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We all formally open the Season of Advent. The season of Advent is a period of waiting. We are waiting for the Lord. The season of Advent is composed of four weeks – actually four Sundays. And the four weeks are divided into two.
The first two Sundays of Advent are dedicated to meditating on the second coming of the Lord at the end of time. Starting December 17, our meditation will shift from the coming of the Lord for the second time at the end of the world to the coming of the Lord at Christmas. It is not proper to put out our nativity sets before December 17. Why? Because before December 17 our meditation is not yet on Christmas. Our meditation is still on the second coming of the Lord at the end of the world.
There are two parts in our Advent preparation: The first part is preparing for the second coming. The second part is remembering that He has already come the first time, gently on that first Christmas midnight.
Now, my dear brothers and sisters when we say that the Lord will come unexpectedly, we usually associate that coming with death. From our experience, we do not know when we will die. It is wrong to say that the Lord will come when death strikes us. But while the liturgy of the day reminds us of one basic reality that the Lord comes to us yes, in death but also know that the Lord comes to us in life. We do not have to wait for death for the Lord to come to us and we do not have to wall for death for us to recognize the Lord
Right now as you are listening to me, the Lord is coming to you. Right now as we are celebrating the Mass, the Lord is coming to you. it is easy to recognize the Lord at death but it is a lot difficult to recognize the Lord at every moment of our lives. How does the Lord come to us in life? How does the Lord come to us daily?
First of all, the Lord comes to us every time we gather in His name. The Lord comes to us every time we hear the Word as proclaimed in the first and second reading at mass. It was the Lord who was talking to us in the responsorial psalm for as St. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life.” We know that the Lord comes to us as we receive the Eucharist. The Lord comes to us as we listen to the priest. The Lord comes to us when we serve the poor because He also said, “Whatever you do to the least of your brothers and sisters you do to me.”
My dear brothers and sisters, there is still one coming of the Lord that we are afraid to recognize. When the Lord comes to us with His cross and tells us, “Carry your cross with Me,” it is quite a difficult thing to do. The Lord invites us to carry His cross. The Lord who shares His most precious possession is the same Lord who promises us a meaningful life. The Lord is preparing us for a happy and meaningful death. And the best way to prepare for that event is a meaningful life right now.
The Lord is coming. Are you listening? The Lord is coming. Are you watching? The Lord is here. Are you aware?
THE LORD IS COMING … HE IS HERE!
Lk 1:25-28
Jesus In My Heart
