First Sunday of Advent

First Sunday of Advent

Reading I
Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7

You, LORD, are our father,
our redeemer you are named forever.
Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways,
and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
with the mountains quaking before you,
while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for,
such as they had not heard of from of old.
No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you
doing such deeds for those who wait for him.
Would that you might meet us doing right,
that we were mindful of you in our ways!
Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful;
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;
for you have hidden your face from us
and have delivered us up to our guilt.
Yet, O LORD, you are our father;
we are the clay and you the potter:
we are all the work of your hands.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19

R. (4) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
from your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power,
and come to save us.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

Reading II
1Cor 1:3-9

Brothers and sisters:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Gospel
Mk 13:33-37

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Be watchful! Be alert!
You do not know when the time will come.

It is like a man traveling abroad.
He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work,
and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: "Watch!"

COMMENTARY
The first reading from Isaiah is a very pronounced lament. As in the psalms of agony, the writer is hoping that God will look down from heaven and see a true Israelite and true child of God. The writer of Isaiah, as a faithful disciple, is imploring God's personal intervention, pleading for a theophany (manifestation of God) more wondrous than that of Sinai. This reading recognizes that God's people have suffered cultural shame and ceremonial uncleanness and therefore God has abandoned them to their guilt.

In the second reading, Paul reminds the Corinthians that they have been endowed with spiritual gifts, but because they tended to focus on the excitement of the present, Paul has to remind them that completeness is reserved to the future, specifically the parousia or second coming of Christ.

The Gospel is an exhortation to confidence and vigilance that actually begins in verse 28. This second parable within a larger story compares watchfulness with regard to the kingdom to the watchfulness required of a doorkeeper when the master has gone on a journey. Because you do not know when the master will return, constant vigilance is required.

REFLECTION
This Sunday we begin a new liturgical year within the Church. Throughout this year our Gospel readings will focus on Mark, the first known written Gospel. More important, however, is the new liturgical year itself. Just as we look forward to the beginning of a new year come December 31, so too does a new year within the Church bring with it excitement and new expectation. Who among us has not made those "new year resolutions" that normally get forgotten after a few weeks or days? Yet the prospect of a new year brings the hope that things will change for the better, that somehow new hope will come with this new year - a new beginning if you will. During this season of Advent, we prepare to once again receive our Lord. We wait for him with the expectation, excitement and hope that things will be different somehow. It is a time for us to step back and look closely at our relationship with Jesus Christ, but it is also a time for vigilance.

At the time of his birth in Bethlehem, an entire nation awaited their Messiah. They hoped for a change, but many were not vigilant enough to recognize that their prayers had been realized in the person of Jesus Christ. They had lost the vision to see with clarity what God was revealing to them. In reality, they could not recognize who Jesus was because he did not fit in to their misconceived image of what the Messiah should be. Jesus too was aware of this and that is why in last week's Gospel he made it clear that many had failed to recognize him and had not served him as they should, because they failed to serve others. Let this Advent be a time of renewal. A time when we allow God to work in us and through us; a time for us to prepare ourselves to receive the true Jesus Christ who's love was so great that he became one of us and lived among us in order to transform us. And, there is no better way to do this than remaining vigilant and doing those good works that Christ himself did and requested of us, that in doing so we may recognize him in others. If we fail to recognize him in others, we may fail to recognize him at all.

Biblical Sources:

New American Bible; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Seitz, C. (ed.) "Reading and Preaching the Book of Isaiah"; John J. Collins, The Collegeville Bible Commentary; Carroll Stuhlmueller, C.P. Commentary "New Jerome Biblical Commentary"; John J. Collins "Old Testament Apocalypticism and Eschatology"; Murphy-O'Connor, J., "St. Paul's Corinth: Text and Archaeology"; Stock, A., "Call to Discipleship: A Literary Study of Mark's Gospel"; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., "Introduction to the New Testament"; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) "The New Jerome Biblical Commentary.

Reflection: Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa