First Sunday of Advent - A (December 1,
2013)
Readings: Isaiah 2: 1-5/ Romans 13: 11-14
/ Matthew 24: 37-44
Fr. Charles Johnson, OP
If I ask what you long
for in life, will it be the same as what you prepare for? Is what you
expect to come to pass the same as what you hope for? In other words, are
your expectations similar to or compatible with your hopes? In today’s readings,
ranging from the prophet Isaiah to St. Paul to the Lord’s admonitions in the
Gospel according to Matthew, we get an interesting mix of longing and the need,
sometimes urgent, for preparation. The prophet Isaiah leads us to aspire
to greater ideals that we long for but rarely seem to experience, whereas St.
Paul and Jesus call us to be awake and prepared for the Lord’s coming and not
be lulled into complacency. At the same time, I
cannot help but perceive that woven into the message of Jesus is the challenge
to us that what we long for must be compatible with what we expect to happen or
even prepare for. In other words, the good Lord not only calls out to us
to be prepared, but to know what and who it is that we await, or better put,
who it is that we long for, who it is that we must make room for in our lives.
The eating and drinking,
marrying and being given in marriage were not really the issue. Rather,
the problem was and is the living of life without making space for God and the
needs of a suffering world all around us. When St. Paul and Jesus
admonish us to “stay awake,” it is not about spiritual insomnia, but having a
disposition and attitude of longing for God and believing that his promises are
real and meant to come to pass in our time and in eternity. The great rabbi Abraham
Heschel wrote, “What makes you think you will like heaven, if nothing in your
life on earth resembles it.” Earthly existence surely is not heaven and
vice-versa. However, Christ gives us the means to make sure the two are
not strangers.
It has to do with
understanding our earthly weaknesses as reasons for trust in the Lord’s
heavenly remedies.
It has to do with our knowing and trusting Jesus in
the here and now, so we are able to recognize him not only in the future but
also in the present.
Recognize Christ on high and his face in our
neighbor. Knowing and trusting Jesus in our day and age, so that his
mercy and peace might truly be both gifts to share and gifts to come. The vision of peace
given by the great prophet, of “beating swords into plowshares,” seems like a
utopia. If that’s the case, it’s because we’ve let what we expect take
precedence over who and what we hope for. For those who love as
God commands us, the coming of Christ is not a threat, but an eagerly-awaited
blessing. A blessing we are meant to embrace and enjoy today and
tomorrow. The Lord comes to us because he loves us. In the end,
being prepared is not limited to being vigilant, but being open to receive his
mercy and peace believing and hoping in the good that follows.
Ready or not, Jesus is coming. Ready or not, he’s
already here.
Advent blessings,
Fr. Charlie
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