Readings for the First Sunday of Advent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
As this Advent season begins we offer this passage from “The Spirit of Advent” by Mark Searle[3]
“Human beings cannot live without hope. Unlike the animals, we are blessed -or cursed- with the ability to think about the future and to fear our actions to shaping it. So essential is this to human life, that human beings cannot live without hope, without something to live for, without something to look forward to. To be without hope, to have nothing to live for, is to surrender to death in despair. But we can find all sorts of things to live for and we can hope for almost anything for some measure of success or security or for the realization of some more or less modest ambition; for our children, that they might be saved from our mistakes and sufferings and find a better life than we have known, for a better world, throwing ourselves into politics or medicine or technology so that future generations might be better off. Not all these forms of hope are selfish; indeed, they have given dignity and purpose to the lives of countless generations.
But one of the reasons why we read the Old Testament during Advent is to learn what to hope for. The peoples of the Old Testament had the courage to hope for big things; that the desert would be turned into fertile land; that their scattered and divided people would eventually be gathered again; that the blind would see, the deaf hear, the lame walk; that not only their own people but all peoples of the earth, would be united in the blessings of everlasting peace. Clearly, their hopes were no different from ours or from any human being’s; lasting peace, tranquil lives, sufficiency of food, an end to suffering, pain and misery.
Thus we hope for the same things as the Old Testament people for their hopes are not yet realized. But we differ from them in two ways. First, the coming of Jesus in history, as a partial fulfillment of God’s promise, immeasurably confirms and strengthens our hope. Secondly, we differ from the Old Testament people because Jesus has revealed to us that God is not afar off, but is already in our midst. Hence the importance in the Advent liturgy of John the Baptist and Mary; because they recognized the new situation, they serve as models for the Church in discerning the presence of our Savior in the world.”
Reading 1 Isaiah 2:1-5
We are given in this reading, Isaiah’s vision of a time of unity, the great messianic destiny. He sees a time when all peoples will recognize God as the one true God and flock to call. (Isaiah uses the “highest mountain” metaphor in the Hebrew context. High places were places closet to God. Mountain tops frequently were places were altars were built. “Highest” would then be above all others.)
The prophet sees the Law of the Lord governing all peoples and a time of great peace as a result of the universal unity of people in faithfulness to God. “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Psalm 122 is a song of praise that anticipates the great procession into God’s house. While the Hebrews would have used this as a literal processional song, we see it as anticipating our entry into the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God.
Reading II Romans 13:11-14
St. Paul calls the Romans to repentance, reminding them that the time of salvation, the day of the Lord’s return, is closer than it was when they first heard the word of God. He calls them to act as children of the light and to throw off sinfulness. He tells them to put on Christ and become spiritually focused. These verses provide the motivation for the love that is encouraged in Romans 13:8-10.
Gospel Matthew 24:37-44
St. Matthew’s Gospel shows us the Lord reminding his audience that the people of Noah’s time did not heed the warning of the coming flood and were destroyed because they were unprepared. He speaks of the eschaton, the end times when one person will be taken into the Kingdom of God and another, standing next to them, will be doomed to destruction.
The second section of the reading gives an analogy of the final judgment being likened to a thief who breaks in at night, unexpected, and makes off with all that is valued. The clear message taken from this reading is the call to preparedness and constant vigilance.
Reflection:
We begin our anticipatory season with a stern warning from the Lord in St. Matthew’s Gospel; be alert for we do not know the hour or the day when we will be called to account for our actions. It may seem ironic to start out with this warning, (We note it is echoed in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, also given today.) but our season is not just looking forward to the Advent of the infant Christ in His nativity, but also the second coming of Christ in final glory.
The feeling we receive is that we must see ourselves as God does, not just as a person growing in a straight line but in our totality, beginning with our Baptism where we began our journey toward the Father. We follow that path as best we can to our own final journey back to the Father (Sacramentally right back were we started). And in between the Lord asks us; “What have we done with what he gave us?”
We are told that in the final analysis, the vision of Isaiah from our first reading will be fulfilled. All people of all nations will stand in final judgment before the One True God and be invited to follow a path that will lead them to that “highest” mountain. It is that path we concern ourselves with at this beginning. Once more we stand, looking at the top of that high mountain. We look back and see that we have come some distance. We also see clearly the times we have strayed from the path that we desire greatly to be on.
So we begin again, beginnings are great times to adjust our course. Knowing that our Advent time is one of preparation, let us take time to see what we can do to take a more direct path toward Christ who is both our guide and out goal. Let us pledge to eliminate the mistakes of the past and be faithful to the course upon which we now set ourselves.
We pray today that our time of Advent will find us alert and dedicated, constant in our efforts to emulate the one we love, our Lord and Savior who was born of the Virgin Mary, pointed out to us by John the Baptist, and who promised to come again so that we might have salvation.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “Christ the Judge” by Fra Angelico, 1447
[3] Searle, Mark, “The Spirit of Advent”, Assembly V. 7-1, © Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, Notre Dame, IN.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
As this Advent season begins we offer this passage from “The Spirit of Advent” by Mark Searle[3]
“Human beings cannot live without hope. Unlike the animals, we are blessed -or cursed- with the ability to think about the future and to fear our actions to shaping it. So essential is this to human life, that human beings cannot live without hope, without something to live for, without something to look forward to. To be without hope, to have nothing to live for, is to surrender to death in despair. But we can find all sorts of things to live for and we can hope for almost anything for some measure of success or security or for the realization of some more or less modest ambition; for our children, that they might be saved from our mistakes and sufferings and find a better life than we have known, for a better world, throwing ourselves into politics or medicine or technology so that future generations might be better off. Not all these forms of hope are selfish; indeed, they have given dignity and purpose to the lives of countless generations.
But one of the reasons why we read the Old Testament during Advent is to learn what to hope for. The peoples of the Old Testament had the courage to hope for big things; that the desert would be turned into fertile land; that their scattered and divided people would eventually be gathered again; that the blind would see, the deaf hear, the lame walk; that not only their own people but all peoples of the earth, would be united in the blessings of everlasting peace. Clearly, their hopes were no different from ours or from any human being’s; lasting peace, tranquil lives, sufficiency of food, an end to suffering, pain and misery.
Thus we hope for the same things as the Old Testament people for their hopes are not yet realized. But we differ from them in two ways. First, the coming of Jesus in history, as a partial fulfillment of God’s promise, immeasurably confirms and strengthens our hope. Secondly, we differ from the Old Testament people because Jesus has revealed to us that God is not afar off, but is already in our midst. Hence the importance in the Advent liturgy of John the Baptist and Mary; because they recognized the new situation, they serve as models for the Church in discerning the presence of our Savior in the world.”
Reading 1 Isaiah 2:1-5
We are given in this reading, Isaiah’s vision of a time of unity, the great messianic destiny. He sees a time when all peoples will recognize God as the one true God and flock to call. (Isaiah uses the “highest mountain” metaphor in the Hebrew context. High places were places closet to God. Mountain tops frequently were places were altars were built. “Highest” would then be above all others.)
The prophet sees the Law of the Lord governing all peoples and a time of great peace as a result of the universal unity of people in faithfulness to God. “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Psalm 122 is a song of praise that anticipates the great procession into God’s house. While the Hebrews would have used this as a literal processional song, we see it as anticipating our entry into the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God.
Reading II Romans 13:11-14
St. Paul calls the Romans to repentance, reminding them that the time of salvation, the day of the Lord’s return, is closer than it was when they first heard the word of God. He calls them to act as children of the light and to throw off sinfulness. He tells them to put on Christ and become spiritually focused. These verses provide the motivation for the love that is encouraged in Romans 13:8-10.
Gospel Matthew 24:37-44
St. Matthew’s Gospel shows us the Lord reminding his audience that the people of Noah’s time did not heed the warning of the coming flood and were destroyed because they were unprepared. He speaks of the eschaton, the end times when one person will be taken into the Kingdom of God and another, standing next to them, will be doomed to destruction.
The second section of the reading gives an analogy of the final judgment being likened to a thief who breaks in at night, unexpected, and makes off with all that is valued. The clear message taken from this reading is the call to preparedness and constant vigilance.
Reflection:
We begin our anticipatory season with a stern warning from the Lord in St. Matthew’s Gospel; be alert for we do not know the hour or the day when we will be called to account for our actions. It may seem ironic to start out with this warning, (We note it is echoed in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, also given today.) but our season is not just looking forward to the Advent of the infant Christ in His nativity, but also the second coming of Christ in final glory.
The feeling we receive is that we must see ourselves as God does, not just as a person growing in a straight line but in our totality, beginning with our Baptism where we began our journey toward the Father. We follow that path as best we can to our own final journey back to the Father (Sacramentally right back were we started). And in between the Lord asks us; “What have we done with what he gave us?”
We are told that in the final analysis, the vision of Isaiah from our first reading will be fulfilled. All people of all nations will stand in final judgment before the One True God and be invited to follow a path that will lead them to that “highest” mountain. It is that path we concern ourselves with at this beginning. Once more we stand, looking at the top of that high mountain. We look back and see that we have come some distance. We also see clearly the times we have strayed from the path that we desire greatly to be on.
So we begin again, beginnings are great times to adjust our course. Knowing that our Advent time is one of preparation, let us take time to see what we can do to take a more direct path toward Christ who is both our guide and out goal. Let us pledge to eliminate the mistakes of the past and be faithful to the course upon which we now set ourselves.
We pray today that our time of Advent will find us alert and dedicated, constant in our efforts to emulate the one we love, our Lord and Savior who was born of the Virgin Mary, pointed out to us by John the Baptist, and who promised to come again so that we might have salvation.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “Christ the Judge” by Fra Angelico, 1447
[3] Searle, Mark, “The Spirit of Advent”, Assembly V. 7-1, © Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, Notre Dame, IN.
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