First Sunday of Advent

December 2, 2012
November 29, 2015 

First Sunday of Advent

"God knows the human heart...
and so he never ceases to knock
at our door like a humble pilgrim."

The Church year begins with the First Sunday of Advent, the closest Sunday to the Feast of Saint Andrew, November 30.   Last year, Liturgical Year B, we read mostly from the Gospel of Mark, this year, Liturgical Year C, our Gospel readings will come from Luke. 

  

The readings from Advent, the spritual season of hope, focus on two events, the anniversary of Our Lord’s First Coming in Bethlehem on Christmas, and his Second Coming on the Day of Judgment.

Today’s Gospel from Luke 21:25-36, points to the end of the world, the Day of Judgment. “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory….Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise."

Advent is a time when the Church asks us to prayerfully reassess where we are on our spiritual journey, where we are in our own personal preparations for our day of judgment, the day when each of us will ultimately stand before our Creator and account for our life’s actions? If he came back today, would he catch us by surprise caught up in the "anxieties of daily life," or would we be ready to meet him? Today's Gospel is my subtle reminder to stay awake and be ready, to re-examine my journey, my relationship with God lest I be caught by surprise.

"At stake is the relationship between existence here and now and what we call the hereafter...Man is the one creature free to say 'yes' or 'no' to eternity, that is, to God. The human being is able to extinguish hope within him eliminating God from his life.  God knows the human heart...and so he never ceases to knock at our door like a humble pilgrim...This is why the Lord grants humanity new time:  so that everyone may manage to know him!  This is also the meaning of a new liturgical year which is beginning: it is a gift of God, who once again wishes to reveal himself to us in the mystery of Christ, through the Word and the Sacraments."  Pope Benedict XVI

Blessed, peaceful and hopeful Advent Season
from Lynn's Timeless Treasures