First Sunday of Advent A  November 28, 2010

Isaiah 2:1-5  Ps: 122    Rom 13:11-14  Matthew 24:37-44 

The readings of this first Sunday in Advent has a joyful, exciting feeling, like the one a child gets at the shopping malls these days. There is laughter merriment, the pointing of fingers to the decorations, the oohs and ahs as they recognize a new toy.

Isaiah speaks of the Holy Mountain. In the letter to the Romans we hear imaginative words like: night and day, darkness and light, sleep and alertness, a short time and eternity. The gospel speaks of the shock and suddenness as one is taken and the other left behind.

Yes, the Day of the Lord is approaching. It has the overtones of judgment, but also the reassurance of joy and salvation. Isaiah speaks of a vision. It has two dimensions:

First Isaiah speaks of what will happen at the end of time, i.e. things eschatological.

Secondly he gives us the hope of peace and tranquillity. It will come as we, the people of God know the paths of the Lord, and walk in the way of the Lord. Isaiah uses the delightful imagery of the Holy Mountain. It is here that all the crises, worries, troubles, stresses and anxieties will come to an end. He refers to the Holy Mountain often:

• On the holy mountain there will be no violence as spears and swords, weapons of war will be turned into instruments of peace: ploughshares and pruning forks. (Isaiah 2)
• On the holy mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine--the best of meats and the finest of wines.  (Isaiah 25:6)
• On the holy mountain there will be no hurt or destruction. Isaiah: 11:9. Now hunter and hunted will live in harmony: the lion and the ox, the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid.
• On the holy mountain, Moses encountered the Lord. Anyone who touched the mountain, person or animal – whether by accident or on purpose was destroyed. Now all are invited to the Holy Mountain

It is no wonder that the responsorial psalm to this glorious vision of Isaiah is the same song that pilgrims used, as they approached Jerusalem: “Let us go rejoicing to the House of the Lord.” It was a song they sang as they went up to Jerusalem for the festivals. Our Jewish Community will be singing it at they celebrate Hanukah. Hanukah begins at sundown on Wednesday, December 1, 2010. It ends at sundown on Thursday, December 9. It is an eight-day festival, celebrating the Maccabees’ recapture of the second Temple. This feast’s rededication is marked by the kindling of lights on a menorah or Chanukah. This leads us to the eschatological words of Romans. Light/darkness,  night/day,  sleep/ alertness.

Paul invites us to be alert and awake for the Day of the Lord. Paul does not speak of salvation here as individual salvation. He thinks rather of the universal salvation. He envisages the great Day of salvation at the end of history. 

Paul, like Christians of his time, thought that the Day of the Lord was just around the corner. However the call to be awake and alert, is not one of fear as if one were expecting a thief in the night.  The spirit would be more one of excitement as a child waiting with cookies and milk for Santa. Unfortunately like the child we fall asleep.

Paul invites his fellow Christians to put aside all the barriers that would prevent them from welcoming the Lord with joy. There is to be no drunkenness, debauchery and other failings in things carnal. We are awaiting the spirit. However, we cannot do this by ourselves, but rather with the help of the Lord.  We must “put on the Lord Jesus”. The discernment of vocations, in Jesuit tradition, encourages us to “put on the mind and heart of Jesus Christ.”

AT first sight the Gospel seems to bolster up Paul’s vision of the Day of the Lord. It is just around the corner. Jesus had spoken about

Wars and insurrections

Famines and floods

Earthquakes and other natural disasters.

These were all a series of catastrophes that people had personally witnessed before the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Today we think that Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami, the floods in Pakistan, the Earthquake in Haiti. These have the same signs of the Day of the Lord. This coupled with the killing of Christians in Iraq and Pakistan make the Prophets of doom even more strident. One is expecting at any moment, the return of the Son of Man. When he comes there will be:

the Last Judgment,

the new heaven and the new earth,

the ultimate separation of the saved and the lost.

“One will be taken from the field, one will be taken from the home: the others will be left behind. But Jesus warns us not to go after these false prophets. He will send us the Holy Spirit who will

• give us the knowledge and understanding,
• give us the strength and courage,
• give us words to speak, so that we do not have to prepare a defence when we are brought before kings, rulers and judges.

Let us enter and rejoice as we go to the house of the Lord.