This is the first Sunday of Advent . Advent is a time when we prepare for Christ’s coming into the world. There are two main focus of the season. The first is the preparation to celebrate the first coming of Christ in history. That first coming of Christ was his birth. We prepare with joy to celebrate the birthday of our Savior on December 25th.
The second focus of the season is the Second coming of Jesus at the end of the time. Jesus promised to come back. Advent is a kind of wake-up call to us for the second coming of Christ. Today’s readings call us to “stay awake,” to “be prepared” because we do not know the day or hour the Lord is coming to get us. We can say, “the Lord has come, the Lord is coming, and Lord will come again.” We need to thank him, to welcome him and to wait for him. “Stay awake. So, Jesus is coming , are you ready to welcome Him ? If Jesus came back today would you rejoice or would you be sad? Would you be happy with your life or would you be embarrassed and ashamed of your life? How do we prepare for Christ’s return ?
First of all, in today’s gospel, Jesus is calling us to be awake. He reminds us the importance to be a attentive. In spite of the many activities or vacations , we need to keep in mind that Jesus is the reason for the season of Advent and for Christmas. Time to wake up : We should not become Christians by habit and routine . As we know the weeks before Christmas are busy. There is so much preparation in buying gifts, decorating the tree, preparing for Christmas dinner, deciding how and where and with whom to celebrate the Day. We should not forget the true meaning of Advent. So, the wonderful way to prepare ourselves and be ready for Christ’s return is to deepen our faith, to deepen our relationship with God. This can be done by regular examination of conscience, regular celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation ( remember that Advent is time to forgive and be forgiven ), by carrying our cross daily, by promoting the cause of justice, peace and truth, by praying : in this point, I encourage everyone to attend extra daily Mass per week and spend more time to listen to God. ”
Thirdly, Advent is a time for generosity. We can make reparation for our sins by generosity to others. What we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, Jesus considers done to himself. Being generous and giving to others, not just during Christmas but all year long, is something that those who love Jesus can and should not escape. We are to be generous because God and Jesus were generous to us first. Jesus loved us so much He gave us everything when we were His enemies. Jesus came as the baby, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, generously first for us so that we might have life. The generosity in our life must come from that fact. We are to be generous because God was generous and still is everyday for us. Being generous is about being more and more like Jesus.
My brothers and sisters, Advent is a time of grace given us by the Church to change and to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ coming. Stay awake and be prepared. To prepare for the coming of Christ in the celebration of Christmas is exactly the same to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord in glory.
