First Sunday of Advent (A)

As it was in the days of Noah,so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Mt 24:37-44

Happy New Year! Yup, it’s New Year alright. It’s not the civil New Year but the New Year of the Liturgical Calendar.

The Liturgical Year begins with the First Sunday of Advent and ends on Saturday after the Solemnity of Christ the King.

During the Liturgical Year we commemorate the important events in the life of Christ. The two most important events are Christmas (God fulfills his promise of sending the Savior.) and Easter (Jesus by rising from the dead has conquered sin and death for us.)

Important events need preparation. We prepare for Christmas during the season of Advent. We prepare for Easter during the season of Lent.

Out of sight. Out of mind. We need to see something so that we will not forget. The Advent Wreath is what Mother Church uses to remind us to prepare ourselves for Christmas.

ADVENT WREATH

It has four candles to represent the four Sundays of Advent. Each Sunday one candle is lighted until all four are lit.

Three candles are violet. One is pink.

Violet is the color of preparation. That is why the color of Lent is also violet. How do we prepare ourselves? St. John the Baptist tells us how: “Make straight his paths!” In other words, our preparation consists in repentance and conversion. That is why, confession is an important act during Advent and during Lent.

Is there a difference in the preparation of Advent and Lent? Yes, there is. The Advent preparation is a joyful one. The Lenten preparation is a somber one.

Why is one candle pink? The pink candle is lighted on the Third Sunday of Advent. Pink stands for joy. Ilang tulog na lang Pasko na! (Literally, a few more sleeps and it will be Christmas!) That is why we are joyful.

Then the shape of the Advent wreath is a circle. The circle has no beginning and no end. The circle stands for eternity. Eternity has no beginning and no end. Why are we being reminded of eternity during Advent? The first part of Advent is about the Second Coming of Christ. The second part of Advent is about the First coming of Christ. When Christ comes again, time will end and eternity will begin. For those who are found worthy of heaven, it will be happiness—body and soul—without end.

Green is the color of the Advent Wreath. Green stands for hope. We are invited to put our hope in Jesus. What does that mean? It means that we trust that Jesus in his goodness will enable us to be happy in heaven for all eternity.

NOAH’S ARK

The gospel for this Sunday begins by mentioning Noah’s Ark. God commanded Noah to build an Ark so that he and his family might be saved from the great flood that he was going to send. The flood was going to kill off all life on earth. Humanity’s sins have reached such proportions that God could no longer stand it. But since Noah was a just man, God was going to save him and his family. And while Noah was building his Ark, people laughed at him. But Noah was not deterred. God gave the command. He believed in God. And he built the Ark. And when the flood came, he and his family were saved.

God sent the flood because God couldn’t stand anymore the sins of men. It is interesting to note that some Saints could smell the stench of sin. The more serious the sins, the more intense the stench was. St. John Bosco (or Don Bosco) said that sometimes the smell was so bad, he was at the point of vomiting.

The season of Advent calls us to repent and be converted. St. Francis de Sales says that repentance should include an abhorrence of sin. Abhorrence of sin may be compared to our reaction to stench. Dapat nating pandirihan ang ating mga kasalanan.

An ark is a boat or a ship. One of the symbols of the Church is a boat. St. John Bosco had a vision about the Church. (Don Bosco used to call his visions “dreams” because these visions usually came to him in his sleep.) In that vision the Church was represented by a ship. That vision came to be known as the Dream of the Two Pillars.

In that vision, the boat under the command of the Pope was being attacked on all sides. The enemy ships wanted to sink the ship of the Church. The Pope ordered the ship to seek safety between two giant pillars coming out of the sea. Upon reaching the two pillars, he ordered the ship to be tied to the two pillars. On top of the higher pillar was the Sacred Host. On top of the lower pillar was a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Once the ship of the Church was tied securely to the two pillars, a violent wind sprung from nowhere and sunk the enemy ships. Only the ship of the Church under the command of the Pope was saved.

Jesus is our Savior. We can not save ourselves. That is why Jesus had to come down from heaven and be born on Christmas day. But he can not save us unless we come to him, in the same way that the ship of the Church had to go to the Pillar of the Eucharist in order to be saved. How do we come to Jesus? We come to Jesus especially through confession and communion.

In the dream of the Two Pillars, there is also the lower pillar of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is fortunate that the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception occurs during the First Week of Advent. The Blessed Mother teaches us how to prepare ourselves for Christmas. The Immaculate Conception means that Mary was never touched by sin, not even from the first moment of her existence. Obviously, we can not imitate her in that aspect. But we can go to confession and be cleansed of our sins and make every effort of avoiding mortal sins so that when Christmas comes we can present to Jesus a heart that is ready for him.

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The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to the welfare of the young. If you feel called by God to give your life for the good of the young, you may want help in discovering if this is really God's will for you. Please get in touch with the Vocation Director (Don Bosco North Province, Philippines) - 0917-7930112 - finvoc@yahoo.com - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.