HOMILY/REFLECTION OF 1ST SUNDAY OF ADVENT — YEAR C
HOMILY/REFLECTION OF 1ST SUNDAY OF ADVENT — YEAR C
HOMILY THEME: “BE VIGILANT AT ALL TIMES AND PRAY”
BY: Fr. Jude Nnadi
Jer 33:14-16; 1 Thess 3:12- 4:2; Lk 21: 25-28.34-36
Sisters and brothers, in advent we are invited to renew our expectation of that Lord who has already come, but who will come at the end of time, to introduce humanity again to the plan of love of the Father. It is a brief time, in which we move into a deeper knowledge of the Incarnation mystery. The words of the Apostle Paul immediately clarify how this time of deepening should not be considered as a time of inaction or procrastination, but an opportunity to “grow and abound in love” (1 Thess 3:12), aware that our history and that of the entire cosmos are not unfolding in the face of an incomprehensible darkness, but “before our God and Father” until “the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (3:13).
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The beginning of Jesus’ eschatological discourse, in which an upheaval and dissolution are foretold, could be taken as a description of that historical period the prophetic voice of Jeremiah is placed. Having lived in the sixth century BC, Jeremiah is called by the Lord to rebuild the hope of a people profoundly marked by “anguish”, “anxiety” and “fear” (Lk 21:25, 26) because of the Babylonian domination and its consequences: the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem and the interruption of the Davidic dynasty. Faced with this great desolation, the prophet responds with evangelical invitation to lift the heart and to raise “the head” (21:28), in an expectation of a future of favor. “In those days and at that time he will cause a righteous branch to grow for David, who will execute judgment and justice in the earth” (Jer 33:15).
The Lord Jesus, a passionate reader and interpreter of the prophet Jeremiah, declares that at the moment in which everything seems to be coming to a ruinous and inevitable end, God is capable of making close not only a promise of good, but an authentic experience of “liberation”, reserved for the righteous, at the shaking of the powers of the heavens, and teaches what attitude to be maintained with a certain interior firmness: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down” (Luke 21:34).
What weighs down is not only the contradictions and difficulties around us, but also the tendency to give in to wrong and immoral desires, that do not please God because they prevent us from progressing in our spiritual life. We often spend much time chasing projects that do not satisfy, illusions and dangerous fantasies, we become too present, too attentive, too sensitive to the tyranny of our emotional world, forgetting that our life is anchored on God, his providence and grace. To lift our gaze and not weigh down our heart, we must remember that prayer is an indispensable nourishment to keep us attentive to the promises of God (Jer 33:14), the Lord never tires of asking us to “be vigilant at all times and pray” (Luke 21:36).
Vigilance does not mean giving up legitimate rest but having faith even when things do not proceed in the direction we imagine. Praying means seeking and finding that mysterious strength so indispensable for learning to “appear before the Son of Man” (21:36), not just for the future of his second coming, but here and now, in the mystery of his humble presence among us. May his name be praised for ever in our lives, amen!
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