Today, is the First Sunday of Advent, which is also the first Sunday of the new liturgical year. The Advent season includes the four Sundays that precede Christmas. Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. In this season, we recall two central elements of our faith: the final coming of the Lord in glory and the incarnation of the Lord in the birth of Jesus. The key themes of the Advent season are watchful waiting, preparation, and justice.

With modern technology that is all around us, everything becomes automatic and instant. I noticed that people nowadays can easily become impatient with little things. They cannot simply wait. This is what Advent teaches us – the value of waiting!

The same is true with the story of the Israelites, from generations to generations the Israelites were being defeated in wars, enslaved in Egypt and exiled to Babylon. They were waiting for the coming of their beloved Savior who will defend them from their enemies.

As Jeremiah spoke in the First Reading, Jerusalem was under siege by Babylon and would soon fall. Jeremiah had been a prophet of doom up to this point, but when hope seemed lost, he became a prophet of hope. Jeremiah reminded the people that God had made a promise to His people, and God keeps His promises. The nation was described as the “tree of Jesse,” Jesse being the father of David. From the tree that  fell down to the Babylonians, a shoot would grow that would restore Israel.

The first letter to the Thessalonians in the Second Reading encourages us to live as we have been taught. We must be blameless before the Lord when He comes. We are doing well, but we must do even better!

St. Luke in this Sunday's Gospel tried to give them words that would help to keep them faithful. He reminded them of Jesus’ promise to return will be fulfilled. It was a promise they believed would be fulfilled in their lifetime but were now beginning to doubt. St. Luke first presents Jesus’ prophecy to show that some of it was fulfilled by the destruction of the Temple (70 AD). He then says that since part of the prophecy was fulfilled, we must believe that all of it will be fulfilled. Significantly, what St. Luke leaves out is a time line. St. Luke urges us to be vigilant for we do not know when Jesus will return. In the meantime, we are to pray for faithfulness and strength as we wait.

Like an excited lover Christ responded to this waiting of his people. He came  to the world and born of a woman and gave himself up on the cross, to express how much he loves his people. If we wait again patiently, we will surely see Him again in his Second Coming.(1) Aside from His final return at the end of time, we must try to see Him in our daily life: in the members of our family, in the faces of the poor and the needy, and meet Him in  Mass and receive him in the Eucharist. (2) If teenagers want to make a better choice when it comes to marriage, they should learn how to wait. Those who rush, usually find themselves getting into married life, so unprepared and feel sorry at the end.

-Rev. Jovy Roldan

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