Advent, the awakening of the Church. First Sunday of Advent (A)

Advent is here. With it, we begin a new liturgical year. Advent is the Church's alarm clock. It comes to wake us all up and remind us that something new is beginning. This is the central message of today's readings. We find words like these, repeated: “In the days to come,” “moment,” “time,” “hour,” “now,” “awake,” “day.”. They all point to a new beginning.

St. Paul says to the Romans: “Behave in this way, recognizing the moment in which you live, for it is time to wake up from sleep, because now salvation is closer to us than when we first embraced the faith. The night is far gone, the day is at hand.” And in the Gospel, Jesus affirms: “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”.

The Church invites us to adopt two attitudes as we begin this season: vigilance and attentiveness. We are invited to wake up from our slumber, from routine, from lukewarmness, from indifference, and prepare ourselves for what lies ahead. Awakening requires putting aside the things that belong to the night and to sleep: sin, bad habits, vices... and instead, clothe ourselves in the works of Christ. Let us leave our pajamas behind, so to speak, and put on the armor of light. But it is not enough to wake up. We must also watch, be like the sentinel, be ready because someone is coming.

The liturgical season of Advent celebrates God's coming in two moments. First, the Church rekindles our expectation of Christ's second coming, his glorious return; then, as Christmas approaches, it calls us to focus our attention on the first coming that took place in history. But it does not end there. The Church also invites us to be vigilant, to grow in sensitivity and delicacy in order to perceive the hidden presence of Christ in everyday reality. The truth is that the Lord comes continually into our lives. Just as Jesus told his disciples that the coming of the Son of Man would be like in the days of Noah, in the midst of eating and drinking, marrying and forming a family, in the midst of ordinary activities.

The unexpected hour is hidden in the ordinary hour. It is hidden in everyday activities. Stay awake and be prepared, because Eternity has entered time, has entered our history, the now eternal in the now temporary, and every moment holds the possibility of an encounter with Him. What was addressed to the disciples is now addressed to everyone, because everyone can now encounter God who is coming.

Advent is par excellence a time of hope and joy. Our hope and our joy have a name and a face: Jesus Christ. Advent prepares us to encounter Him at Christmas, at the end of time, and in every moment of daily life.

Christ is coming, Joy is coming, Hope is coming. The days of the future foretold by the prophet Isaiah will become reality. Isaiah, poet and visionary, called “the Shakespeare of the prophets” (or, if you prefer, the Cervantes, Dante, or Goethe), tells us of one of his visions in the first reading: a future of hope and joy. As the Church concludes the jubilee year of hope, Advent reminds us that hope is still alive.

The Church's alarm clock is ringing; let us not turn it off. Let us leave our pajamas behind and stay awake to welcome Christ, who is coming at any moment, especially in the Holy Mass.