The first Sunday of Advent arrives at a time when Filipinos have watched the movie called 2012 -- a disaster movie based on the prediction that the world will end in 2012. The Church expects the end of the world -- but that is only half of it. With the end of the world, the Church is convinced that the kingdom of God will finally be established. The old passes, the new comes. This "new" thing is the Lord Himself who comes to establish his reign, to wipe away the tears from our eyes, and to establish His peace. Read the articles you find in this page and use the following as your guide for reflection.
1. During Advent, the Church trains itself in the Spirituality of Waiting for the Lord. And this spirituality is characterized by a faith that is active in charity and a hope that is prayerful and expectant. Our hope should dispel fear and anxiety.
Reflect: End-Time catastrophes such as are depicted in movies like 2012 only capture a part of Christian expectation of the end-times. For the Christian, the last word is not destruction, but the renewal of Creation, not death, but life. Our hope is centered on the Coming Lord, who comes for our final redemption. What do you feel at the prospect of the end of the world and the Parousia of the Lord? Is it fear and anxiety? Or is do you feel joy and the excitement of seeing God's kingdom finally revealed?
2. Luke 21:34 is an echo of Rom. 13:13, the passage that moved Augustine to finally decide to turn back to the Lord and be baptized.
Reflect: All that the world holds onto as its security will ultimately be swept away to give place to a new order -- God's order -- and to a new existence -- that of being with God. Do you still cling to those things which are destined to perish? Do you still take as your security those which the coming of the Lord will reduce to nothing?
3. To faithfully cling to the Lord until He comes requires God's grace. The Lord's discourse ends with an admonition: to watch and to pray.
Reflect: The life of a Christian is a life that is sustained by God's grace. Those who depend on Him know this. At the end of the Our Father, we say "Lead us not to temptation; deliver us from Evil." This is a prayer for fidelity until the coming of the Lord. How do you pray? What do you pray for?
