Matthew 24:37-44
Dear Friends, Advent has us look backward so we can look forward. Both views call us to live in the present. Advent is not a penitential season but a celebration of the coming of Christ among us. A special element of Advent is the anticipation of the second coming of Christ. Both in the incarnation and the second coming we have a powerful invitation to embrace the gift of today to walk with Christ.Isaiah is the featured Old Testament author of the Advent Season. The beauty of his poetry is filled with hope for deliverance and longing for the final expression of God’s saving power.
Matthew’s message today, and in this time of Advent, is based on the fundamental confidence flowing from the Christian message. Christ will return in glory and with him will come the fullness of redemption. A new day is coming. Matthew is emphatic: we need to be ready.
This longing for the return of the Lord mirrors the passionate longing expressed in Isaiah. Yet it is incredibly enriched and supported by our gift of the Gospel reality. Paul tells us, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” (Romans 13:14) So we join together in our liturgies and in our lives to proclaim the Advent yearning: Come Lord Jesus!
In the meanwhile, Isaiah, Paul and Matthew have a clear and simple message for us. Live today in faithfulness to the Lord. Enter into our reality. We do not know the future but we do know the present. We are called to live the Gospel with acts of mercy and forgiveness, with concern for justice and the constant struggle “to beat the swords into plowshares and the spears into pruning hooks.” Isaiah 2:4)
Swords and plowshares are not our ordinary arsenal in our daily battles with one another. We often have looks and words and attitudes that are up to the task of antagonism against our neighbor. We have anger and resentments with more than enough prejudices to create walls of isolation and hostility. We have a way of making our time, interests and convenience the measure of our actions, all to the detriment of fraternal charity. More often than not this is done with a faced of righteousness. Advent is a time to put away the weapons of hostility and division and isolation. It is a time to pray with a truly humble heart, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
Advent challenges us to look at the lost opportunities, the time wasted and misdirected. We all have more than enough to account for. Advent calls us to gather ourselves together and live today, in the grace of the present moment for tomorrow is in God’s hands. We indeed need to cry out, Come Lord Jesus! But a life seeking to walk with Jesus right now makes our cry all the more real and focused. God is very capable of keeping the schedule. He will do his job of finishing the program at the appropriate time. It is quite normal for us to use that familiar question of our youth, Are we there yet? God will let us know. In the meanwhile, our task is to be faithful to the Gospel message and express the hunger in our heart for a new day with the beautiful Advent prayer, Come Lord Jesus!
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