First Sunday of Advent: A New Age - CUA Office of Public Affairs

First Sunday of Advent: Watching and Waiting in Prayer

By the Rev. Francis T. Gignac, S.J.

December 3, 2000

With this first Sunday of Advent, we begin a new liturgical year. Perhaps some good resolutions are appropriate for our spiritual new year. At least I find myself hoping that our established patterns of worship might truly inspire us. We invest a considerable amount of time, energy and intention into our regular attendance at Mass. Would that this liturgical action become for us a very meaningful experience as we share the eucharistic meal with one another and support one another in faith.

Advent has become a time of watching and waiting in prayerful expectation for the coming of Christ. Over the centuries, Christians have distinguished three comings of Christ. The earliest Christians expected Jesus to come back again during the middle of the first century. Later, they began to commemorate the birth of Jesus in Palestine, which took place a little more than 2,000 years ago. Finally, believers were led to prepare themselves to receive Christ into their hearts in a special way at Christmas. All three comings are reflected in the readings of this liturgy.

Our continuous readings this year come from the Gospel according to Luke. We begin toward the end of the last chapter (21:25-28, 34-36) just before the passion narrative. This passage is based on the reading we heard from Mark two weeks ago, where he portrays the end of this age in stock apocalyptic imagery as a final cataclysm with signs in the sun, the moon and the stars; distress among nations; and storms at sea. Fear will take people's breath away as the powers of heaven are shaken.

This was to be a sign of the coming of the Son of Man on a cloud, an allusion to the book of Daniel (7:13). There, a human figure "like a Son of Man" is used as a symbol for "the saints," the elect of Israel who have been promised a kingdom. This figure was applied by the Christian community to Christ, our brother in glory, our hero whom they expected to come back again to lead us into his heavenly kingdom.

So the followers of Jesus were told not to fear but to "stand erect and raise your heads." They are also exhorted to prepare for the coming of that day, and not to let their life styles dull their senses. The author ends this section with his favorite theme of prayer, "Be vigilant at all times and pray." And that indeed is the theme of our Advent liturgy. We now watch and wait in prayerful expectation for the coming of Christ into our hearts in a special way at Christmas. We live in a world that by and large, needs the values Jesus taught. We must live like those who truly believe in him.

To complement the Gospel reading, our first reading was taken from the book of Jeremiah (33:14-16). This passage pictures Yahweh telling his people that the days are coming when he will fulfill the promise he made to them - that the throne and dynasty of David would be established forever. Yahweh would raise up a "just shoot for David," a worthy successor to the throne, who will "do what is right and just in the land."

Early Jewish Christians, searching the pages of their Bibles for passages that could help them understand and articulate their faith experience of Christ, saw a deeper meaning in this passage and applied it to Jesus, who in their view was son of David and king of Israel in a unique way. They saw in the birth of Jesus a fulfillment of this promise in a way that the prophet of old had never dreamed.

The second reading is from the first letter of Paul that has survived (1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2). Written in the spring of A.D. 51, it is the earliest writing in the New Testament. In it, Paul prays that the Lord Jesus might make that community of believers overflow with love for one another and for all, and that he might strengthen their hearts to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. This passage reflects the second coming of Christ, for Paul at this time expected our Lord to come back during his lifetime.

During Advent, the liturgy invites us to rekindle within ourselves a sense of watching and waiting in prayerful expectation for the coming of Christ into our hearts so that his influence may dominate our daily existence. In the growing darkness and cold of December, we are called to look to the light and warmth of Christ. Christ has come among us. Christ is among us. Christ will come again in a glory to be recognized only by those who keep watch. May this Advent season of preparation be a holy one for us, so that Christ may be reborn in us in a special way this Christmas.

The Rev. Francis T. Gignac, S.J., is a professor and chair of the Department of Biblical Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. A photo is available.

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Revised: February 13, 2001