First Sunday of Advent

Scripture for the First Sunday of Advent can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112915.cfm.


"Be vigilant at all times and pray..." (Luke 21:36) The words of Jesus in today's gospel for the first Sunday of Advent seem to be a bit strong and jarring. We have come to expect that Advent is a time to prepare for the coming as an infant in Bethlehem. After all, isn't Advent supposed to be a quiet, gentle time? Yet in the gospel we hear the Lord describing worldly anguish and the catastrophic roaring of seas and waves!


Jesus is not only speaking about  the end of the world. He is also describing a beginning, the final and complete establishment of the new, redeemed creation. When everything seams to have collapsed, people will see the Son of Man coming in great power and glory. Before the new world comes, the old has to be cleared away. The Lord says, "When these things begin to happen, stand up straight and raise your head, because your ransom,  your redemption, is near at hand." (Luke 21:28)


That is why this reading is given at the start of Advent. Each year, Advent is a new beginning, a chance for a fresh start for the soul and spirit. We read the Hebrew prophets, like Jeremiah in today's first reading, who look to a new future for the people. Through Jeremiah, God promises a new bud on the family tree of David and he will be the Messiah. God's promises and God's covenant were not dead. There will be a new beginning with Someone greater than David.


It's possible that sometimes we feel like the people in Jeremiah's time. We feel that the great promises are dead and past. We might become especially cynical when we see the behavior of other Christians. Then comes Advent, we light the candle on the Advent wreath and we notice at this time of year something odd. Deep, half-forgotten stirring come to life inside us, to get in touch with friends and family, to set things right, to be at peace inside and out.


Maybe our first thought is that those are just memories of the good old days when we were children, echoes of Christmas past. Year after year, commercial advertising flavors this season with a wistful backward glance, nostalgia for childhood, for times of simpler living  and closer families, for old traditions and for Christmas long ago.


But in realty, Advent is not about nostalgia but about the future. Those stirrings inside us are not just memories but expressions of the drive, the search, and the need to fulfill something deep and holy that exist inside us. Over time they become neutralized. We become cynical and hard-nosed but during Advent they start to come through again. It is like cleaning off old brass and beneath the tarnish is the brightness, signs of the new creation we can be in Christ.


Our world has certainly changed from years ago. But as St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Thessalonians, who were going through a time of persecution and conflict, the Lord is with us today. Today, we need to find new ways to express community, to show faith and to  strengthen the bonds of family, friends and faith.


During this time of Advent, don't waist time reminiscing about the past. As a result, you will then miss the opportunities for a personal renewal that are present today. Advent is not about what was but about what can be. Advent is not a time to just wait for Christmas to happen but a time to prepare for Christmas and the coming of Christ into our life with new power.


Advent is a time not simply to imitate how our parents celebrated Christmas but to decide how we will celebrate Christmas this year. Advent is a chance to leave time, to find time, to create time for those deep stirrings of Christ's grace to grow with whatever has changed in our life.


Take this time during Advent to apply the Lord's words to ourselves when we begin to notice deep within ourselves the desire to forgive, the urge to pray, to renew the commitments we made, we should look up because those things are the stirrings of deeper life, deeper truth, deeper love that we can come to be in our life.


Advent reminds us that what is at hand for the watchful and prayerful follower of Christ is not disaster but redemption. Advent is about a new day and new life in Christ not just for the world but for each of us.