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." (Matt 24:44) Thus we must always keep in mind what our preparations need to be in the long term.

Isaiah saw the Second Coming of Christ as a time of peace, when the peoples would finally "beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks..." and there would be war no more.

In the meantime, we joyfully prepare for the Birth of Emmanuel by keeping in mind St. Paul's admonition that we "throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light"; to "conduct ourselves properly..." and "to put on the Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 13:13ff) By preparing in this way, we can find that peace within us that the psalmist speaks of. (Ps 122:8)


~ Advent candle - Two Hearts Design
~ Noah's Ark by Bernardino Luini - San Maurizio Church, Milan, Italy