We’ve already been inundated with commercials from every source since before Thanksgiving about the days leading up to the big event, this wonderful time of the year…Christmas! You thought I was going to say the Ford, or Kia or Land Rover or VW end of year event didn’t you?
The readings from last Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent makes it clear that those commercials that are about wrapping up that new car in a huge red bow, or buying that huge diamond, or whatever makes your Christmas a heartwarming experience serves to pull us from the true purpose of these important weeks leading to up to Christmas.
Did you read or listen to the readings at Mass this past Sunday? Really, it’s no wonder non-Catholics and many Catholics think we’re a bunch of kill-joys. Can’t we just have joy and happiness over the Christmas season already? Who wants to hang out with people who think that Advent is a penitential season? Except, that there is a dual character of the season to prepare for Christmas when Christ’s first coming to us is remembered; and a season when that remembrance directs the mind and heart to await Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time. Advent is thus a period for devout and joyful expectation. [General Norms for the Liturgical year and Calendar]
So, here’s a super short summary of each reading at Mass on the first Sunday of Advent in case you missed it or forgot. The readings point us to the way we should be preparing for the birth of Christ – and His return. It is interesting that these are the readings for the first Sunday of Advent.
First Reading: Book of Jeremiah 33:14-16. I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land.
Second Reading: Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians 3:12 – 4:2. Strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones.
– and the apocalyptic clincher – His return-
The Gospel according to Luke 21:25-28, 34-36. (Section Header – The Coming of the Son of Man.)
You can almost hear the classic movie trailer guy Don LaFontaine starting off with low beating drums in the background…“In a world where many are anticipating Christmas morning, they aren’t anticipating a visitor who has come 2000 years ago and is coming again soon and this time not by Himself…”
As riveting as the above was, the Gospel according to Luke is more so: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise a like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”
So what are we told to do? In the gospel holds the answer. When all this starts to go down, the signs that apparently we won’t be able to miss, we are told not to become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life (sounds like that special period of time from around Thanksgiving to New Years Day) instead we are to “stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.” Are you prepared for that? Sure! You will be through prayers, penance and alms giving! Start clearing your path to greater sanctity!
Happy Advent!
