FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)

Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming.

Mk 13:33-37

THE SEASON OF ADVENT

The season of Advent is in preparation for Christmas. Because this prepara-tion period consists of a conversion of one’s self to God, the liturgical color is violet. However, unlike Lent the spirit of Advent is festive and joyful.

Advent is made up of four Sundays. The liturgical color of the third Sunday is pink in order to indicate the joy the one feels because Christmas is so near.

In terms of theme, Advent is divided into two parts. The first part is from the first Sunday of Advent until Dec. 15. The theme is the Parousia, that is, the second coming of Christ. The second part is from Dec. 16 until Dec. 24. This time the theme is Christmas. While the first part deals with the second coming of Christ as King, the second part is about the first coming of Christ as a baby in Bethlehem.

For us Filipinos, we take to heart this spiritual preparation for Christmas by celebrating a novena of Masses. Either we go to the dawn Mass or to the evening Mass. Our dawn Masses come by many names: simbang gabi, misa de gallo and misa de Aguinaldo.

EXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL

It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work.

Jesus has ascended to heaven. He entrusts to his Church the work that the Fa-ther has given him to do: preaching the Good News (Gospel).

Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming.

The second coming of Jesus is called the Parousia. When will it happen? No one knows. The early Church thought that Christ would return soon. They ex-pressed their eagerness for his return through this petition: Maranatha! Come, Lord, come! If the cry of Easter is alleluia, the cry of Advent is maranatha!

Now this expectation of Christ’s early return resulted in some problems. Some Christians stopped working. After all, if Christ is coming soon, what’s the use of working. You won’t be able to bring the fruit of your labor out of this world. This prompted St. Paul to write a stern letter. He wrote: “In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat. We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others. Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food” (2Thess 3: 10-12).

MY PAST, MY PRESENT AND MY FUTURE

We are living in the “End Times”. This refers to the period between the first coming of Christ in Bethlehem and his return in glory at the Parousia. Christ has already come. Christ is still to return. Meanwhile what do I do with the present? Or better yet: “How do I live my present, mindful of my past and also with an eye to the future?” This should make for a much richer life.

We need to heed our past. We should learn from it. Otherwise, we are condemned to repeat our mistakes. In the past, I might have given over to others control over my life. What I do in my life depended on what others think or say instead of what I want to do. I might want to learn how to skate now. But I don’t because others may think I’m too old for that.

While the past is no more, it continues to affect our present. We need to heal our past. I might have felt I was treated unjustly sometime in my past. What can I do about it? I can talk about it with the person who is responsible for that injustice in the hope that I will get a better grasp of what really happened. And if an injustice was really done to me, I might ask and indeed, receive an apology.

Or I might want to look at that past event from an adult’s point of view and come to the realization that my interpretation of the past was wrong. My father might have been absent during important moments in my life because he was working abroad. I might feel hurt by that. But realizing now that he had no choice because he had to send me and my siblings to school, the hurt that I might have been nursing in my heart might turn now into gratitude for the sacrifice that he had to make. For it was not only I who missed him. He as a father also missed me and my siblings.

I also need to keep an eye on the future. What I do now affects my future. Or better yet, what should I do now so that I can create the future that I want? This is called proactive thinking. For instance, I want my children to graduate from this particular university. What should I do now so that this future that I want for my children will come true?

Another example. I am working abroad. I want to return to the Philippines 20 years from now. What should I be doing now so that I will be able to return to the Philippines in the year 2028?

This doesn’t mean that the future will turn out the way I want it. But it means that I take responsibility for my life, for my future. I just don’t allow things to happen.

And another thing. I have no control over the future. Many things can happen between my planning, my doing and the future. I need to entrust my future in the hands of God. In other words, my security is not in my planning but in the providence of God who takes great interest in my welfare.