Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR A 1ST SUNDAY OF ADVENT - 28.11.04 Is 2,1-5; Rom 13,11-14; Mt 24,37-44 A New Year of the Lord: 2005 Advent:
In
the hectic pace of life, Advent comes as a warning to take stock of what we are
doing here & now, since we can be caught when we are not ready for his
coming. We know of course that the Year of the Church is arranged in such a way
that within each year we celebrate the whole saving event of our faith: the
Mystery of Christ’s life, from Incarnation to Pentecost and the expectation of
his Glorious Coming. So, while during Advent we prepare for Christmas &
celebrate Christ’s first coming, we direct our mind in joyful expectation for
Our Lord’s Second Coming at the end of time, and indeed we learn to live all
our life as moving towards our Lord who comes in communion with us: ‘Where 2
or 3 gather together in my name there I am in their midst” (Mt 18,20). Surprising as it may seem to us today, Early Christians expected the
Second Coming of Christ in glory during their life-time. The Feast of Christmas
emerged later (336AD) to celebrate Christ’s first coming at Bethlehem, as an
opportunity for a deeper and more mature way of linking Jesus’ 1st coming in
humility at Bethlehem and his 2nd coming in glory at the end of time. Like them,
we too must be ready at all times, and must never be caught unprepared for the
unexpected coming of the Lord when we die. Advent, with its dimension towards
past present and future, is packed with Symbols, which in turn, help us look
back to the humble beginnings at Bethlehem; rejoice with Jesus’ presence among
us during our life, & look forward with eager expectation for his last
coming. Advent has its symbols: I invite families & individuals to make good
use of these symbols: the colour at all our celebrations is purple and the
Advent Wreath is green. Let these symbols help us focus towards prayer &
vigilance during this season: yes, let us pray for one another as we prepare to
welcome our Lord in our lives. One of the earliest prayers of Christianity is
found at the close of Revelation & First Corinthians: Marana-tha = Come Lord
Jesus!. We
welcome the “Year of Matthew”. Last Sunday we closed the Liturgical Year with Luke’s powerful scene
of Jesus, who is king of life and death while he himself is dying stuck on a
cross. Today we welcome Matthew, who is going to be our “Catechist” from now
onwards, right through the coming year 2005. The continuous reading of
Matthew’s Gospel will give us a global vision of our faith and strengthen our
Christian conviction. I will be including the insights of Howard Clark’s new book “The
Gospel of Matthew & its Readers (2003): a book about the “First Gospel”
and its influence on Western Culture. Throughout the 2000 years of Christianity,
Matthew’s Gospel has been read, understood and applied in a bewildering
variety of ways. So, there is for us today, the need to re-visit the text and
compare yet again, what Scripture scholars understand to be the intent of the
Author (Matthew) and the quite different, often eccentric and bizarre ways this
text has been understood, assimilated, and applied over changing cultures &
years. As with all Gospel writers, Matthew is not interested in giving a strict
time-line of historical events, rather he articulates the teachings of Jesus to
the second generation of Christians, when the Church was experiencing its own
problems of growth, confusion & identity. Let’s begin by identifying in
Matthew the 5 Great Sermons of Jesus: of the mount (5-7) - the Mission (10) -
the Parables (13) - the Community (18) - & of the “last things” (24-25).
From this last Sermon, today’s Gospel picks up the warning: be vigilant - you
don’t know when the Lord is coming - as Judge or Saviour - wait for Him in
eager expectation - pray. ______________________________________ |
