First Sunday of Advent (C)

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Lk 21:25-28, 34-36

Advent is a time of preparation for two events. And that is why Advent is di-vided into two parts. The first part of Advent begins with the first Sunday of Advent and ends on December 16. In this first part, we prepare ourselves for the second coming of Christ at the end of time.
The second part of Advent begins on December 17 and ends on December 24. In the second part, we prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christmas which commemorates the first coming of Christ.

Advent is rich in themes. Here are some of them:
1. God keeps his promises. He promised a Messiah and he fulfilled that promise with the birth of Jesus. He promised to come again at the end of time. He will surely keep that promise, too.
2. The birth of Jesus reveals how much God loves us. The Father could have sent an angel to save us. He didn’t. He could also have raised an-other great human being to redeem us. He didn’t do that either. Instead he sent someone special, his only Son. He sent someone special because we are special to him.
3. The book of Genesis said that God has appointed us stewards of creation. Therefore, we have to take seriously our life here on earth. But we are not just meant to live on earth. A great destiny awaits us—heaven. One day Jesus will come again and bring us to live with him forever in heaven.
4. With the second coming of Christ, a great transformation will take place.

Jesus speaks about signs in the skies. Something will happen to the sun, to the moon, to the stars and to the planets. What does he want to say? These heavenly bodies will disappear because the old creation will have to give way to the new creation.

Jesus also speaks about disorder and disturbance. What does he want to say? Suppose you want to do a general clean up of the house. What will you do? You will move things here and there as you clean. As you are cleaning the house is in disorder. But afterwards the house is clean and in order. With the second coming of Christ, Jesus will bring a new order.

In other words, with the second coming of Christ everything will be perfected.

What are the implications of the coming of the new creation and a new order?

First, we need to be patient about our life here on earth. Our world is imperfect. Things can and will go wrong. Sin and evil will be there. Suffering will be part of our existence. But the time will come when sin, death and suffering will disappear and we shall always be happy and contented. But that will happen when Jesus comes again at the end of time. Meanwhile, we have to learn to live in this kind of world.

Second, it is true that we live in an imperfect world. But sometimes it is we who make our situation worse. Let’s talk about money. I have two examples.

First example. The wife goes to Hong Kong to work as a DH. She leaves behind husband and children. This is not a desirable situation. But this is an imperfect world. She sends money every month. After five years she gets sick and has to return home. What does she find back home? They still live in a rented house. And there are no savings. Why? The husband did not bother to find work. And with the monthly remittance of the wife assured, all they did was to spend the money. We live in an imperfect world, but we make our situation worse.

Second example. A farmer in Palawan. His income for the year is P40,000. At the end of the year, there is no money. Where did all the P40,000 go? If this farmer did not engage in gambling, in smoking, and in drinking, there would have been savings.

At the end of time, Christ will make all things new. The old creation will give way to the new creation. The old order, the old way of doing things will give way to a new order. But we don’t have to wait for the end of the world. We can and should do something about it now. How? By personal conversion and transformation.

And Advent with Lent are the two seasons of the year when we are invited to intensify that personal conversion and transformation. May I therefore suggest that as part of the Advent preparation we make a good confession and work on one point of personal conversion and transformation.

May God assist us in preparing ourselves spiritually for the coming solemnity of Christmas.