Breaking Open the Word - First Sunday of Advent, Year A
Scripture Sharing, First Sunday of Advent, Year A – December 1st, 2019
As we begin a new liturgical year, we here at St. Joseph’s invite you to join us as we revive our Scripture sharing blog posts! Our discussions in this series will be based on the readings in the Sunday Lectionary. Without further ado, here are some of our insights on the readings for the First Sunday of Advent, Year A . . .
A Sister opened our discussion by remarking on the “upward movement” of this liturgical season. We are repeatedly told to “wake up,” “stand erect and raise your heads,” “go up to the mountain of the LORD,” and so on. She reflected that, since we focus in this time on how God came down to us, it is appropriate that we should rise up to meet Him.
We also spoke about the interesting way Jesus characterizes Himself in the Gospel – as a “thief in the night.” Drawing on the homily from Mass that day, one Sister mentioned that He is indeed coming to steal something: our hearts! And yet, aren’t our hearts His anyway, simply because we are His creatures? It is a mystery of the mercy of God that, even though He has every right to demand our love, He behaves as if He didn’t. He comes not as a conqueror, but as a lover, wishing to win us over rather than force us.
Another significant point in our sharing was the idea of awaiting the Second Coming with joy, rather than fear. Jesus’ descriptions of the end times can often seem terrifying, but if we are truly seeking to love and follow Him, then His coming will be the fulfillment of all our hopes! After all, doesn’t He elsewhere describe Himself as a Bridegroom returning from a wedding banquet? What could be a more joyful occasion? It would only be our failure to prepare ourselves and remain watchful that would make the Second Coming a fearful thing. As it is, the fact that we know He’s coming but “at an hour you do not expect” can lend a joyful eagerness to our days.
Several Sisters also highlighted a surprising fact: in a spiritual sense, we are already living in the Second Coming! Insofar as we “put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” as St. Paul exhorts us to do in the Second Reading, we are enabling Him to “come again” in our lives by living through us. Thus, when He comes in glory, it will simply be a continuation of what we have already been living – but an infinitely more glorious continuation! The faithful Christian lives in a state of “already/not yet”: “the Kingdom of God is within you,” and yet it is not fully here.
Another Sister tied this in beautifully with the Paschal Mystery. Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection are all facets of a single mystery of love, and we as Christians (particularly as Passionists) are called to let Him re-live this mystery in us. If we have “put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” then even our sufferings are a share in His glory. Here on earth we may only see the Cross, but in eternity we will see its inevitable “flip side,” the Resurrection.
Join us next week as we share our reflections on the Mass readings for the Second Sunday of Advent!
A little Advent chalk message from the nuns:
