Keeping Advent 1: It’s About Time

December 1/First Sunday of Advent

“Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.” ~ Rom 13.11

“So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. ~ Matt 24.44

The two-minute warning is a well-attested parenting technique for easing transitions between activities (including, most importantly, the one from playtime to bedtime).  Indeed, when my children were young, I expanded the system and actually issued a series of warnings, at ten minutes, five minutes and two minutes.  How nice it would be if our lives functioned like that all the time: we could always be prepared for the next thing.    But Jesus makes clear, on this first Sunday of Advent, that no such transition time will be given when he returns.  Be prepared, he warns — “for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  In strong language, Christ counsels us to be mindful of the important things, and to avoid letting ourselves to be lulled into unthinking complacency by our daily routine — the morning coffee, the trudge to work, the meetings and memos, the school pickups, the meals and laundry and emails.  All too often we misplace this season’s possibilities, losing our way amid frantic preparations for Christmas.  Today, we are invited to honor Advent instead as a time for reflection and spiritual preparation.  We cannot make ourselves fully ready for an event — the coming of Christ — whose date we cannot know.  But we can stop sleepwalking through our lives and pay attention to what truly matters, namely, our relationships with God and our neighbor.  For as Paul urgently exhorts his Roman followers in today’s second reading, the time to walk in the light of the Lord is not in ten minutes, or five minutes, or two minutes – it is now.  

Loving God, Clothed in your radiant light, may I faithfully walk in your path, both today and throughout this Advent season.  Amen.

For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120119.cfm