Isaiah 2:1-5 /Psalm 122/ Romans 13:11-14/ Matthew 24:37-44
Theme: Be a True Disciple of Jesus
Last Sunday brought the Liturgical Year to a close. Traditionally, the Gospel reading on the Feast of Christ the King and the First Sunday of Advent talk about the “Last Things”. Advent is both a beginning and an end, an alpha and omega of the Church’s year of grace. It is a season of longing for the glorious Parousia in which we say “Come Lord Jesus.” Advent traditionally has two focuses:
• 1st Sunday of Advent to 16th December recalls the promise of a Messiah and at the same time focuses on the Second Coming of the Messiah to judge.
• 17th-24th December focuses on the First Coming of the Messiah, the fulfillment of the promise of this Messiah and the closest events before the coming of the Messiah.
In chapter one of the Prophet Isaiah, God laments over the waywardness of Israel when he says “Hear o Heavens and listen to earth, for the Lord has spoken: I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me…” (Isaiah 1:1a). It is against this backdrop that the First Reading of today is calling for a return to God who is the way, the truth and the life (Cf. John 14:6). It is calling on all of us to return to God so that he will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his path.
In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah gives the Israelites and for that matter all of us a message of hope; a message of salvation. It reminds us that salvation is for all and Jesus is the fulfillment of the longing of humanity in which people of every race, language, culture and the like will be united in a common bond of love. “All the nations will stream to it; peoples without numbers will come to it…” (Isaiah 2:2-3).
Do we love Jesus? If we love him, then why are we sad that he is coming?
The kind of kingdom the prophet envisages is a kingdom of peace; of love and understanding as symbolized in the following words “…These will hammer their swords into plowshares, their spears into sickles. Nations will not lift swords against nations, there will be no more training for war…” (Isaiah 2:4). This is the kind of vision John saw “They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of living water and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 6: 16-17). It is a universal kingdom in which every body matters.
Clearly, it is this universalistic dimension of the Kingdom as described by Isaiah in the first reading that Jesus reverts to in the gospel reading of today. Today we should note that the kingdom of salvation that Jesus establishes is something that grows, a mustard seed which becomes the greatest shrubs, a tree that all the birds of the air come to make a nest in it. I must emphasize that the Kingdom of God was an existing reality in Jesus’ First Advent (Incarnation); it is a present reality in his second coming in the Church’s Sacraments and Liturgy and in the Spirit’s presence in the Church; the Kingdom of God will reach full maturity in the events of the Parousia and judgment.
Jesus’ teaching about the “Last Things” can be reduced to three propositions: that he will certainly return, that we cannot possibly find out when and that therefore, we must be always ready for him. This is the same message we hear in the Gospel reading of today. “As in the days of Noah, so will the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:37). Men were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away. What men were doing were not sinful but innocent daily occupations. Their fault was that they allowed themselves to become so engrossed in these otherwise occupations that they gave no thought to impending judgment. We are, therefore, warned against that interest in secular business that would make us forget the judgment ahead of us.We must be true disciples of Jesus. Indeed we are called to be “samples” of Jesus, replicating who Jesus is to the world. We are called upon to be vigilant.
In the second reading, Paul makes clear what vigilance is all about. He says “it is now time to wake from sleep because our salvation is much closer than when we first accepted the Faith” (Romans 13:11). Paul calls all of us to appreciate the fact that since we have come out of night into day, each moment of our life must express the fact that we have entered into these last days. We live in the time between Christ’s first coming and his return; in the time between our baptism and our resurrection.This is the time of the Church and the Sacraments. This is the time reserved as a testing time for believers, a time for moral effort, a time of watching and waiting. St. Paul puts this moral effort metaphorically as stripping and reclothing. We have to put on the new man, Christ himself.
Advent is a time of rousing. Man is shaken to the very depths so that he may wake up to the truth of himself. The primary condition for a fruitful and rewarding Advent is renunciation and surrender. Man is called upon to let go of all his mistaken dreams, his arrogant behaviors and all his pretenses with which he hopes to deceive himself and others. If man fails to confront himself as regards his salvation, he will be taken over by events and anxiety and suffering may force him to deny Christ. Christ calls us to endurance because that is what will win us our salvation.
In sum, nobody is sad when his beloved is visiting him or her, especially if that beloved has been long in coming. We become so anxious to get the best for our loved ones. We Christians claim we love Jesus but we are not happy he is coming, rather we are sad. A faithful Christian should be happy that Jesus is coming because he (Christian) is always prepared.