The Coming of the Lord
First Sunday of Advent, Year A (27/11/2022)
(Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalms 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9; Matthew 24:37-44 )
By Fr. Samuel Odeh
Our first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is a vision of a future time or “the latter days” when the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains . . . and all nations shall flow to it. The laws and values and principles of the people of God will be regarded and esteemed high above all others and all the peoples of the world will come and ask to be taught by the LORD himself: that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. At this time God himself will judge the nations and put an end to all wars and all fighting; weapons of war shall become agricultural implements. The advent or coming of such a day formed the hope and expectation of the people of God until the time of the Christians.
Today we begin the season of Advent or the coming of the Lord Jesus. In the first two Sundays of Advent our readings focus on the second coming of Christ while the last two Sundays focus on the first coming of Christ at Christmas. The future life describe in our first reading from Isaiah is for us Christians the coming of the Son of Man. We believe Christ is coming again either in our lives as individuals or in the life of the people of God. For this reason, during Advent we are called to vigilant and watchful waiting for the coming of the Son of Man. We are to prepare for Christ’s coming through doing works of charity and justice. Our Gospel reading today tells us that it will be business as usual when Jesus comes; people will be going about their daily activities when Christ returns. No one knows the exact timing and so we must be watchful. “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming”. The coming of the Lord will sneak upon us like a thief at night. So what must we do to be saved? We must be prepared as if we knew what the thief who was to break into a house were planning. How must a Christian be watchful? The answer is found in our second reading today from Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans. We are to behave as if that day is already begun, already here. “Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed…” The apostle then asks that we lead sinless lives that honor the daytime of the Lord’s coming. “Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy”. Let us not become lazy in our Christian living so that when the Lord comes, he will not find us unprepared. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!!
