First Sunday of Advent - Gospel Matthew 24:37-44

First Sunday of Advent 

December 1, 2013
November 27, 2016
December 1, 2019

The start of Advent falls on the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew, November 30.  This is also the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year, her “New Year’s Day,” a time when the Church asks us to prayerfully reassess where we are spiritually. Are we ready to meet our Lord at the end times or the end of our life?

Each year the Advent readings focus on two events, the anniversary of Our Lord’s First Coming in Bethlehem on Christmas, and his Second Coming, Judgment Day.  This Sunday all three readings point to the end of the world.  They remind us to wake up, be ready, and maintain our relationship with God so that we might be ready to meet him when he comes.

“Be sure of this:  if the master of the house had known the hour or night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into.  So you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  (Matthew 24:41-44)

Whether or not the world ends during our own lifetime, is not for us to know, yet our lives will come to an end at some point. Advent is a time to reflect on how prepared we are for our own personal Judgment Day, the day when we will meet our Creator and have to account for every moment of our lives.

At times I have been guilty of thinking that I am in control of my life, I know what is best for me, etc. - the Holy Spirit reminds me constantly that I am not.  That God is in control, I belong to Him, and He knows far better than I what is best for me. We all belong to God. He gave us this life and He gives us a purpose. 

Advent is a good time to reflect on the past year. Have I used the gifts God graciously bestowed on me for His glory, for His purpose?    I try to make a morning offering daily to God - of all my thoughts, words, and deeds to be for God's glory and for His purpose.  I still fall far short.  Yet I have faith (God is so merciful) that this will make me more prepared (hopefully) to meet Him at the end of my life, or the end of time.    

Tonight light the first candle
 in your Advent Wreath.

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