1st Sunday of
Advent – November 27, 2016
I The Lord will father all nations into the
eternal peace of the kingdom of God.
R
–Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
II
– Our salvation is nearer.
A
– Show us, Lord, your love; and grant us your salvation.
G –Stay
awake, that you may be prepared.
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As the first word of Advent, Christ warns us, “Stay awake! You must be prepared.”
This
is not an off the cuff remark, but a deadly serious exhortation.
The impervious, unprepared
people “in the days of Noah” were distracted by their “eating and drinking,”
and various other sundry activities, to the imminent flood.
In what, then, does this
Advent preparation consist? Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ through FAITH!
“Faith is…a liberation of my I
from its preoccupation with self, a liberation that sets me free to respond to
the Father, to speak the Yes of love that sets me free to say Yes to being…
Faith is… a breaking out of
the isolation that is the malady of my I.
The act of faith is… a
breaking open of the door of my subjectivity” (Pope Benedict XVI).
“Come, let us comb the Lord’s
mountain, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.
LET
US WALK IN THE LIGHT OF THE LORD.
As the Christmas, preparatory
lights, sights, sounds and aromas of the Season begin to manifest themselves –
let us welcome them as a timely aid in shortening the natural depressive time
of cold, dark, days, and fill them with the ever strengthening, comforting and
guiding Light of Christ himself.
And then, taking that Light
into ourselves – let us be light for others -as we encounter them one by one
throughout the day.
Show us, Lord, your love; and
grant us your salvation!
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