Cycle C - Year I
2 December 2012: 1st Sunday of Advent
(Liturgical color: Violet)
Luke 21:25-28,
34-36
A new beginning, a Year of Faith!
Happy New Year to everyone!
That seems to be a strange greeting at this time of the year, when Christmas is yet to come. But indeed today we begin a new liturgical year, a new year's day in our life within the Church, as we welcome the Advent Season.
In the Catholic Church Advent is a period of preparation, extending over 4 Sundays before Christmas.
The word "advent" comes from the Latin "advenio", meaning "to come to", and refers to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Church wants us to reflect on advent in three ways: first the most obvious, in celebration of Christ's birth at Christmas; second, the coming of Christ in our lives through grace and the Sacrament of the Eucharist or Holy Communion; and finally, the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of time.
Advent season, therefore, starts a new stage of our worldly pilgrimage to the house of our Father.
The theme of the gospel from St. Luke is to be vigilant. He describes the coming of the Son of Man, referring to Jesus Christ, by means of metaphoric language of cosmic catastrophes . Church writers say that these images of calamities with universal proportions and fearsome natural disasters form part of the habitual language of apocalyptic authors to describe the intervention of God in human history. But we are cautioned not to interpret thus language in a literal form but instead reflect on their message. For example, Luke uses this very symbolic language on the end of the world to communicate a more profound and radical truth, which is the saving closeness of God. Thus, Luke presents the second coming of Christ as the great happening of human liberation.
As Christians our attitude is that of faith and trust, rather than fear. The first Sunday of Advent invites us to be awake, be prepared, hope and trust in God's loving mercy. Luke gives some tips to live evangelically (meaning, according to the teachings of the gospel) in the hope of the Lord, and so present ourselves confidently before Him when He comes in glory: "Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."
In practical sense, we can never fully predict disastrous events, but we can prepare for them. As Christians we can live a high moral life. In fact, in this Year of Faith Pope Benedict XVI wants us to pray to strengthen the faith of Catholics so that by their example we draw the world to our faith. We pray for the strength to live through the darker days. Ultimately, we must always live trusting that Jesus is fully present in us.
This Sunday is also National AIDS Sunday. Let us pray for those afflicted with HIV and AIDS. Let us pray most especially for our government officials to respect the human body as God's temple instead of promoting legislations that tend to satisfy only worldly pleasures.
As we enter the Advent Season, let us make it a journey of spiritual renewal in preparation of the Lord's coming on Christmas day!
That seems to be a strange greeting at this time of the year, when Christmas is yet to come. But indeed today we begin a new liturgical year, a new year's day in our life within the Church, as we welcome the Advent Season.
In the Catholic Church Advent is a period of preparation, extending over 4 Sundays before Christmas.
The word "advent" comes from the Latin "advenio", meaning "to come to", and refers to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Church wants us to reflect on advent in three ways: first the most obvious, in celebration of Christ's birth at Christmas; second, the coming of Christ in our lives through grace and the Sacrament of the Eucharist or Holy Communion; and finally, the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of time.
Advent season, therefore, starts a new stage of our worldly pilgrimage to the house of our Father.
The theme of the gospel from St. Luke is to be vigilant. He describes the coming of the Son of Man, referring to Jesus Christ, by means of metaphoric language of cosmic catastrophes . Church writers say that these images of calamities with universal proportions and fearsome natural disasters form part of the habitual language of apocalyptic authors to describe the intervention of God in human history. But we are cautioned not to interpret thus language in a literal form but instead reflect on their message. For example, Luke uses this very symbolic language on the end of the world to communicate a more profound and radical truth, which is the saving closeness of God. Thus, Luke presents the second coming of Christ as the great happening of human liberation.
As Christians our attitude is that of faith and trust, rather than fear. The first Sunday of Advent invites us to be awake, be prepared, hope and trust in God's loving mercy. Luke gives some tips to live evangelically (meaning, according to the teachings of the gospel) in the hope of the Lord, and so present ourselves confidently before Him when He comes in glory: "Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."
In practical sense, we can never fully predict disastrous events, but we can prepare for them. As Christians we can live a high moral life. In fact, in this Year of Faith Pope Benedict XVI wants us to pray to strengthen the faith of Catholics so that by their example we draw the world to our faith. We pray for the strength to live through the darker days. Ultimately, we must always live trusting that Jesus is fully present in us.
This Sunday is also National AIDS Sunday. Let us pray for those afflicted with HIV and AIDS. Let us pray most especially for our government officials to respect the human body as God's temple instead of promoting legislations that tend to satisfy only worldly pleasures.
As we enter the Advent Season, let us make it a journey of spiritual renewal in preparation of the Lord's coming on Christmas day!
A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.
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