First Sunday of Advent
Intention: That the start of this Advent will herald for us a time of prayer and conversion as we return our hearts and our lives to the work of building God’s Kingdom of peace, justice, and love.
Today’s Gospel | Matthew 13:33-37
Jesus said to his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!'”
A Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent | Saint John Baptist de La Salle
On this, the first day of Advent, Christians everywhere are being called to place themselves in a special time of watchfulness and waiting. The English word advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “a coming”. It is an interesting word to use in relation to the One who is eternal, who is beyond time and place and is always present. What made the Nativity truly adventus was that God was breaking into our story in a new and radical way. By approaching us as one of us, perhaps we then would learn how to approach him. By dispelling the illusion of distance, perhaps we then would stop creating distance to use as an excuse for our sinfulness. By speaking through the tiny cry of an infant, perhaps we would finally hear His omnipotent “I Am.” On Christmas, God came to us as a revelation, but also as a reminder. The time of Advent is a time to rediscover in our anticipation of redemption the wholeness and holiness of its presence with us here and now.
Prayer
Eternal Father, we may not always see or hear you in our hurried and distracted lives, but you are there. Help us to pay attention and to be awake to your presence. May we live each day prepared to welcome you into our hearts and into all that we do. As Advent begins, may we ready ourselves for your Son’s coming as he cuts through the darkness and brings to us the light of life. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.