The First Sunday of Advent

Today, on this first Sunday of Advent, we begin a new liturgical year, yet you may have noticed that today's Mass readings, particularly the Gospel, strike a familiar note. The overall tone is a lot like the readings we've been hearing the past few weeks. The arrival of Advent tends to put us in a pre-Christmas frame of mind, and we expect that the readings will be about the events leading up to the birth of Jesus. But we need to remember that that's only one aspect of Advent. The season actually has a twofold character: preparing for the return of Christ in glory and preparing for our celebration of Jesus' first coming in the Incarnation. Although both aspects will be present on the readings and prayers of the liturgy throughout the season, the former will receive more emphasis during the first part of Advent. It's only as Christmas nears that the readings will begin to focus more on the events leading up to the birth of Christ.

You'll be able to hear this twofold emphasis in most of the prayers of the liturgy during Advent. The Preface for Advent I for the Eucharistic Prayer, which is supposed to be the one used during the first half of the season, stresses both of these comings of Christ:

Father, all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

When he humbled himself to come among us as a man,
he fulfilled the plan you formed long ago
and opened for us the way to salvation.

Now we watch for the day,
hoping that the salvation promised us will be ours
when Christ our Lord will come again in his glory.

Watch. Today's Gospel reading from Mark exhorts us, no less than 3 times in the span of just a few short verses, to watch. The need to be prepared for the coming of the Lord in glory is a theme we've been hearing for the past few weeks, and it continues today.

The first reading is from Isaiah, the prophet who will be our constant companion throughout Advent. Remember the function of a prophet: not exactly to predict the future, but primarily to call people back to fidelity to the convenant. Of course that necessarily entails pointing out how far they've fallen away from the covenant and are violating it. So Isaiah takes stock of where Israel is with God, and the situation isn't good:

All of us have become like unclean people,
all our good deeds are like polluted rags;
we have all withered like leaves,
and our guilt carries us away like the wind.
There is none who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to cling to you.

But Isaiah's message is perhaps the most comforting one of all the prophets: God is our father, the potter who shapes us. God always comes to those who wait for him. And as Paul reminds us in the second reading from his first letter to the Corinithians, "God is faithful." Repentance is necessary, but we need not fear taking stock of our failings, for God has promised us salvation, not destruction.

You may not get a chance to hear the solemn blessing used at the end of Mass today, since many priests tend to reserve the solemn blessings for major solemnities rather than seasonal Sundays like this one. But it's a lovely blessing, and one that perfectly captures the tone of the grace-filled season of hope we're entering into today:

You believe that the Son of God once came to us;
you look for him to come again.
May his coming bring you the light of his holiness
and his blessing bring you freedom. Amen.

May God make you steadfast in faith,
joyful in hope, and untiring in love
all the days of your life. Amen.

You rejoice that our Redeemer came to live with us as man.
When he comes again in glory,
may he reward you with endless life. Amen.