1st Sunday of Advent 2024
Jeremiah 33:14-16 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
Advent is not just a time of preparation for Christmas! The spirituality of Advent goes way beyond that and focuses, not just on the light coming into the world, but on eternal light and eternal life. The promise made by Jeremiah in today’s 1st Reading, that Judah would be saved, came at a time of great fear of conquest, destruction and fear of mass exile. Saint Luke in the Gospel reading tells of nations and kingdoms rising against each other, of earthquakes and famines and of people living in, and dying, of fear. The liturgy of the 1st Sunday of Advent calls us to ‘Watch’ and be alert and to look for the signs of ‘these times’. All of this is more relevant to us than it seems at first sight.
Ours is a world which is indeed fragile. There are growing threats and realities of war. There is violence all around. We are shocked by natural and ecological disasters. Perhaps we have become disheartened by apathy and numbed by fear. The words of Jesus could really be referring to 2024. But remember, Advent is a time of Hope – ‘the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I am going to fulfil the promise’. Again, and again throughout this season of Advent we will hear the Lord’s call; “Stay awake, praying at all times”. And that perhaps sums up the spirituality of Advent!
During this time of preparing to celebrate the Birth of the Saviour, our waiting has to be positive proactive, something like the kind of waiting that Mary did. While she waited for the time to give birth to her Son Mary set out into the hill country to minister to Elizabeth and Zechariah – she went to ‘wait upon’ them. Our waiting should be being aware of the needs of others at this time.
Staying awake, being aware of, being alert to what is going on around us will prompt us to be servants to one another. The signs of the Lord’s presence and action in our own lives are there, if we ‘who have ears to hear and eyes to see’ will listen and watch. At this time of year everything around us in the world of commerce and consumerism conspires against the possibility of allowing us to walk in darkness, to endure the realities of life in today’s world. But this we must do, before we can ‘come into the light’. Then we will understand the herald cry at Christmas time ‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light’ (Isaiah 9:1). ‘The great light’ that is promised is experiencing the loving presence of God who comes to live with us. This is what ‘praying at all times’ means. We are not capable of such a thing – it is God’s doing, God’s action. Our praying is not just about petition or praise or even thanksgiving. It is waiting on God with watchful eyes and open ears. It is the art of seeing and hearing the constant signs of God’s love for us, it is what we call Contemplation.
It is sometimes helpful to liken contemplation to what children do when searching for meaning – wondering! Children can spend hours wondering the why and how and when of simple things. In Patrick Kavanagh’s poem, Advent, the child wonders at ‘the tedious talking of an old fool’, at the farmyard, at the whins or bog-holes or at the cart-tracks and old stables
Our Contemplation need not be any more complicated. Let us contemplate at all times the wonder of our God coming among us and sharing our troubled world.