1st Sunday of Advent (C) 1st December 2024
The reflections for Sundays and Solemnities is an activity of Society of St Paul, India A Reflection by: Fr David Mike MMI St Anne's Parish, Bandra West, Mumbai. -------------------------------------------------------- Greetings of Love, Peace and Joy to you, my friends. At the very outset, let me greet you a Jesus filled, renewed and spiritual liturgical new year. Today 1st of December, 2024, is the first Sunday of Advent which marks the beginning of a new Liturgical calendar and on 1st of January 2025, exactly one month from now we will be celebrating the new year in the Roman calendar which is also the Jubilee year. Let us focus on the new liturgical year which we begin today, the first Sunday of Advent with renewed zeal and fervor. The liturgical year for Sundays has 3 cycles: year A, year B and year C. For this year will have the readings from Cycle C, and the gospel will be mainly from Luke and for weekdays we will have readings from year 1. My dear friends, as we begin a new liturgical calendar by celebrating the first Sunday of Advent, we as Christians are exhorted to a fresh and refreshed beginning liturgically. The word Advent comes from the Latin word ADVENTUS which means COMING OR ARRIVAL. The season of Advent invites us to prepare ourselves spiritually and inwardly. The readings of the day assist us for the much-needed spiritual preparation. The first reading taken from the book of Jeremiah gives us a beautiful image of God as the Righteous Branch. The Lord of Righteousness will fulfill the promise of justice and righteousness made to Israel and is making the same promise to us today. The gospel taken from Luke invites us to prepare the way for the Lord, for Jesus to be born in our hearts. In fact, all the 3 readings of the first Sunday of Advent invite to be waiting and vigilant. Luke tells us that Jesus is coming in a cloud with power and great glory and therefore we need to straighten up and raise our heads, watching and waiting. Luke encourages us not to let our hearts be weighed down with the challenges and struggles of life but rather be ready, alert and always praying to stand courageously and confidently before the Son of Man to accept the rewards that awaits us. My dear friends in Christ Jesus, as we begin our preparation in this advent season, we ask God for His strength and grace to fight and overcome the challenges of life. Life as we all know throws new challenges and hardships every day. Therefore, we need to wait and count on the Lord. Our waiting should not be passive or drowsy but rather stand firm and raise our heads being vigilant and passionate. Our waiting and preparation for Christmas must be joyful and spiritual. Let not this new season of Advent just be Ritualistic affair but rather a Realistic affair. The ritualistic preparation will be momentary but a Real preparation will see us through and bring us to the victory stand with Jesus our Savior whose birth we are awaiting. Let us have a family and community preparation in the synodal spirit, journeying together in the true spirit of Advent. Let us be alive, alert as we begin the new season to renewed and rejuvenated to have better and meaningful spiritual preparation for His coming. Music…….. Wishing you a fruitful and spiritual Advent season. Stay awake stay joyful. God bless.
