Mt.24:37-44
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, we are on the first Sunday of Advent. Normally, we understand this season of advent as a time to prepare ourselves spiritually to receive Jesus into our hearts. I would like to share a short story with you:
Once upon a time there was a wise abbot of a monastery who was the friend of an equally wise rabbi. This was in the old country, long ago, when times were always hard, but just then they were even worse. The abbot’s community was dwindling, and the faith life of his monks was fearful, weak and anxious. He went to his friend and wept. His friend, the Rabbi, comforted him, and said “there is something you need to know, my brother. We have long known in the Jewish community that the Messiah is one of you.”
“What,” exclaimed the abbot, “the Messiah is one of us? How can this be?”
But the Rabbi insisted that it was so, and the abbot went back to his monastery wondering and praying, comforted and excited. Once back in the monastery, he would pass by a monk and wonder if he was the one. Sitting in chapel, praying, he would hear a voice and look intently at a face and wonder, is he the one. The abbot had always been kind, but now began to treat all of his brothers with profound kindness and awe, ever deeper respect, even reverence. Soon everyone noticed. One of the other brothers came to him and asked him what had happened to him.
After some coaxing, the abbot told him what the rabbi had said. Soon the other monk was looking at his brothers differently, with deeper respect and wondering. Word spread quickly: the Messiah is one of us. The monastery was suddenly full of life, worship, love and grace. The prayer life was rich and passionate, devoted, […] and services were alive and vibrant. Soon the surrounding villagers came to the services, listening and watching intently, and many joined the community of monks. After their novitiate, when they took their vows, they were told the mystery, the truth that their life was based upon, the source of their strength, the richness of their life together: The Messiah is one of us. The monastery grew and expanded into house after house, and the monks grew in wisdom and grace before each other and in the eyes of God.
The liturgy of the first Sunday of advent invites us to embark on a self-renewal by transforming the past event of the incarnation into a present reality by paying serious attention to the second coming of Jesus, which can occur at any time. In a way, the advent preparation that we undertake to receive Jesus into our hearts is a fitting preparation to receive Jesus at his second coming.
The second coming of Jesus is a reality. However, no one knows the exact time except the Father. We all have a natural tendency to begin any preparation only when we are sure of the exact time, just like students who begin their preparation for exam once the exam timetable is published. The gospel passage of the day invites us to overcome our procrastinatory thinking by quoting the example of Noah. God chose Noah as his mouthpiece to alarm the entire humanity about the forthcoming wrath of God; nevertheless, they conveniently ignored him and continued to spend their time eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage. However, Noah prepared himself by leading an upright life, following the instruction of the Lord, and making the ark with his sweat and toil. When the flood came, he was the only one prepared to face the eventuality, and all the others perished. Jesus presents Noah’s story as a warning to all of us that, like Noah, we need to work hard and claim the salvation that Christ won for us through our constant self-renewal.
Jesus makes himself clear that we can’t take his words for granted. Each one of us has to face the Lord and his judgement. The imagery of the two men in the field and the two women grinding implies like Noah, the remnant of the Lord one would be taken away and the other would be left behind. If this is the reality, how can we be prepared for the second coming of Jesus? Jesus tells us to be spiritually awake. The ways by which we can be spiritually awakened are by mending our broken relationship with the Lord and growing in our communion and intimacy with him. In the first reading taken from the prophet Isiah, we listen to his words: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” (Is. 2:3) When we attune our hearts and ears to the Word of God, Jesus will take flesh in us, and he will help us grow in our communion and intimacy with our Abba Father.
We also need to prepare ourselves to receive the light. We need to invite Jesus Christ into our own lives by throwing out the works of darkness. In the second reading taken from the letter of Paul’s to the Romans, he exhorts to throw off the works of darkness and put on the amour of light, leaving behind the deeds of darkness and put on Lord Jesus Christ. As we began our advent journey today, let us make it point that we are not merely preparing ourselves for the external pomps and glory of Christmas celebration rather the cause of our happiness should be our readiness to encounter the Lord and being prepared for that encounter one could say that Christ is not in my heart, I am in his heart… I wish you all a fruitful and meaningful season of advent.