Audio: First Sunday of Advent

The Last Judgment by Michelangelo, c. 1541. Public domain.

This annual season of Advent is a gift from the Church that reminds us to wait and to prepare. Our waiting and preparation focuses on the two main arrivals of Jesus. We wait and prepare to be renewed by the annual observance of Jesus’ first coming when he was born at Bethlehem. We also wait and prepare for Jesus’ second coming, a coming which we begin to experience on the particular day of our death, which will be fulfilled more generally at the Second Coming at the end of time. Both main arrivals of Jesus get our attention in Advent. However, since the first coming at Jesus’ birth has already happened in history, we should give a priority to our preparation for the Second Coming, which we still await, and which will have specific consequences for us.

Reading 1 IS 2:1-5
Responsorial Psalm PS 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Reading 2 ROM 13:11-14
Alleluia CF. PS 85:8
Gospel MT 24:37-44