My Ecclesial World

N.B. The SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION will be back for the season of Advent. May these reflections inspire you and help you in preparing for the coming of Christ into our hearts this Christmas Season.

November 27, 2005     The First Sunday of Advent (B) - Violet

First Reading: Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7
Responsorial Psalm:
  "Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved."
Second Reading: 1 Cor 1:3-9
Gospel: Mk 13:33-37

"Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. What I say to you, I say to all: Watch!"

Today, we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent - the first day of the new liturgical year of the Church. Advent comes from the Latin adventus meaning "coming." We ardently wait and whole-heartedly prepare for the coming of the Lord into our lives.

Brides-to-be and grooms-to-be prepare for their wedding a year or several months ahead from their weeding day so that their perfect day would come out as they dream or wish to be. When people open their new establishments, they make sure that important people will be present and invited during the blessing ceremony. When a newly-wed husband hears the news that his wife has conceived, he ardently prepares for his "first-time" being a father; he makes all necessary preparations for his baby and their new life as a growing family. These preparations we pass through in our lives. These are the real yet simple meanings of ADVENT. These advents we encounter in our day-to-day lives as human persons.

Christ’s advent in our lives is pretty much the same but the difference lies in his being - a very important person - the very meaning of our lives on earth. So how do we prepare for his coming? The answer to this we hear in today’s Gospel: WATCH!!!
1.    Watch our WORDS. We often offend others in our daily discourse. Christ tells us to watch our words that we utter for we might hurt someone. Instead, he invites us to use these words to tell other people of his coming.
2.    Watch our ACTIONS. Like words, our actions may offend people.  Christ tells us to act as a Christian should act. Live our Christian doctrine through our act of loving service to others.
3.    Watch our THOUGHTS. Our thoughts are the roots of our actions and words. Therefore, we must cleanse our mind from the corruption of sin and evil and instead we must think of the blessings God has given us all throughout our lives and thanks him for these for he never abandons us.
4.    Watch our CHARACTER. Our character makes our thoughts, actions and words. What we are inside makes us what we are outside. The Lord invites us for a change of heart - to convert to him and return back to his love.
5.    Watch our HEART. Christ will choose to be borne into our hearts. What a good way to prepare for his coming by living our Christian lives, forgiving others, giving and upholding others’ dignities and personalities, and speaking of the truth. Our hearts will play host to Christ’s immeasurable love for us all.
Watch! Be alert! For Christ will come anytime into our hearts. The day and the hour is unknown but it is certain: CHRIST WILL COME! Therefore, let us prepare and be watchful with our words, actions, thoughts, character and heart!