1st Sunday of Advent, Year A
Today we begin the Catholic Church’s new year with the season of Advent. Happy New Year to you all! Advent means Coming, hence, this wonderful season is a time or season of expectancy, preparation and hope for the coming and nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world. It is a four weeks of preparation and re-focusing of ourselves on Christ and His impact in our lives as Christians as we get ready to the first coming to the world of God made man. Advent is a season of anticipation through prayer and reflection followed by anticipation, hope and joy that leads up to Christmas.
Saint Paul in today’s second reading from Romans 13:11-14 reminds us that 'Our salvation is nearer,' as we await the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus in today gospel reading from the gospel of Saint Matthew 24:37-44 tells us to ‘Be prepared and stay awake, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.’ These readings remind us of the need to prepare ourselves for the coming and nativity of Christ. We know how to physically prepare for the coming of Christ on Christmas Day by putting up our Christmas decorations, Christmas caroling, doing our Christmas shopping, writing and mailing out our Christmas cards, buying food items needed for the Christmas feast and gatherings etc. So how do we prepare ourselves spiritually for the coming and nativity of Christ on Christmas Day? We can prepare ourselves spiritually for the coming of Christ on Christmas Day through Prayer, Mortification and Examination of Conscience.
Prayer - our communication with God. I believe we all pray and know how to pray, but during this season of Advent, let us pray differently as we await the coming of Christ. Maybe we can spend more time in prayer, or pray more for others and not only for ourselves and needs or we can incorporate the four kinds of prayer into our daily prayers, that is, prayer of adoration, prayer of contrition, prayer of thanksgiving and prayer of supplication.
Mortification - the act of subduing one’s bodily desires. During this season of Advent, we can denying ourselves pleasurable things, like certain foods we love, going to the movies, shopping, eating or dining out, idleness etc as ways for us to spiritually prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ this Christmas season. We can also practice interior mortification by giving up pride, gossiping, spiritual idleness, calumny, slander etc so as to make changes in our lives that would bring us closer to God.
Examination of Conscience - which is a prayerful reflection on one's thoughts, words, and deeds in order to identify any sins or practices that destroy our relationship with God. We need to find out how we have failed God, what ways we have done so, what leads us to such actions and practices then go to confession, and look for the good practices and lifestyle that would help us grow in faith and come closer to God.
My dear brothers and sisters, as we begin the Catholic Church’s new year today, let us be attentive to the words of Jesus to us today in the gospel reading saying "Be prepared and stay awake, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." Let us truly and sincerely prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ this Advent season through prayer, mortification and examination of conscience.
