FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
30 NOVEMBER 2025
We
tend to think of the Season of Advent as a four-week time period to prepare to
celebrate Christmas. And that is
true. Advent prepares us to celebrate
the Lord’s first coming in the flesh.
But Advent also prepares us for the second coming of the Lord at the end
of time. In addition, Advent invites us
to recognize the ways in which the Lord comes into our daily lives. In short, Advent invites us to put together a
plan to help us to use our time in valuable ways, and allow God to step into
the precious moments of our lives. As we
begin this new Liturgical Year and this Season of Advent, our Scripture
readings suggest three ways that we might use our time better this Advent, and
in fact throughout the coming year.
First, is
gathering as God’s people for Sunday Mass and learning to use the many prayer
opportunities provided by our parish during this Season. Today’s responsorial
Psalm insists that we go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. That is the vision given to us by the Prophet
Isaiah in the first reading. He speaks
of the Lord’s house being established as the highest mountain and raised above
the hills. The Temple, God’s dwelling,
is built on Mount Zion, not the highest physical mountain by any means, but the
highest in terms of importance. He says
that all nations will stream toward Mount Zion, where the Lord will instruct
people in his ways and bring a peace that will permit people to turn weapons of
war into instruments of agriculture and peace.
That is what happens here every Sunday.
Coming together to celebrate the Lord’s presence brings peace to us in
the midst of a fast-paced society and crazy busy shopping season. In our gathering here, we experience the God
who breaks into the chaos and discord of our time.
Second, we
hear from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans that now is the time to wake from
sleep. He tells us to put on the armor
of light. Saint Paul reminds us that we
were given the gift of a lit candle when we were baptized. In the darkness of our world, we need to make
sure that we wear the armor of light. We
need to throw off the works of darkness and conduct ourselves properly in the
day, in which we clearly recognize Christ as our light. Instead of slipping into promiscuity, we are
called to faithfulness. Instead of
giving into rivalry and jealousy, we are called to unity, to recognize the many
things that unite us in Christ. We live
out our faith by being people of goodness to others. If we spend our time putting on the armor of
light, then we will not be like the people of Noah’s time who spent their daily
lives just going about their business.
We can be men and women taken by the thief in the night of darkness.
Finally, we
can use the time we have to sow hope.
Pope Francis declared this Jubilee Year as the Year of Hope, because he
knew that the virtue of hope is sorely lacking in our world. Reading today’s Gospel can remind us a lot of
the twenty-four-hour news cycle that bombards us daily – signs of doom and
gloom, terror and fear and sadness. The
Advent candle we light today and the other candles we will light during this
season dispel the darkness of our world and point us to the glory of Christmas.
All our
Scripture readings insist that we remain “awake.” If we spend our time in Advent doing what
they tell us to do, then we can be more attentive to the goodness, and not just
the darkness, in our world. Christ has
already come in the most marvelous way anyone could have imagined. He became light for us by taking on our
humanity without losing his divinity.
Spending time in Advent makes us more attentive to the ways Christ is
already present, not only in Word and Sacrament, but also in our daily lives. If we are intentional about using our time
well during this Season, we will prepare ourselves and others for the ultimate
hope in Jesus Christ. Come, Lord Jesus,
come.
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