Last year, on the first Sunday of Advent, we heard from St. Luke’s Gospel, “do not become drowsy and let the coming of the Lord catch you by surprise. Be vigilant at all times.” Next year, on the first Sunday of Advent, we will hear from St. Mark’s Gospel: “Be watchful. Be alert! You do not know when the Lord will come.” And this year, on this first Sunday of Advent, we hear from St. Matthew’s Gospel: “For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. So be prepared!”
The season of Advent always begins with a call to be alert, watchful, and prepared. Because, as we will sing in our opening hymn every week, the world is about to turn upside down and inside out, and that’s why we need to be alert, watchful, and prepared. Because when Christ breaks into our lives, we can be turned inside out and upside down by his mercy, forgiveness, and compassion.
So the obvious question is, what specifically are we supposed to be alert, watchful, and prepared FOR?
What a silly question, some may think we are obviously preparing for the biggest holiday of the year! And so there are presents to wrap and cards to write and trees to decorate, parties to go to and cookies to bake, the flood of things to do and achieve is as overwhelming as in the days of Noah!
And so we have to be alert to any conflicts in our schedules, watchful of bargains and sales, and preparing all those many things that need to be prepared, as our houses and lives get turned upside down and inside out. . . with the beginning of the Christmas season. And there is nothing wrong with any of these things. Christmas is a big holiday to prepare for, but is that all there is?? Well, of course not, it’s obvious we are also preparing for the holy day of Christmas, the re-celebration of God becoming a human and dwelling among us as Emmanuel, that one, solitary life that turned the world upside down and inside out so much so, that the entire world changed how it counts the years that pass.
And so as we are preparing and decorating our homes for the holiday, perhaps we want to also clean up a bit, the dwelling, the home, of the Holy Spirit, which is within each one of us, as we await the Holy Day.
St. Paul certainly helps us in this regard in our second reading from his letter to the Romans: “Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, making no provisions for the desires of the flesh.”
And so during these days of Advent, we put in some extra effort to stay alert to the ways we so easily fall into the darkness of sin, we become vigilant in being watchful for ways we can walk in the light of Christ, perhaps some extra time spent in prayer and in reading the Scriptures, by being sure to observe the Holy Day next week, and perhaps even making a trip to the reconciliation room during Advent or taking advantage of the
chance to gather with our faith community at the Church night coming up.
All to prepare our souls and hearts and our families to receive the good news of God anew at Christmas: when God turns the world inside out and upside down by giving us the bright light of Christ to lead and guide us.
And in doing this: preparing our souls and our hearts and our families to receive the Good News of Christ’s birth anew, it gives us a third way we need to be alert and watchful and prepared: As we heard sung during the penitential rite: you come in glory as God’s own son with salvation for all your people. . .
We need to be alert, watchful, and prepared for Christ the Lord to come again in glory. And since we don’t want the Lord’s coming to catch us by surprise because we do not know when the Lord will come, we must be alert and watchful, and prepared every day.
For every day, the Lord is trying to break into our lives in some way. Every day, Christ is trying to show us his mercy, compassion, and forgiveness in some way. IF we are not drowsy, IF we are watchful and alert, IF we are prepared. Christ will come to us.
And so being alert, watchful, and prepared will take a little effort on our part; it’s like climbing a mountain to use the image of Isaiah. And so as we make the effort to climb God’s holy mountain, we open ourselves to God’s instruction, that we may walk in God’s ways and follow God’s path.
We are called to make ourselves available to God and what God reveals to us, willing to set aside distractions and all that prevents us from listening to God and acting on God’s word. These distractions can take many forms, but we must be honest enough with ourselves to name them in order to overcome them.
Yes, the Lord is coming to turn our lives and our world inside out and upside down to move and shake us so that we may be made anew.
So will be alert?
Will we be watchful?
Will we be prepared?
Wipe away all tears for the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn.