Almost, But Not Yet, the First Sunday of Advent–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers:

This year, and to my surprise, the first display of Christmas decorations I saw were in a store sometime at the beginning of September.  Santa Claus has already arrived on his throne in the shopping mall, and they have been playing Christmas music there now for at least a month!  With what appears to me to be an over-commercialization of Christmas, it seems that even Thanksgiving Day itself has become a mere footnote to the ever widening “holiday shopping season.”

As we gather together as a community of faith on this First Sunday of Advent, we come to church with a very different perspective than what is offered to us “out there.”  Our observance of Advent stands in stark contrast to the ideas of those who have rushed into an altogether different reality.   Each year, it seems that we must endure this overly secular, commercial and superficial holiday period of time that tends to lend to a kind of premature and collective fatigue (even before the twenty-fifth of December).

However, as we approach the true meaning of the Advent season, we understand that we are actually observing a time of preparation for something that has not yet happened.  Together we come to pray and to ponder as people who are reflecting on the “almost, but not yet” nature of the Season of Advent.

In the Gospel today, Jesus tells us to “be watchful and to be alert,” and he reminds us that we “do not know when the time will come . . . when the Lord of the house is coming” (see Mark 13:33-37).  Jesus is speaking of a moment at the end of time when the Messiah will come to claim the righteous, and he asks us to contemplate whether or not we will be ready for that day.  This is the perspective from which we start the Season of Advent today.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago; the question we have today is: “Will we be ready for him when he comes again?”  May we find delight in the spirit of this time of the year, even out there as we enjoy Christmas parties, Santa Claus, the exchange of gifts, holiday trees and lights, and all that this season offers to us!  May we also be faithful to the Christian message of Advent which challenges us to be watchful and alert, and ready, for the day when the Lord comes!  

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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