A reading from the prophet Isaiah (2:1-5)
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
It will happen in the last days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
will be established as the head of the mountains
and will be lifted above the heights.
Then all the nations will stream to it,
many peoples will come to it and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths.’
For the Law will come from Zion
and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Then he will judge between the nations
and arbitrate between many peoples.
They will hammer their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into sickles.
Nation will not lift sword against nation;
no longer will they learn to make war.
House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Advent begins with Isaiah’s vision of peace. His vision is the ‘word’ (dabar) which Isaiah ‘saw’ (hazah) about Judah and Jerusalem. Hearing and seeing are crucial in this prophetic book (Isaiah 6). The focus is on Sion, the mountain of the house of the Lord, towards which the nations stream. There is a universal desire to be taught the ‘ways’ and the ‘paths’ of God. Sion, Jerusalem, is the channel by which the Law (torah) and the Word (dabar) are given. At God’s judgement the weapons of war are put to peaceful use, and the whole ‘house of Jacob’, joined by the nations, walks in the light of the Lord.
Psalm 122 (121) Once again people are making their way to God’s house. They go to praise the Lord and to pray for peace, peace for Jerusalem and peace for the brothers and sisters.
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans (13:11-14)
Besides, you know the time has come; now is the moment for you to stop sleeping and wake up, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first began to believe. The night is far gone, day is near; so let us throw off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. Let us live decently, as in the light of day, not with orgies or drunkenness, promiscuity or licentiousness, not with quarrelling and jealousy. Rather, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfil its desires.
St Paul tells us the ‘time’ (kairos) has come, the hour to arise from sleep, for the longed-for salvation is near at hand. The night is gone, and the ‘day’ (hemera) is approaching, the day of the Lord. He echoes the words of Isaiah, that we should walk ‘in the light of the Lord’. Twice he speaks of putting on new clothing: take off the ‘works of darkness’, and ‘put on the armour of light’, for Christians are engaged in a battle against the forces of evil. Avoid all that is contrary to Christian life, and ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ’.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew (24:37-44)
Jesus said: ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will be the coming of the Son of man. For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, until the day Noah went into the ark, and they suspected nothing till the Flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of man. Then of two men in the fields, one is taken, one left; of two women grinding at the mill, one is taken, one left. So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming.
You may be sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’
The early days of Advent invite us to reflect on the ‘second coming’, and on our lack of readiness. Jesus speaks about the ‘coming’ (parousia) of the Son of man, the prelude to the end. He insists that the time is not known, but stresses the danger of not being prepared. Noah’s contemporaries were unprepared and the flood destroyed them. The destruction is indiscriminate. But the disciples of the Lord are to be prepared, to ‘watch’, to ‘stay awake’. A further parable, about the burglar who breaks into a house, underlines the danger of being unprepared. Jesus repeats the warning to be ready (hetoimos) at any hour.
How does reflection on the second coming fit with preparation for the birth of Christ?
Pray for the ability to live in readiness and confidence.