Advent I (C):Jer. 33:14-16 1Thes.3:12-4:2;Lk 21:25-28, 34-36

Several years ago a bus driver in Oklahoma reached an unusual record.  In 23 years he had driven a bus over 900,000 miles without a single accident.  When asked how he had done it, he gave this simple answer: “Watch the road.”  In today’s gospel Jesus gives the same advice in several ways: “Be vigilant at all times,” “Stand erect,” “Raise your heads,” “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy.”  This is not only a good spiritual advice for the Advent season but also a safe rule for daily life.  A good football player or basketball player should always concentrate his attention on the ball and the players.  A good student must be alert, awake and attentive, watching the teacher and listening to his or her words.  A good Catholic in the Church must be physically and mentally alert, watching the altar and actively participating in the prayers and songs.  Like the Roman god Janus, who had two faces, one looking at the past year and the other looking into future, Christians during the Advent season are to look at the past event of the first coming of Jesus into the world and expectantly look forward to his second coming in glory. 

Advent calls us to prepare for two celebrations.  To prepare to celebrate the coming of the Lord at Christmas to share our daily lives so intimately. It also calls us to be prepared for that coming of the Lord at the end of time and at the last day for each one of us when what Advent begins will be completed.

C.S. Lewis said that when the author appears on the stage, you know the play is over. This is how he understands the doctrine of the Second Coming of our Lord. It means that he who has begun a good work will bring it to the best conclusion of which he is capable. After all, no one has ever claimed that this planet earth was intended to exist forever. In what is called by scientists "the second law of thermodynamics," it is clearly predicted that the energy supply of this planet will eventually come to an end, which means that a conclusion of life as we know it here is inevitable. The concept of the Second Coming merely affirms that such a conclusion will be purposeful. It is going to come to the kind of climax that he who conceived the drama wants for it. 

In today’s gospel, the evangelists were not preparing their readers for Christmas.  Instead, they were helping these Christians to boost their spirits while they waited for Jesus to accomplish things in their lives that would give them a share in His risen life.  That’s why, after reminding his community about the signs which would precede Jesus' Second Coming, Luke gives them Jesus’ warning: "Be on guard lest your spirits become bloated with indulgence and drunkenness and worldly cares.  Pray constantly for the strength to escape whatever is in prospect and to stand secure before the Son of Man."  Since our own transformation is an ongoing process, we move yearly through the liturgical celebration of the mystery of our salvation.  While Advent is set aside to commemorate Jesus’ coming in the flesh as well as His final coming in glory, it is also a time for us to open ourselves to the Lord’s coming into our lives and our world today.  In order to do this, we must read the signs of the times and adjust our lives accordingly.

On the night of April 15th 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank.  Over 1,500 people lost their lives in one of the worst sea disasters in history.  A few years ago a magazine recalled the great disaster and asked its readers this shocking –almost blasphemous question: “If we’d been on the Titanic when it sank, would we have arranged the deckchairs?”  At first we say to ourselves, “What a ridiculous question!  No one in his right mind would ignore wailing sirens on a sinking ship and rearrange its deck chairs!  No one with an ounce of sanity would ignore the shouts of drowning people and keep arranging deck chairs!” But as we continue to read the magazine, we see the reason for the strange question.  And suddenly we ask ourselves, “Are we perhaps, rearranging the deckchairs on a sinking ship?  For example, are we so caught up with material things in life that we are giving a back seat to spiritual things?  Are we so busy making a living that we are forgetting the purpose of life?  Are we so taken up with life that we are forgetting why God gave us life?”

Today’s readings invite us to assess our lives during Advent and to make the necessary alterations in the light of the approaching Christmas celebration.  It is a call to “look up” to see that Christ is still here.  We must raise our heads in hope and anticipation, knowing that the Lord is coming again.  Luke reminds us to trust in Jesus, amid the tragedies that sometimes occur in our daily lives.  Our marriage may break up; we may lose our job, discover that we have cancer or some terminal illness, or become estranged from our children.  In all such situations, when we feel overwhelmed by disaster and feel that our lives have no meaning, Jesus says: "Stand up, raise your heads, because your salvation is near" (Lk 21:28).

The Incarnation of the Word into human flesh, which we celebrate at the end of these four weeks, will hopefully be born also in our flesh. This is the whole purpose of the Advent liturgy. To discover the magnitude of God’s love and salvation in a little babe born in a manger in Bethlehem and making that babe be born in our lives, and make him the center of our lives.

Christmas may be for children, but Advent is for adults. In our adult years since our baptism we have tried to walk in his paths, stumbling, going astray, drifting off course. Now is the time to re-enter the flow of his providence for us and the world and to re-enter with joy the friendship he shares.

Let’s now earnestly serve the Lord faithfully and make the best use of our time now in the light of his second coming.