FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT- CYCLE "A".

1st SUN. OF ADVENT. Nov.28th: Is.2:1-5; Rom 13:11-14; Mat. 24:37-44)

This Sunday marks the first week of Advent. Even though the focus now is on Christmas, the season of Advent is supposed to be a time of anticipation and preparation. The Scripture readings this Sunday certainly are not focused on the birth of Jesus, which has already occurred. Instead, the readings are focused on the importance for all believers to be prepared for the Second Coming of Christ, which has yet to occur.
As the days grow shorter we reflect that earthly time is slipping away, but the day of the Lord advances. As the days darken we light the first Advent candle as a beacon of hope in the one who rose again, triumphant over sin and death, who will return to reveal the kingdom of his eternal love.

In the second reading, from the Letter to the Romans, St. Paul warns, “It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed….let us conduct ourselves properly…not in orgies and drunkenness….But put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
And in the gospel reading, Jesus warns, “Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come….You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Evidently, this is in reference to the Second Coming of Jesus. One may wonder why we talk about the Final Day on the very first day of the liturgical year. It is not by accident. It is important that we must be aware of our destination before we begin our journey. Jesus came into history not to keep us here on earth but to prepare us to stand before the Lord holy and undefiled and lead us to eternal life. Thus, incarnation is complete with the Second Coming of Jesus where He presents us to the Father.

Whether Advent is all about Jesus’ first coming in the history or His second coming at the end of time what is important for us is his coming in our life. During this Advent, therefore, our challenge is how we make the coming of Jesus a reality in our life. Definitely, there are numerous ways for that. I would like to mention three of them.

1.KEEP THE FOCUS ON THE REASON FOR CELEBRATION
One day a few women came to a restaurant. They were in a very happy- go- lucky mood. Out of curiosity, the manager asked them. “Why are you here, today? What is special?” “Oh. Today is the birthday of my only child. We are here to celebrate it,” one of the women said. “Where is the child? I would like to greet him,” he said. “We did not bring him. He is at home.” she said. “Do you think he would have allowed us to enjoy this food if we brought him with us? He would be a real disturbance,” she added. A birthday celebration without the birthday baby being present? The focus of the celebration was shifted from the center to the periphery. Advent is a holiday season for many. Naturally, people are busy with buying and sending gifts, organizing parties and so forth. All these are important. They are part of the celebration and life is meant to be a celebration.
2. BY BEING OPEN TO CHANGE
The good news of Jesus’ First Coming was that He chose a human body as his dwelling place. By assuming a human form, He restored human dignity. The human body became the temple of God. The incarnation of Jesus must take place in every human person. The Divine must penetrate into every cell of our lives. Therefore, it is not enough to focus on his coming alone, but we need to prepare our lives to welcome him. We need to allow him to enter into our lives and transform us. “This coming of Jesus is not merely an interior, spiritual affair; it happens rather in palpable, concrete forms. Each individual Christian personally and the Church of Christ as a community, is a sign of the fact that God has come and is with us forever.” Our challenge during Advent is like clay in the hands of a potter. We need to place ourselves in the hands of God and allow him to shape and reshape our image until he forms a pot of his liking. St. Erenaus said this: As long as the clay is wet, moist and supple, the shaping is painless; but on the other hand, if the clay is hardened and reactive, it can break under the influence of the Potter. In Adam, the clay became brittle and hardened, so the shaping became painful and even impossible. What kind of clay am I?
We can make the clay of our life moist and supple by keeping ourselves in the shade of Lord’s Sacraments and by prayer.

2. BY MEETING JESUS IN THE ‘NEIGHBOR’
The incarnation of Jesus made every human person another meeting place of God. The uniqueness of Christianity is that we can relate to God only through our neighbors. In the story of the Good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite tried to reach the temple by avoiding the victim on the road. Not they, but the Samaritan who stopped on the way to meet the victim caught the attention of God. Where do I find Jesus? Remember, Jesus was born in a manger, not in a palace or any other place of luxury. Jesus is there where people are struggling to celebrate their life with human dignity…Jesus is there where there is a person in need.

Martin, the Cobbler, is Leo Tolstoy's story about a lonely shoemaker who is promised in a dream that Christ will come to visit his shop. The next day Martin rises early, gets his shop ready, prepares a meal and waits. The only one who showed up in the morning was an old beggar who came by and asked for rest. Martin gave him a room he had prepared for his divine guest. The only one to show up in the afternoon was an old lady with a heavy load of wood. She was hungry and asks for food. He gave her the food he had prepared for his divine guest. As evening came, a lost boy wandered by. Martin took him home, afraid all the while he would miss the Christ. That night in his prayers he asks the Lord, "Where were You? I waited all day for You."

The Lord said to Martin: "Three times I came to your friendly door.
Three times my shadow was on your floor. I was a beggar with bruised feet.
I was the woman you gave to eat. I was the homeless child on the street."
Watch out! Christ may be closer than you can imagine.

We turn our attention once again to Advent, to the three comings of Christ: his first, 2000 years ago; his last, sometime in the future, and his ongoing one, through his grace, his providence, and the sacraments. When we turn our attention to these three comings of Christ, we will see something new, something different. All three of those comings of Christ have the same purpose: to reestablish and deepen our friendship with God. He is looking forward making that happen, to deepening our friendship with him, in these coming weeks of Advent.
During this season, let us try to be generous to people who are in need. Thus, let us make this Holiday season a Holy season.