Today’s Mass: the First Sunday of Advent
By Fr David Gibbons, Centre for Catholic Formation, Archdiocese of Southwark
Today is the first day of the Church’s liturgical year. It is also the beginning of Year A in the Sunday Lectionary, the Year of Matthew (that is to say, most of the Gospel readings at Sunday Mass this year are taken from St Matthew’s Gospel). Advent is the season when we prepare to celebrate Christmas, the annual remembering of Christ’s coming into the world. In Advent we also direct our minds to His second coming. It is no surprise, then, that these are the themes of today’s Readings.
The First Reading – like so many in Advent – is taken from the prophecy of Isaiah, although rather mysteriously almost the same words are found in Micah 4: 1-3. It is a vision of the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem (i.e. the restoration of true worship of God) and of peace among the nations. Christ’s coming ushered in this new age, and this vision should inspire us to work for true worship of God and for world peace. The Psalm continues the same themes.
In the Second Reading St. Paul – using the imagery of night turning to day – tells us that as Christians we now live in the new age (of Christ) and should behave accordingly: we should “wake up now” and live in the light of Christ.
In the Gospel Jesus compares His second coming to Noah’s flood: it will be sudden and unexpected; some will be taken and others left (some will be saved and others not); so we must “stay awake” and always be prepared to account for ourselves at the Day of Judgement.
