1ST SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C
Dear brothers and sisters, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).
ADVENT, A TIME OF PREPARATION
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the Church's Liturgical Year. We have successfully rounded off Year B with the celebration of Christ the King, and we are now in Year C of the liturgical calendar of the Church.
Advent is the time of preparation for the coming of Christ. It is a season of looking forward and waiting for the annual celebration of the event of Christ's birth and for the time when Christ will come again in glory, the Parousia. As Christians and faithful Catholics, we should prepare ourselves to be worthy to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love. We should make ourselves fitting abodes for the Redeemer and make ourselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death, and at the end of the world.
In the First Reading (Jer. 33: 14-16), God says He would fulfill His promise for the house of Israel and Judah and raise up for David a just shoot, who shall do what is right and just in the land. This "just shoot," a descendant of David, would establish peace, justice, and security in the world. Ultimately, this prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.
BE VIGILANT, BE ON ALERT!
In today's Gospel passage (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36), Luke reminds us of the 'Parousia,' the second coming of the Son of Man, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Great signs, calamities, and events would precede this second coming of the Son of Man in glory. There would be a lot of anxieties and worries, but the Scripture warns us to beware and not to give in to carousing, debauchery, and drunkenness. Doing that would be escapism. Instead, the Scripture advises us to be vigilant and be on alert at all times and pray that we might have the strength to escape the tribulations. Sure enough, advent is the season of being vigilant and waiting in prayers for the coming of the Son of Man in glory.
In the Second Reading (1 Thess. 3:12-4:2), St. Paul exhorts us to increase and abound in love, be blameless in holiness before our God and Father, and conduct ourselves to please God. We should take this admonition and exhortation to heart, for that is the quintessence of advent preparation.
Always remember that Jesus loves you!