Well here we are at the start of another Church Year as we begin our preparation for Christmas. We go from the green of Ordinary time to the Purple which symbolizes the penitential season of Advent. last week, at the end of the Church’s year, we had the highpoint of the Feast of Christ the King. One week later we start all over again as we light the first purple candle on the advent wreath. Advent is the season that brings us back to the ancient longing of the human race for the coming of one who would bring to this world liberation from sadness and the fulfilment of perfect peace.
The gospel reading for this weekend gives us the last address of Jesus’ public ministry. And Jesus is clearly fretful about the future as he paints a bleak picture of the end of the world. There is talk of nations in agony, of bewilderment, of people dying of fear, of the power which menaces the world. It is a nightmare view of total disaster which “will come down on every living man on the face of the earth”.
Given that vision of ultimate collapse, it is hardly surprising that it might drive people to drink! Being sober and awake might not seem very attractive in the face of such catastrophe. Nightmares are bad experiences we usually wake up from, not experiences we stay awake for. Yet that is Jesus’ advice: “Stay awake, and be ready praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen”. This Sundays Gospel also encourages us to do two things which are difficult to hold together: to be honest about the way the world is going, and at the same time not to lose hope in the future. The danger is that we see the terror clearly, and don’t see our reason for hoping. And given the muddle we’re often in, Jesus has to convince us about a future that is really liberating. The way he does that best is through the example of his own life from birth to resurrection, from Christmas to Easter Sunday we see life through all of these times and events as people of faith.
Advent reminds us that we don’t have to sleepwalk blindly into the future. Every year we remember the story of Jesus life again, and that memory of the past becomes our hope for the future. That’s why we retell the story again and again, beginning on this first Sunday of Advent and ending on the feast of Christ the King. We all need to be reminded of God’s love from time to time. We need to check the record of the past to reassure ourselves as we go into the future. When we do, we see how far-reaching God’s love is for all of us. The Lord is coming may the heavens rejoice and earth be glad as we go forward together in hope and joy this advent season.
Fullerton T 