During Advent we long for the majesty of Christ’s final coming in glory, while contemplating the beauty of his first coming in Bethlehem, as we live in the warmth of his love
Fr. Steven Scherrer, MM, Th.D.
Homily of Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent, December 03, 2023
Isaiah 63:16-17, 19, 64:2-7, Psalm 79 (80), 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Mark 13:33-37

Biblical citations are from the Revised Standard Version unless otherwise noted

“Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Watch therefore – for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning – lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch” (Mark 13:33-37).

Advent is a magnificent season, filled with the warmth of the love of God and the beauty of Christ’s first coming in a manger in Bethlehem. It is also a time of longing for Christ’s return in glory at the end of the world to bring the kingdom of God to its fullness, the kingdom of God’s love in our hearts.

This is such a magnificent time, because the kingdom of God is actually within us, in our hearts, where Christ dwells with us in love. This is the kingdom that began in Bethlehem with the birth of Christ and the kingdom that is now growing in the world in the hearts of all who believe. But it is also a kingdom that will come in power and glory for every eye to see, when the Lord returns on the clouds of heaven in great light to consummate all things.

When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, he answered, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21 KJV).

This is what makes the season of Advent such a magnificently beautiful time, for it is a season when we contemplate exteriorly and in the liturgy the glorious reality that takes place within our hearts, where the kingdom of God resides, where Christ resides, where he fills us with his love and heavenly peace.

Today’s gospel focuses on the final glorious coming of Christ at the end of the world to fill us with the full magnificence of his love, peace, and heavenly joy. But this is a love, peace, and joy that we experience now within our hearts, for as Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV), within our hearts. As Advent proceeds, we will more and more contemplate the beginning of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.

In today’s gospel Jesus tells us, “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time will come” (Mark 13:33). We do not know when the Lord will come in glory. We also do not know the moment of our death, when we will come into God’s presence to be judged for how we have lived.

Therefore Jesus tells us in today’s gospel to take heed, watch and pray, for we do not know the time when he will come. We do not want him to catch us off guard, going down the wrong path.

So Jesus says, “Watch therefore – for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning – lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch” (Mark 13:35-37).

Each of us must be careful how we live. Are we beginning to go down a worldly path, the wrong path? If we are, Jesus calls us now on this First Sunday of Advent, and throughout Advent, to watch “lest he come suddenly and find you asleep” (Mark 13:36).

What must we do if we are going down the wrong path? “Turn away from evil and do good and you shall have a home forever” (Psalm 36 (37): 27, Grail translation, 1963) We must repent, stop sinning, and stop going down this false path – whatever it may be for you and for me. Each person has their own false path that they might be going down. It is not enough only to repent of our past mistakes and sins, but also of our present continuing to walk down a false path. We must amend our present ways as well as repent of our past mistakes and sins. We must take concrete steps to change our way of living lest we be caught unawares either by the Lord’s coming in glory at the end of the world or at the end of our life when we are judged by him for how we have lived.

Here is the ideal of how we should live: “We spend our lives ‘watching,’ therefore, because we desire to be found irreproachable, and to spend our days in ardent hope for the full revelation of our Lord, when we will see his face and be saved” (Magnificat Magazine, December 2023, page 50). In other words, we should be always watching so that we may be found irreproachable at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in glory. So we spend our days hoping for this full revelation of the Lord’s love.

St. Peter tells us, “Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these [things (the end of the world)], be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (2 Peter 3:14). This is a high bar, a high goal, but it is the goal that the Scriptures themselves place before us – to be found without blemish by the Lord when he comes. Our goal is to be found blameless and at peace with God and ourselves.

Now, therefore, is the time to get ready and be ready. Since we do not know the time of his coming, we should be ready at all times, and correct our errors while we still have the opportunity to do so.

We must also work for the Lord, spreading the gospel and the kingdom of God, each in his own way according to his own insights, gifts, and talents.

Unless we live in holiness we will not see the Lord when he comes, either at the end of our life or at the end of the world. But if we live a holy life, we will also have a truly happy life.

This is why Jesus has not told us the exact day, hour, or year of his coming – so that every generation would be awaiting his arrival in their own day and preparing for him.

Let us, therefore, live for him, turning away from evil and living blamelessly without blemish. “Turn away from evil and do good and you shall have a home forever” (Psalm 36 (37):27, Grail).