Sunday November 29th 2020: Read Br Michael’s Gospel Reflection The 1st Sunday of Advent: Stay Awake and Prepare
The 1st Sunday of Advent: Stay Awake and Prepare
Sadly, for many if not all of us, we will not be in our parish churches today to mark the beginning of Advent. Due to the continuing restrictions caused by the coronavirus our churches are still closed. Hopefully they will open soon. In one way or another we have all experienced the challenges of living with the virus. We have had to learn to live with shielding, social distancing, wearing masks and not seeing our friends and families as often as we would like. Advent is the season of joyful hope; so we pray that with God’s help we will do all we can to support each other, to remain faithful, optimistic, joyful and hopeful.
Let’s be honest, very few of us like waiting! I get impatient when the traffic lights stay red for too long or when the queue in the post office or supermarket isn’t moving fast enough for me. These days we are also waiting for and hoping that soon there will be some good news about the social restrictions being lifted. We are all waiting! Advent asks us to wait in other ways and to take our time and to do what we can to prepare for Christmas over the next four weeks. In the words of Jesus from today’s gospel we are to stay awake! Advent offers us two messages. It is a time to prepare for Christmas when Christ’s birth is remembered and celebrated. It is also offered to us as a time that directs our hearts and minds to prepare for and await Christ’s coming at the fullness of time. Advent therefore is a time of preparation. We are called to watch and wait in joyful hope for the coming our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Over the next few weeks the shops and the advertisements on television and in magazines will continue to attract our attention and offer us their message. They will tell us to stay busy, spend more, and do all we can to get ready to celebrate Christmas in style. There is nothing wrong at all with any of this. Given the year we have all experienced, we need now more than ever something to look forward to with hope.
However, there is another message that Advent offers us. It is one that asks us to stay awake so that we don’t miss the sights and sounds of this sacred season. As well as the lights and decorations, hopefully we will see the Advent wreath in our churches with its candles over the next few weeks. The crib will draw our attention to the birth of Jesus. Advent reminds us that we are getting ready to welcome someone, not something!
Through the gospels over the coming weeks we will meet and hear John the Baptist as he says to each of us, Prepare a way for the Lord, make his path straight.’ On the last Sunday of Advent the gospel will tell us about Mary who said ‘yes’ in a radical act of faith in response to God’s plan for her. So as well as the message from the shops, Advent also encourages us to slow down, pray, stay awake and prepare our daily lives, our hearts and our homes to welcome Jesus through the Nativity.
An Advent Prayer:
Loving God, as we begin the sacred season of Advent, be with us, lead and guide us as we do all we can to stay awake and prepare for the birth of Jesus. Give us the courage, strength and patience to slow down, even just a bit as we wait in joyful hope for the coming our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
– Br Michael Moore OMI
| Gospel | Mark 13:33-37 © |
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If he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep
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