First Sunday
in Advent, 2013
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44
There was a time when great effort was
spent going to a Christmas tree lot, picking out a tree, getting it home and
into a stand, and finally getting lights and decorations on it. Eventually the
cost of a real Christmas tree and the amount of time it took to get it in a
stand and decorate it made it popular to purchase artificial pre-lit trees.
There was a time, too, and in recent
memory, when there was no such thing as pre-tied bows and stretchy ribbon that
does not require cutting and tying. Choices in paper were few. You do not have
to be too old to remember when we had to actually wrap a present, cut and tie
the ribbon and make the bow ourselves. Now many people grab a stack of
decorated sacks, throw in some Christmas colored tissue, and “Behold, a
present!”
Children can surprise us with their
observations of the world as they see it. Without memories of how things used
to be, they live a life of fast food, impatience, and not much discipline when
it comes to anything requiring the investment of time. Even as adults we can be
so anxious to celebrate Christmas that we begin celebrating even before the day
arrives. There is little chance to anticipate and savor. Not only children beg
to open presents early! The truth is that most of us very much look forward to
Christmas, but many of us also very much dread the stress of Christmas.
Advent is a wonderful time in our
church year, yet all too often it is overwhelmed by the race to Christmas. We
should see Advent as a very precious gift to us — a gift that gives an
opportunity to focus on what lies ahead, keeping us from racing to Christmas
then failing to enjoy it because at our breakneck speed we rushed through
Christmas and hardly noticed it. Advent enables us to put on the brakes. It is
a gift that teaches us to wait. It is a gift that teaches us patience. It is a
gift that gives us the opportunity to remember Christmases long ago and lets us
make new memories while savoring the old. The stories of Advent are of stories
of thrilling expectation, stories of hope, stories of joy.
The word advent means “coming.” What is
coming? What is coming is the completion of the Kingdom of God when Christ
returns. As is the case today, in the beginning of Advent we are not called to
look directly at Christmas but to look beyond it. Our readings, especially the
first reading from Isaiah, offer us a vision of what Christmas made possible.
The Preface for Mass today refers to Christ’s first coming, then continues by
saying that the first coming “opened for us the way to eternal salvation, that,
when He comes again in glory and majesty and all is at last made manifest, we
who watch for that day may inherit the great promise.” The promise is in the
first reading: On that day we will live on “the mountain of the Lord’s house.”
But
as we enter into Advent once again, we are not preparing for the coming of the
Christ Child; that already happened more than 2,000 years ago. Rather, in
Advent, we break our normal routine and move into heightened alert to perceive
more intensely the ways in Jesus and God is with us.
Advent
might well be for many of us a time for which we have waited. It can be a time
when we do spiritual housecleaning.
Advent is a time when we clear out of our personal closet the soiled and
worn out habits that no longer fit us as a followers of Jesus. Advent comes at the shortest days of the
year, the darkest of days almost as a reminder that we must take an honest look
at how our lives can easily be filled with darkness. Indeed, the whole season
of Advent is a time for looking at the wider picture -- not just in order to
prepare celebrating the birth of the Savior, but for us to be prepared for his
coming on our last day.
Isaiah was dealing with the fact that
Jerusalem had faced attack by former allies and had ended up a vassal of
Assyria. People were living in the pain and fear of a violent world of
uprisings and conquests, not entirely unlike what is happening in the Holy Land
today. Isaiah’s point was that, despite appearances to the contrary, God is
still in charge. Jerusalem is built on top of a hill which Isaiah refers to as
the “mountain of the Lord’s house.” After the years of war, fighting and bloodshed,
God’s power will eventually cause people to learn to live together and forget
the ways of war.
Advent is a gift that allows us to look
at our frightening world, yet still have confidence and hope. Isaiah speaks of
a world without war and violence. We look past Christmas now so that when we do
focus on Christmas, it will mean much, much more. The trees and wrapping are
not bad things, but they must be used to help us build anticipation while
living in patience, waiting for our God who has not only come once but will
come again. If we race too fast through Advent, it too will be artificial.
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