First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2022

We do not know the time of Jesus’ return / we must be prepared

Matthew 24: 37–44

‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of man comes.

For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark,

and they suspected nothing till the Flood came and swept them all away. This is what it will be like when the Son of man comes.

Then of two men in the fields, one is taken, one left; of two women grinding at the mill, one is taken, one left.

‘So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming.

You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house.

Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

Music Meditations

• O Come, O Come Emmanuel
• Open My Eyes, Lord

Opening Prayer

Lord make me available to your daily appearances in my life. Help me to see that you are there in the people I meet, the situations I face. Help me to live fully in the present, with an eye to the future that comes to all of us. Help me to live in the eternal now. Help me to trust in you completely.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions” 2014, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:
Note: refers to Mark 13: 37-37, the gospel for 1st Sunday of Advent, year B

The Israelites in exile had no hope for their recovery and return to Israel. The Babylonian captivity lasted for about 50 years and, judging from their present situation, the exiles had no concrete reason to hope. Despite their sins (”our guilt carries us away like the wind”), Israel’s prayer recalls that God created the people (”You, Lord, are our father, our redeemer who are named forever.”) and how once God deemed them from slavery. The prayer articulates that neither the enslaved people, nor we, can save ourselves from our present situation. The present is a period of suffering for large populations around the globe. The world can’t get better on its own. We need divine intervention: we need Advent hope, we need the coming of Christ. We can’t merely “prepare for Christmas” without that help. We need and pray for an intervention by God. We need a Messiah.

The gospel is sober and leaves little doubt that the master is returning to the house to assert his authority. This passage is part of a section called “the Little Apocalypse,” I.e. a miniature “revealing.” The text sets up Advent for us. We are not yet expecting the birth of the little baby Jesus, but the coming of Jesus, the master, who unexpectedly breaks into our routine in the middle of the night when we may be dozing off, or fully asleep.  Our usual routine is shattered when God enters our world. In our lives we may have placed too much security on what was close at hand and seemed secure. But our accustomed world can easily collapse, like the dollar in recession. Advent asks how secure is the ground we stand on? When God enters our lives our self-sufficiency will not be enough for us.

Don’t we sense that our weary and battered world is not what God has in mind for us? God has plans to bring about another world through Jesus Christ. Those who are ready and awake will know when God comes and how to respond to God’s presence. Advent awakens us to realize we have invested our treasure in the wrong places and that world must end. The master, whom we serve, is coming to help us awaken from sleep so we can put aside our false world and rebuild our house on rock. “God is faithful” --  Paul’s words will accompany us through any change or adjustment we must make in our lives. This is the God Isaiah evokes as he imagines us as clay to be formed by our God, “the potter,” and reminds us, “we are all the work of your hands.”

Today’s selection from Mark is a gospel for hard times. This was certainly true for the community for whom Mark wrote. To name just a few problems the early Christian community faced: Jerusalem was destroyed in the year 70; Christians were persecuted by both religious and political authorities; the new faith had torn families apart; false prophets were predicting Christ’s imminent return. Who could blame these early Christians for asking, “Where is Jesus now that we need him? Has he forgotten us? When is he going to return?”

These questions we modern believers might ask when the foundations of our world are shaken by death, divorce, catastrophic illness, a child on drugs, extended unemployment etc. Hearing today’s gospel would have strengthened the faithful undergoing hard times. As difficult as their days might have been the parable would have assured them that Jesus was going to return, and would put an end to their suffering. The admonition  “Be watchful!  Be alert!” would influence them each day. “Perhaps this is the day Jesus is returning.” That expectation and hope would strengthen them “in the meanwhile. “What about us, all these years later? In the developed world we may not be going through what the early Christian community did in Mark’s time.  But some communities in the world and individuals among us, certainly are. So many Christians and people of goodwill are experiencing uprooting with the consequent confusion and pain.

We pray with the many distressed of the world today. We cling to Advent hope and trust that God holds all people in loving hands. Nothing is outside God’s concern and God can come at any moment to help us. We have a lot that distracts us in daily life and can numb us to the pain of others. Following Jesus’ mandate to “Be watchful! Be alert!” helps us stay in touch with our faith in God’s love and alert to God’s intervention in our daily lives.

Staying alert helps us grow spiritually. We grow in sensitivity to the pain of others when we begin to notice what grieves them. Our staying awake and attentive to the world around us can alert us to the already-arrived and still-coming of Christ.

This season has us keep watchful for Christ’s future return. Still, Advent is very much a season of the present moment because God is already in our midst and continues to stay with us. When Advent has ended we will celebrate Christ’s taking flesh among us. In the meanwhile this Eucharist helps us prepare for Christ and, with the Word, can open our eyes and ears to his presence already among us.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

You must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

Have you ever found yourself suddenly unprepared for something? How did it feel? How did it work out? What did you learn? Have you had an experience which made you stop and reflect on the priorities you have in your life? Have you spent more time shaping your resume than shaping your soul? How many of us, like the rich farmer in the gospel, live in denial and live as if our lives were forever on this earth? Without getting lugubrious, how can we be sure that we are prepared to meet Jesus? The world is crazy and depressing, as it was in the time of the early Church. What gives me hope? How do I share that hope with others? How can we “stay awake” in the present? How can we avoid “sleepwalking” through life? What is the role of prayer in helping us notice what is really important and frequently overlooked or ignored? Christ has already come! how does that fact make Advent confusing for Christians?

Adapted from Walter Burghardt, S.J.: Advent is a time to remember, repent, and rehearse. Remember: Do we remember God’s pivotal care for a people who walked in darkness? How is the world of today like the world Jesus entered 2020 years ago? How is it different? Repent: Which actually means “change your mind --change your behavior—to rethink”. What do we in our current American society need to re-think and what changes must we make? Rehearse: What are we as individuals and as a society going to look like when Jesus comes for us (singularly or as a group)? What preparations do we need to make and what behaviors must we mirror in order to be ready? How are you working now to make the world look like a place Jesus would want to be when He comes again?

From Father Paul Gallagher OFM: All of creation seems to suggest that change and cycles of nature are at work all around us. Where are you most aware of those changes taking place? How do you feel about the changes that you are experiencing at this point in your life and in creation? The historical, political and social events of the world were affecting how Matthew's community understood their relationship to God. What are some of the events in your life, in the community, and the world that are affecting your understanding of your relationship to God and or the Church? This gospel will be proclaimed all around the world next Sunday. How do you think people in different parts of the world will hear and react to this text? Can you think of places where they may hear this text very differently than you are hearing it? How do you hear this gospel text? What do you think God is saying to you? How will you respond?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

I read Luke 12:13-21 (The Foolish Rich Man), and set the scene of the story. What is the rich man’s house like? Does he have a family? How do they live? I picture the rich man storing up his grain and goods, and imagine the effort and length of time it takes. What does he say to himself when his tasks are completed? I imagine how he feels when he learns he is going to die that night.

To what people or things am I attached? What have I done to hang on to those things? How would I feel if they were taken from me by fire, earthquake, or death? What does this tell me about attachments? Both the Dalai Lama and Tony DeMello, S.J. say that our attachments bring no happiness; in fact, they are a source of unhappiness. Do I agree? Why or why not?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

“the way I live should be the way I look when Christ comes for me” —Walter Burghardt How Christ-like am I in where I am right now and in what I do; with people whose lives I touch? How do I handle money, power, fame? Who do I need to forgive? From whom do I need forgiveness? How do I relate to Christ who is found in the 25% of US children who live in poverty? How do I relate to Christ who is found in those seeking refuge and asylum in my wealthy country? How do I relate to Christ who is found in the 50% of all elderly who love on $377 a week or less, and that includes medical expenses?

Do I really believe Christ has come?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

From Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director, Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries, Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral Raleigh, NC

“You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.” —Romans 13:11

Advent brings with it the spirit of watchfulness, a time of observing God’s in-breaking salvation. Do you see God acting in quiet ways in the world? Are you preparing a place for God in your life in a more visible and tangible way? Are you ready to wake up and join in? If you listen to the nightly news, the world seems hopeless. Yet, we are called to be a people of hope and Advent is a time of preparation. We prepare because we have hope in God’s love and grace.

At our Door Ministry, we strive to give the people who come to us a sense of hope. One parishioner said to me that our pledge of $100 doesn’t seem like much to help a person behind on today’s rents that are climbing. I always think to myself, God hasn’t abandoned this person, why should our parish? We are a parish that offers hope. I have deep gratitude for all of you that contribute to the Door Fund/Ministry. You make a difference in many lives. It is like that with all of our justice ministries here at Cathedral. If you aren’t participating in an outreach ministry, maybe this Advent would be a good time to explore where you could use your God-given talents and give the gift of yourself. As you light the first Advent candle, reflect on your need to wake up to God’s hopes for you; to be God’s hope to others.

Poetic Reflection:

While we all know that the world will end for us at some time or another, we often live as though this were not the case, until we can no longer do so. This cycle has been dubbed “denial, denial, denial, despair.” How does Wendell Berry capture our wish to deny our own demise?

Voices Late at Night

Until I have appeased the itch To be a millionaire, spare us, O Lord, and spare; Don't end the world until it has made me rich. it ends in poverty O Lord, until I come to fame, I pray thee keep the peace; Allay all strife, let rancor cease Until my book may earn its due acclaim. it ends in strife, unknown. Since I have promised wealth to all Bless our economy; Preserve our incivility and greed until votes are cast this fall. Unknown, it ends in ruin. Favor the world, Lord, with Thy love; Spare us for what we're not. I fear They wrath, and Hell is hot; Don't blow Thy trumpet until I improve. Words blaze; the trumpet sounds. O Lord, despite our right and wrong, let Thy daylight come down Again on woods and field and town, to be our daily bread and daily song. It lives in bread and song.

—from Entries

Closing Prayer

From Sacred Space, 2017: Dear Jesus, I can open my heart to you. I can tell you everything that troubles me I know you care about all the concerns in my life. Teach me to live in the knowledge that you who care for me today will care for me tomorrow and all the days of my life.