Reflection for First Sunday of Advent

Happy New Year ! No, we have not turned the secular calendar to 2022 , rather, with the First Sunday of Advent we celebrate the beginning of a new Liturgical Year. It is rather ironic that we begin a new liturgical year, yet, today’s readings ask us to focus on the end time. We hear about some of the signs to be aware of and are warned to be ready at all times.
If you remember w the world was preparing for the year 200 and the anti Y2K crisis, some people stocked up on bottled water and non-perishable goods to be prepared if they lost electrical power. Some people predicted that this was indeed the end time and used the Scriptures to convince others that Jesus was coming again, right now. On New Year’s Eve , television stations showed different parts of the world as we entered the year 2000, looking to see if anything of a disastrous nature might happen. The year 1999 ended and 2000 began and life on earth continued, now 2021 already.
Today’s readings remind us that some day the w will com to an end. On that day, each of us , dead or alive, will have to answer to the Lord Jesus for our actions in this world. In readings from Jeremiah we hear about how God fulfills the p he made that David’s descendants will live o forever. Jesus is fulfillment of that promise. God never goes back on any promise which he makes to his people.
Saint Paul tells the Thessalonians that they must be blameless in holiness and must be ready for the time.., when the Lord Jesus will call them to an accounting. This same admonition extends to us as well. Our lives must be lived each day for the Lord, we can not let ourselves get lazy. Jesus warns us in today’s Gospel against becoming drowsy from the anxieties of daily life that the Lord’sSecond Coming catches us like a trap. Jesus also tells us:,” But of that day and hour no one knows…,,( Mt 24:36a). Today is the time to begin preparing for the end time when the Lord will call all people to judgment.
As we start this season of Advent let us try not to get too caught up in the secular rush to Christmas. There will be plenty of time for that. Let us reflect on what this season is all about and examine how we can grow closer to Christ in our own lives. If we do not know the day or time when we will be called by Christ, then let us live each day as if it were our last. We can try to examine all the biblical prophecies and interpret them, but the most important thing we need to know is that when that day comes, all the hopes which we have as Christians people will be fulfilled. Jesus is the alpha and the omega – the beginning and the end. Let us celebrate this Advent as our preparation for Jesus coming into our lives both at Christmas and at the end of time on earth.
May God bless you all !
Fr. Dominic
Your brother in Christ