First Advent Sunday, Year A
Theme: Stay Awake! 你們要醒寤
Christians believe in a Creator-God and we are His creatures which are finite beings occupying some volume in space and existing in a span of time. For us, every story has a time line which has a beginning and an end. On the other hand, the Lord, in whom we believe, claims, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13). He exists beyond time. Thus, He encompasses the beginning and the end in eternity.As finite beings, we are unable to know what will unfold in the future. But we believe that our actions have consequences which ripple to the future. Therefore, we do not sit idly and watch passively. We take actions. But we do not act blindly. There should be some sorts of blueprint to follow. Through His spokesmen, i.e. the prophets, the God in whom Christians believe leaves behind some clues of what the end looks like. Here comes the first reading of today. The Lord God gives us a peaceful prospect at the end. Here is the prophecy:
“He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” (Isaiah 2:4) For our sake, He will bring justice and peace among nations and peoples. But at present, wars are raging in different parts of the globe, Ukraine, Syria and you name it. Not only are soldiers maimed and killed, but common people are also suffering as well. Not only do local peoples suffer but global supply chains are also disrupted. Such disruptions know no border! Natural gas pipes exploded. In short, the effects of local conflicts are spreading globally. In the meantime, powerful countries are sitting on the fence, sponsoring the conflicts with “military aids” to one side or the other. At the moment, the chances of any leaders in this world being able to bring these conflicts to a halt are extremely slim. No wonder, we need a God to take over the control, to judge between the nations, to settle disputes and to set terms for many peoples.
For example, in the gospel we read in the liturgical year A, Jesus says, “So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” (24:44) In another Synoptic gospel, the Lord also mentions that nobody knows the day or the time, neither the angels nor the Son Himself (24:36; Mark 13:32). Therefore, don’t waste our time, energy and money to chase after those doomsday prophecies. Instead, stay awake and spend your energy in more fruitful ways because we’re convinced that our present actions count.
In fact, Jesus leaves us an enigma to provoke our minds to explore. He makes use of the story of Noah to remind the audience of the need to stay awake. The contemporaries of Noah were leading a “normal ordinary” life of “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” (Matthew 24:38). Notice that Jesus did not mention the wickedness and evil they were supposed to have committed (Genesis 6:5) but normal ordinary social activities! Jesus continues to mention normal ordinary economic activities, “Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.” (Matthew 24:40-41). The logical question to ask is why the outcome is so different! The different outcomes also show that something other than actions is decisive. Actions in themselves are necessary but not sufficient to count. There is something more! Which means getting baptized; celebrating Sunday masses; receiving the sacraments; studying the Bible and visiting the homeless are necessary but not sufficient for you to be taken to heaven! We should focus on what makes the difference. Family members of Noah also ate, drank and married, didn’t they? So, how were they different from their contemporaries?
Genesis gives us a formula which is not informative at all. “But Noah found favour with the Lord.” (Genesis 6:8) The epistle of Peter may be able to shed some light on this vague formula. “And if He (God) did not spare the ancient world, even though He preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness …” (2 Peter 2:5). So it is leading an ordinary life in righteousness that won Noah the Lord’s favour. With righteousness, Noah was able to keep in touch with God while his contemporaries failed. With righteousness, one man out in the field and one woman grinding at the mill will be taken up to heaven while their counterparts fail. With righteousness, getting baptized; celebrating Sunday masses; receiving the sacraments; studying the Bible and visiting the homeless will win you the Lord’s favour. Otherwise, doing the same things is insufficient for a baptized Catholic to secure a place in heaven! Now then, what is righteousness? We may turn to the apostle whose lips always announce “righteousness”.
In the second reading today, Paul uses the same “awake” language as the Lord does. He says, “It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed … Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.” (Romans 13:11-12) What are the works of darkness which we need to throw off? Paul enumerates a few examples: orgies, drunkenness, promiscuity, licentiousness, rivalry, jealousy and desires of the flesh etc. (13:13-14). With his Pharisaic background, preaching to the Romans must have been a cultural shock for Paul. But remember Noah’s story. I’m afraid what the Romans had taken to be normal and ordinary must have been extremely evil and sinful according to Paul’s standard.
Let’s put away the righteousness vocabulary for time being and imagine the ways both Noah and his contemporaries ate. If Noah ate with gratitude towards the Lord while the others ate without self-control, the gratitude made a difference. If there is an element of self-giving and sharing instead of selfish gratification in marriage, the sharing of love makes a difference. If there is an intention to glorify God in our work instead of defeating our rivals, the glorification of God makes a difference! If there is the motive to edify and raise your team members up instead of blaming your comrades for failures, such a difference will build heaven on earth!
Brethren! While actions count, motive and attitude differentiate. Staying awake means to be aware of the motive and attitude of our actions. Some motives and attitudes help us keep in touch with God and in the end we will be taken up to heaven while others will imperceptibly lead us away from God and be left behind in hell. Therefore, stay awake!
God bless!
2019 Reflection
Picture Credit: wikimedia.org
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