Today, we celebrate the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of a new liturgical year. We are now in Cycle B of our Sunday Mass readings. Advent is a season of preparation for Christmas, when Christ’s first coming into the world is remembered. However, according to the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969, this is only one of the main characteristics of Advent. It is also the season when our remembrance directs us to await Christ's second coming in the end times. Advent is thus a period for devout and joyful expectation for the two comings of Christ: when he arrived in the manger as a baby at Christmas time and when he will come again in the end times.
This first Sunday of Advent, the message is to be watchful and alert as we wait. This echoes the Gospel themes we heard at the end of the liturgical year in recent weeks: of the maidens who were prepared and had enough oil for their lamps as they awaited the arrived of the bridegroom, and of the master who gave his servants talents to take care of, not knowing when the master would return.
It is hard work to be alert and watchful, especially in this busy time of the year. Many Catholics have a great love for the Advent season. We probably have a lot of memories of our favorite Advent tradition, especially when growing up as a child. I always loved having an Advent calendar growing up; we would always have a different one each year. Each day, the Advent calendar revealed a religious symbol or a short Bible verse. But, even as a small child, I knew that Advent calendar helped me count down the days before Christmas and to remember to focus on Jesus and on my faith, not on the Christmas decorations or the Christmas presents that I dreamed of getting.
I love the short simple quotes of Mother Teresa. Her simple words make us think a lot about the profound meaning behind them. This quote from Mother Teresa struck me as we begin our Advent journey: “Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today, let us begin.” Sometime, we can be so occupied with the past, of past hurts, past failures, past routines, and old ways of doing things. Not that the past isn’t important, because what happened in the past is part of us and we learn from the past. Or, alternatively, we can be so fixated on what is happening tomorrow that we lose sight of the present. Yes, our present reality is important. We have work to do during Advent, this journey we are starting today. We have preparations to which we need to be alert, to which we need to be present. We need be alert as to what is going to happen in the future, but we need to also worry about what we are doing right now. Every day counts. In our faith, we are to live life to the fullest.
Once when Mother Teresa was visiting our country, she was asked which virtue Americans needed the most. You would think she would have said “charity,” right? But she said the virtue Americans need the most is hope, saying that too many people today have lost hope. Perhaps, we could say that we have misplaced our hope, not lost it. Perhaps, we have put our hope in the wrong things, on things that ultimately cannot fulfill our deepest longings or our most profound needs. Advent is not about instant gratification or what our money can buy us. Advent is about being watchful and alert as God accompanies us on our journey, as we place our hope in our faith.
In any difficulties, darkness, and trouble we have right now, to be alert and watchful on our journey requires two things, according to Father Dave Pivonka of Franciscan University of Steubenville. First, Father Pivonka says that we must persevere. Perseverance was an important virtue that we had to rely on during the pandemic, even though we know it is not always easy to persevere in the challenges, trials, and tribulations we go through in life. Second, we are called to look for Jesus in unexpected places on our Advent journey, thinking of how he lived out his ministry in unexpected places: visiting the poor, eating meals with tax collectors, conversing with unbelievers, befriending sinners, and healing lepers. Perhaps, in our watchfulness and our waiting this Advent season, the Lord will call us to some unexpected places as well.
I would like to close my homily this first Sunday of Advent with this observation: Sometimes it is easy for us to focus on something on our journey of faith. We might want to be very focused on Advent this year, wanting it to be a great season of waiting and preparation. But, as we start our Advent journey, we might find it difficult to focus. We might feel a bit discombobulated or frustration or stretched in different directions. My advice is that if Advent does not turn out to be what we want it to be: Don’t worry. Don't be afraid. Just take it day by day. Bring your reality to your Advent journey. Learn on your Advent journey. Try your best to be watchful and alert. Our Advent journey will teach us.
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