Commentary on the Gospel of
First Sunday of Advent - Call to Hope:
"Arise ,your liberation is at hand! "
The message of the readings of this first Sunday of Advent is one of hope, a hope centred in Jesus.
Hope transcends the visible world. In his letters St. Paul invites us to work patiently and confidently for a better future, knowing that we will never find paradise here, and that faith in the paradise beyond frees us from all striving for a more just world.
This innovation encouraged and inflamed the faith of those early Christian communities: "We proclaim your death, we proclaim your resurrection, come, Lord Jesus! How can we be afraid of the coming of the Lord, if it brings liberation?
Advent is the time to stand up, to raise our heads, to anticipate our coming deliverance, and to proclaim that the Son of Man, Jesus, our Lord, is coming with the power and majesty of love. It is a time of hope, not passive, but active, setting us on the way to what we hope for and what is promised to us. It is not easy optimism. The foundation of this hope is Christ Crucified and Risen.
Each Sunday candles are lit around a wreath made of holly leaves, symbolising Christ, and creating an Advent of waiting and hope, that the hidden presence of God made flesh may grow within us and in our world.
Come Lord Jesus, to remind us what is really important so that we will not be distressed by the signs of death, lovelessness, and selfishness that surround us.
(Psalm 24) To you, Lord, I lift up my soul.
HAPPY SUNDAY TO ALL!
