Watch! Be Alert! And wait on the Lord ~ 1st Sunday of Advent 2011 (B)

First Sunday of Advent

Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7
Ps 80:2-3, 15-16. 18-19
1 Cor 1:3-9
Mark 13:33-37

This Sunday marks the First Sunday of Advent at St. Elizabeth's Parish. Our Advent theme this year is: "Watch! Be Alert! And wait on the Lord!" Again this Advent season, we have placed a Jesse Tree in the sanctuary. The leaves covering the tree contain the names of children and young people we wish to pray for. Some of the children have critical needs; some names have been placed on the tree because of the writer's gratefulness for the lives of those children - the joys and sorrows of our children that we want our Heavenly Father to take notice of as we pray for them.

As we prepare for the birth of the Savior, Mark's Gospel moves us into a future where Jesus talks to his disciples about his "Second Coming" - an event that could come at any moment! Just as we prepare for his birth during this Advent time, we should also be watchful and alert and to be prepared for that time when Jesus will come in glory...

In the first reading, Isaiah acknowledges the Lord as the redeemer and begs for his return so that we will be delivered from all the wrongs we do and the guilt we carry. He places all his trust in the Lord that despite our sinfulness, that the Lord will shape us as a potter does as he creates a beautiful vessel.

"...Lord, you are our father;
we are the clay and you the potter:
we are all the work of your hands." Is 63:7

Paul writes to the Corinthians in the same vein. That as we wait for the coming of the Lord, we must give thanks to the Lord for our gift of faith; that God is faithful and that our faith will sustain us until Jesus returns.

In trust, the psalmist prays along with us, that the Lord "take care of this vine, and protect what your right hand has planted..." Ps 80:15-16


~ Image by Susan Manzello