READINGS: Jer 13: 33-37; Ps 24; I Thess 3:12. 4, 2; Lk 21: 25-28, 34-36
THEME: THE ADVENT OF HOPE: AWAITING THE FULFILMENT OF GOD’S PROMISES.
Today begins a New Year in the Church’s calendar and we could really say “Happy New Year” to ourselves. We have entered into the 3rd Year (C) of the Church’s calendar which is being ushered in with the Advent period. The word Advent means “future coming”. In this wise, we are anticipating the coming of Jesus Christ. Significantly, there are three senses we understand this coming:
- His coming more than two thousand years ago. (Which we commemorate).
- His immanent and continual coming into our lives.
- His glorious second coming at the end of time.
Life is a recurrent foreground of expectations. It is often impossible to live without some forms of expectations. There is always one form of expectation or the other in our lives, good or not so good, fair or not so fair. In whichever way it goes, hope sustains expectations. Today, the Church enters her annual season of expectation, namely, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ not just at Christmas but into our lives as we also prepare for his second coming; the Parousia. The advent period opens with the message of future hope beyond the many challenges and unfortunate moments of the past and the present.
In the First Reading today (Jer. 33:14-16), the prophet Jeremiah declares that the days are coming when God will fulfill the promise he made to the house of Israel and Judah about raising for David, a just shoot. In the Gospel Reading (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36), our Lord states that our redemption would come through after the tribulations of those days when frightening things would happen following remarkable changes in the universe.
The challenge that goes with expectation is the ability to wait for the fulfillment of what one expects. The virtue of hope comes up at this point. Hope, with faith, and love constitutes the theological virtues (1 Cor. 13:13) which are infused by God as gifts that enable us to act as children of God who would merit eternal life. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, hope helps us to place our trust in Christ’s promises and not to rely on our strength. Hope is not mere positive thinking, it is instead a relationship which involves faithful trust and surrender to God. We live in an intensely broken world. There are traces and evidence of brokenness around us for instance in marriages, finances, businesses, jobs, relationships, and other areas of life. In all these, we need hope to keep going; without hope, we may not cope.
The advent attitude is that of hopeful waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises. The liturgy of this Sunday invites us to look beyond the discomforts and problems confronting us now and focus on the glorious future ahead. Sometimes, we tend to forget that there are lots of opportunities behind most of the obstacles that confront us. Some of us search for shortcuts that end up cutting short our blessings. St. Paul tells us not to be weary in doing good, for at the PROPER TIME we will reap the harvest if we do not give up (Gal. 6:9). We should not be weary at all because he who has promised is faithful (Heb. 10:23).
In the Second Reading today (1 Thess. 3:12-4:2), St. Paul gives us an idea of what we could be doing as we await the fulfillment of God’s promises. The best way to prepare for the second coming of Christ is not to engage in speculations of how, when and where it will be. Rather, may we “increase and abound in love for one another and for all” so that we “may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13).
As we begin the advent season today in preparation to celebrate Christmas, Jesus warns us not to let the social celebration of this great mystery lead us away from the truth. He says; Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery, drunkenness, and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap. For it will come down on every living man on the face of the earth. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of man. (Lk 21:34-36).
The season of advent is an opportunity the Church offers us to specially re-examine our lives and make amends. We are called to fast and pray in other to celebrate Christmas in purity of heart and in joy of the Lord. It is a call to let the faithfulness of God change our unfaithfulness, to let the commemoration of the mystery of the incarnation open the eyes of our faith to see how much God loves us. It is by understanding this unconditional love of God that we can confidently walk into the future that lies before us, we cannot sleep-walk into God’s presence.
There is need for us to understand that the Advent season is a holy season. A period of staying awake, praying, and performing acts of charity. This is not the time to waste our lives running after things that have little or no values in our lives. Our lives should be reflective of the lives of those who are waiting for something they value more than any other thing. As we light the first candle of the Advent period, let our lives be set afire with enduring hope and expectation for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ not in Israel but in our hearts! As we march into the advent period, may we always remind ourselves that we are in a holy season that is preparatory to the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts. Have a beautiful celebration and a glorious season of Advent.
N/B: May we continue to pray for the peaceful repose of the soul of V. Rev. Fr. John Gabriel Owusu-Frempong (FR DWUMOH), my Pastor and Parish Priest who passed away and was subsequently buried. Eternal Rest Grant unto the soul of Fr Dwumoh, O Lord and let your perpetual light shine on him forever.
