20241201 SEEING THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST IN PERSPECTIVE
First reading |
Jeremiah 33:14-16 |
I will make a virtuous Branch grow for David
See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I am going to fulfil the promise I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah:
‘In those days and at that time,
I will make a virtuous Branch grow for David,
who shall practise honesty and integrity in the land.
In those days Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell in confidence.
And this is the name the city will be called:
The-Lord-our-integrity.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 24(25):4-5,8-9,10,14 |
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are God my saviour.
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
The Lord is good and upright.
He shows the path to those who stray,
He guides the humble in the right path,
He teaches his way to the poor.
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
His ways are faithfulness and love
for those who keep his covenant and law.
The Lord’s friendship is for those who revere him;
to them he reveals his covenant.
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
Second reading |
1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 |
May you be blameless when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again
May the Lord be generous in increasing your love and make you love one another and the whole human race as much as we love you. And may he so confirm your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless in the sight of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus Christ comes with all his saints.
Finally, brothers, we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus to make more and more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live: the life that God wants, as you learnt from us, and as you are already living it. You have not forgotten the instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Jesus.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps84:8 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let us see, O Lord, your mercy
and give us your saving help.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Luke 21:25-28,34-36 |
That day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the clamour of the ocean and its waves; men dying of fear as they await what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
‘Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap. For it will come down on every living man on the face of the earth. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.’
01 December 2024, Sunday, 1st Week in Advent
SEEING THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST IN PERSPECTIVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JER 33:14-16; 1 THESS 3:12-4:2; LK 21:25-28, 34-36]
Today, the Church celebrates the First Sunday of Advent, the first Sunday of the liturgical year. Advent, as we know, means “coming”, more specifically, the coming of Christ at Christmas. Yet, it is strange that the scripture readings of today do not speak about the first Coming of Christ. Instead, the readings are quite similar to the last few Sundays, which focused on his Second Coming. Why, then, does the Church begin the First Sunday of Advent by speaking about the Second Coming of Christ?
The real reason is because there is a serious danger that we might lose the real perspective of celebrating Advent and Christmas. Many of us are so influenced by the secular celebration of this event that Christmas is reduced to a mere sentimental feast or a historical commemoration of the birth of Christ. If the purpose of this celebration were simply to relive some nostalgic feelings of joy, peace, love and hope, then such celebration would do us very little good. It would be another passing event, which cannot give us lasting peace and joy. It is another form of escapism from confronting the harsh realities of the world. So it is necessary that we get our orientation correct with regard to the real meaning of Advent and Christmas.
If Advent, which is the preparation for the First Coming of Christ, is juxtaposed, that is, placed side by side with the Second Coming of Christ, it is because the Church wants us to be always aware that the First Coming of Christ is directed at the Second Coming. The First Coming of Christ at Christmas is only the beginning of the new era of Grace, the beginning of our salvation in Christ. The celebration of Christmas is only the beginning of a long journey towards the end, which is His Second Coming. For it is only at His Second Coming that Christ would restore the Kingdom of God to its fulfilment. In this way, the promise of Jeremiah in the first reading, that God will dwell with His people and be integrated with us in such a way that He lives in us, is fulfilled. Today’s liturgy therefore is meant to give us a preview of what the Incarnation would ultimately lead to. It is envisaged that if we have clarity on what the end holds for us, then we can commit and motivate ourselves towards this objective.
Consequently, if this goal were ever to be realized, it presupposes that we must already allow the reign of God to rule our lives here and now. This means that before we can even speak about the Second Coming of Christ, we must first be receptive to His First Coming, which already began two thousand years ago. And since then, Christ has been always coming into our lives. Indeed, it would be wrong to think that we have to wait for Christmas before Christ comes into our lives. On the contrary, since the First Christmas, Christ has been coming. He is coming every day.
And if we celebrate Christmas every year, it is to remind ourselves that He is coming every day into our lives so that when He comes again the second time, we would be ready to receive Him fully. In view of this all-important event, the liturgy today exhorts us to be prepared, to stay awake so that when the time comes for reckoning, we would have the strength to survive that day and be able to stand erect with confidence. So how should we prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming now and at the end of time?
Simply this: to be docile and open to His grace at work in us. This is all that we have to do. This is why Advent and Christmas is called a season of grace. It is grace because it is a gift from God to us. The truth is that salvation ultimately is the work of God, not the work of man. Just as the Incarnation is the work of God, so is the fulfilment of the Kingdom. This is what God said through the prophet, “See the days are coming – when I am going to fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel.” In a similar vein, St Paul also says, “May the Lord be generous in increasing your love … may he so confirm your hearts in holiness”. Clearly, the emphasis is on what the Lord is doing and can do in our lives and not what we can do for Him. Once again, salvation is the work of God and not the work of man. It is not what we can do in order to be saved but how much we allow God to work in and through us by receiving Him into our lives.
Of course, this does not mean that we do nothing at all. We are not dumb sheep. Rather, we are expected at least to co-operate with His grace. This is what St Paul meant when he said that we must make progress in our Christian life. Whilst we cannot work for our salvation, we can at least be open to receive His gift of love. The tragedy of life is that, so often, when the opportunity comes, we are not alert and ready to accept it. How, then, do we allow the grace of God to work in our lives?
We must first and foremost stay awake and be vigilant. We must be alert to the different ways God could be coming into our lives. By virtue of the Incarnation, God could be knocking at our hearts through the poor, the sick and the needy. God comes to us in poverty so that He can open our hearts and eyes to love and compassion. God uses the poor to help us to grow in love, generosity, kindness and love. Every time when someone comes to us for aid or when someone affirms us, then that is the Lord trying to reach out to us in and through our fellow human beings.
But what is preventing us from being alert to those moments when God is knocking at the door of our hearts? Because we do not live lives of integrity! We are so absorbed by our selfishness and self-centeredness that we are unable to see beyond ourselves. So long as we live sinful, selfish and dishonest lives, we will block the life and love of God from reaching out to us. It is not so much because God does not want to dwell with us, rather, because God, being integrity Himself, becomes incompatible with us who are sinners.
That is why Jesus warned us in the gospel that if our hearts are “coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life”, then the Lord will pass us by just as He did when He was born in Bethlehem. Many did not see Him because they were asleep and had no room for Him in their hearts. We, too, will miss the joy and love that Jesus comes to bring us through the poor, the sick and the marginalized if we are too preoccupied with our own needs, ambitions and self-interests.
Consequently, we must be vigilant by living a life of integrity. In the words of St Paul, we are called to “make more and more progress in the kind of life” that we are meant to live. This means that we must be conscious of what we are doing and how we are living our lives. Thus, the responsorial psalm is a prayer that we might walk in the path of the Lord and be faithful to His covenant. By living a life of integrity, we find real freedom in life, free from all fears and anxieties. By living an integral life, a life of righteousness and truth, we will find fulfilment, meaning, joy and real freedom. Indeed, unless we are true to our state in life, we will find no peace within ourselves.
Finally, in order to be vigilant and be able to live an integral life, we must pray so that we can be alert to His presence within and without us. Yes, Jesus reminds us to pray “at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.” Prayer is absolutely necessary to be alert to God’s coming and presence in us. Without prayer, we can never be truly awake and sensitive to His presence within and without us. Prayer is necessary in order that we may gain wisdom and understanding so that we can walk the right path like the psalmist. In this way, God can be felt and experienced deeply in our hearts and being. With His presence and love in us, we can then truly claim that our heart is where “the Lord our integrity” lives.
When we live life in this manner, then God becomes more and more in us so that the Incarnation of God takes full effect in our lives because we would then be truly living out His humanity by following Him in His passion, death and resurrection. Filled with His Spirit at Pentecost, and allowing the Spirit to work in our lives and history, we can await the Final Coming at the end of time with great hope and joyful expectation in the same way we celebrate Christmas.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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