The First Sunday of Advent: Awaiting Christ with Joy

11-30-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Albert

Today, we celebrate the first Sunday of Advent and the first Sunday of the new liturgical year. Advent is an important time for us as we prepare for the coming of the Lord. We prepare not only for the nativity of the Lord at Christmas, but we also prepare for the coming of the Lord in glory at the end of time.

During the last liturgical year, which ended in our Sunday liturgies with the celebration of Christ the King last weekend, we heard primarily from the Gospel of Luke. During the Cycle A of readings in the new liturgical year, we will hear mostly from Mathew. Today, in Mathew's Gospel, we are to be watchful and to be prepared for the arrival of the Son of Man, for we do not know when He will come. Mathew's Gospel was written primarily for the Jewish community, probably sometime after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, which occurred in the year 70 AD. It appears that Mathew's Gospel was originally written in Hebrew, but earliest surviving texts are in Greek. one main focus of Mathew is on Jesus as the long awaited Messiah and Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

The prophet Isaiah helps us prepare for the coming of the Lord during the Holy season of Advent. Isaiah calls us to walk in the light of the Lord. In Isaiah's vision, all the nations will be led up to God's house located high on the mountaintop, where they will learn the Lord's ways of justice and peace. We are to be attentive and to awake from our sleep, to not be distracted from those things that keep us from the light of the Lord.

During this time of waiting in joy and in hope, let us be reminded to stay awake so that we can recognize the ways that God comes to us and instructs us in ways of peace and justice in the people and events of our daily lives to help prepare us for God's coming in Jesus Christ.

As we await and prepare, we should not worry about looking for signs as to when the end times will come. just as a thief breaks in during the night, so will the Lord's coming in glory be, arriving without any warning. so, how are we to prepare? The vigilance required of us Christians is compared to the vigilance of a homeowner who knows the plans of the thief. if one knows that the thief's action is imminent, one remains watchful. we Christians know that our Lord is coming, even if we cannot know the precise timing. If we become complacent in living out the values of our faith, we may be caught unprepared.

The sacrament of Eucharist and the sacrament of reconciliation are really good ways to prepare for Advent. Let us prepare for the coming of the Lord so that the Lord may find us watchful and vigilant. wish you all a sacred season of Advent.