I  ADVENT [A] Is 2:1-5; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44     

Today we begin a new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent. Advent is a season of holy longing: we look back to Christ’s first coming in humility at Bethlehem, and we look forward to his coming in glory at the end of time. The readings for Year A place us immediately in that tension between promise and urgency: a vision of peace from Isaiah, a call to wake up from St Paul, and Jesus’ own warning to “stay awake” in the Gospel of Matthew.

1. A Mountain of Peace (Isaiah 2:1–5)

Isaiah gives us a breathtaking vision: in the days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house will be raised high, and all nations will stream to it. Swords will be beaten into ploughshares, spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift sword against nation, and they shall learn war no more.

This is not naïve optimism; Isaiah speaks these words into a world of violence, idolatry, and injustice. God does not ignore the darkness—he promises to enter it and transform it. Advent begins here: with a promise that God wants to teach us his ways so that we may “walk in his paths” and “walk in the light of the Lord.” The question becomes very personal: am I willing to let God re-forge the “weapons” in my own heart—my harsh words, resentments, and prejudices—into instruments of peace, forgiveness, and service?

2. Wake Up: Salvation Is Near (Romans 13:11–14)

St Paul takes that vision and presses it into our daily lives: “It is the hour now for you to wake from sleep… the night is advanced, the day is at hand.” Advent is not spiritual decoration; it is an alarm clock. Paul is not speaking about physical sleep, but about spiritual drowsiness—when we drift, compromise, and live on autopilot.

He names the darkness plainly: “orgies and drunkenness, promiscuity and licentiousness, rivalry and jealousy.” In our own language we might say: addictions, sexual sin, grudges, constant comparison, gossip, and the subtle selfishness that makes everything about “me.” Instead, Paul says, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Advent is the time to change clothes spiritually: to lay aside old patterns and consciously “put on” Christ’s attitudes—his purity, his patience, his mercy, his courage.

3. As in the Days of Noah (Matthew 24:37–44)

In the Gospel, Jesus gives a sobering example: in the days of Noah, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage—ordinary life—“and they did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.” Their problem was not that they were doing evil every second; their problem was that they were completely unprepared. They lived as if God would never act, as if nothing ultimate was at stake.

Jesus tells us, “So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Advent reminds us that our lives are not circular—they are moving toward a meeting with the Lord. That meeting may be at the end of time, or at the moment of our death; in either case, it will be personal. The point is not to frighten us, but to free us from living half-awake, half-committed lives.

4. Staying Awake: Practically

What does it mean, concretely, to “stay awake” this Advent?

Spiritually: making time each day for prayer, Scripture, and examination of conscience. Asking honestly: where am I asleep? Where have I let sin become “normal”?

Sacramentally: coming to Confession during Advent, not as a chore, but as a way of stepping out of darkness and into the light. Letting Christ wash away what we cannot fix.

Relationally: choosing reconciliation over resentment, especially in families. Advent is a powerful time to pick up the phone, write the letter, or have the conversation that says, “I want peace between us.”

Morally: refusing to cooperate with “the works of darkness” that our culture blesses—whether that is impurity, dishonesty, cruelty online, or indifference to the poor—and instead taking small, concrete steps in holiness.

None of us can end all wars, but every one of us can stop one harsh word, one act of revenge, one injustice in our own sphere. That is how swords become ploughshares, one heart at a time.

5. Walking in the Light

Isaiah ends with an invitation: “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Advent is not only about watching the horizon for Christ’s coming; it is about walking now in his light so that his coming will not find us strangers to him.

We are not Christians merely by label, but by life: by putting on Christ, day after day. If we let him awaken us, heal us, and re-shape our priorities, then Christmas will not be just lights and sentiment, but the celebration of a real change in us. The Child of Bethlehem is also the Lord who will come in glory.

So today the Church places these words in our ears and hearts: “It is the hour now for you to wake from sleep… So stay awake… Be prepared.” May this Advent be a time when we truly rise from spiritual drowsiness, walk in the light, and help, in our own small but real ways, to build that mountain of peace that God has promised.