December 3 2017 - Homily for First Sunday of Advent – Cycle B - Mark 13:33-37

       Today we start the beginning of the holy season of Advent and the beginning of our Church’s liturgical year.   Advent is a time when we prepare for the coming of Jesus into our world at Christmas.  Yet, if we don’t prepare our hearts for Jesus’ birth during this holy season, what significance will Christmas have in our lives?

         Advent is a time when we look at the signs all around us that will help us prepare.  So, what is the message that Jesus gives us today on this first Sunday of Advent?  From the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells us:  Be watchful!  Stay alert!  We don’t know the exact hour when the master will return.  It may be in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.  We need to stay awake, so when that time comes, we’ll be ready, we’ll be prepared.

         The signs, symbols, and rituals that we have around us during the season of Advent will help us stay awake, to be prepared, to be ready for Christ’s arrival into our world.  One of the symbols that will accompany us during this holy season is the Advent wreath,which we blessed at the beginning of mass today. We always have an Advent wreath in church during Advent.  I know that many families also have the tradition of lighting an Advent wreath at home.  We have probably been very familiar with this symbol from our earliest memories of Christmas from our childhood, but perhaps we don’t know the history of the Advent wreath’s history. It has its origins in pre-Christian times in Germany, when people would gather together evergreens and light candles in the midst of the greens in order to ward off the winter darkness, to show the world a sign of hope that springtime would soon come.  Catholics in Germany adapted this tradition into their Christian faith; by the early 16th century, the Advent wreath had become an Advent symbol throughout the world.  The circular shape of the wreath symbolizes that God has no beginning and no end.  The live, evergreen branches symbolize the eternal life that we have in Christ.  The four candles on the wreath symbolize the light of Christ that penetrates the darkness of our world.  The purple color of three of these candles symbolizes the penance, conversion, and sacrifices that are all a part of our journey through this holy season. The rose color of one of the candles represents Guadete Sunday that we celebrate on the 3rd Sunday of Advent, half-way through our Advent journey.  The rose candle is a symbol of the joy that we feel in the midst of our preparations for Christmas, of the way that we will rejoice at the time of Jesus’ birth.  Each Sunday during Advent, we’ll light a candle on our Advent wreath, showing the progress we are making this Advent season as we get closer to the day of Jesus’ birth. 

         By telling us to be watchful, Christ is preparing us for his return in glory, but he also tells us that we will not know the exact time of that return.  This reading connects the coming of Jesus into our world in that humble manger in Bethlehem to his return after his death and resurrection.  As we begin the time of preparation today, we receive the message that the events of Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection are inseparable and intrinsically connected to one another.  God’s story of salvation is to be heard loud and clear as we make our preparations during this holy season. 
        As we watch for the signs of this season, as the rituals and symbols help us along our journey, Advent will truly become a holy and meaningful time for us in our journey of faith.