First Sunday in Advent

Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/112810.shtml

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. This is the beginning of the Church’s calendar year, and a time specially dedicated to preparing for the arrival of Christ. It is also a time dedicated to new life. Converts wishing to enter the Church are formally accepted as catechumens (one receiving instruction from a catechist), and take their place alongside their new brothers and sisters.

We emphasize new life this time of year to prepare for Christ’s coming. Liturgically, this is symbolized by our preparation in Advent for Christ’s birth Christmas morning. But in our own lives, we emphasize new life to prepare for Christ’s coming at the end of days.

All Christian life is a call to repentance, so that Christ might recognize us as His own when He comes again. The readings today emphasize that our repentance and new life must begin now. There is no time, for our salvation is even nearer now than when we first believed.

Advent is a time to remind us that He is coming. These four weeks count down to Christmas like the days of the world count down to the Resurrection. We have no time to waste on lust or drunkenness, promiscuity or jealousy. If we were told we had to change our lives by Christmas, would we have enough time? If we only had tomorrow, what then? We do not know the day or the hour, and Advent reminds us that we need to be mindful that he is coming, whether we are ready or not. We must be prepared!

The new life we are called to live begins in the Church, in church. “Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” Here is where Jesus should find us, not only because He calls us here, but because it is where holy love and friendship are found. Advent also reminds us that Jesus came for our salvation, and His birth that we prepare for marks hope for us. We should go rejoicing to the house of the Lord; because of Him the nations will sue for peace, neither raise the sword against one another nor train for war again.

“Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord, / Because of my brothers and friends/ I will say, “Peace by within you!”/ Because of the house of the Lord, our God,/ I will pray for your good.

God is the inspiration for every good thing within us, and it is His hands that heal us, His grace that blesses us. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord, to prepare for His arrival!