A reading from the prophet Isaiah (63:16b-17,19b; 64:3-7)
You, Lord, are our Father,
‘Our Redeemer’ is your name from of old.
Why, Lord, do you let us stray from your paths
and harden our hearts so that we do not fear you?
Come back, for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
Oh, that you would tear the heavens open
and come down!
In your presence the mountains would quake.
No ear has heard,
no eye has seen any god but you,
so act like this for those who await him.
You come to meet those who act justly;
by their ways they remember you.
See, you have been angry and we have sinned;
now we persist in your ways and we shall be saved.
We have all been like a thing unclean,
all our righteous deeds like filthy rags.
Like a leaf we, all of us, wither,
and our misdeeds bear us off like the wind.
No one calls on your name,
or attempts to hold fast to you,
for you have hidden your face from us
and given us up to the power of our misdeeds.
And yet, Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay and you shape us,
all of us are the work of your hands.
This psalm-like reading begins and ends acclaiming God as ‘our Father’ (’abinu). These last chapters of the book of Isaiah date from after the return from the Babylonian exile. God is the ‘redeemer’ who has freed the people. Once again, they urge him to intervene, to ‘tear the heavens open’, to show that God is there for the people. Profound awareness of sin leads those who pray to describe themselves as ‘unclean’, as ‘filthy rags’, as withered leaves. The return home to the land of Israel has not solved their problems, but they acknowledge their guilt, and know themselves to be clay shaped by the potter. ‘We are all of us the work of your hand.’
Psalm 80 (79) The psalm repeatedly calls to God: ‘Bring us back.’ Using different images the ‘shepherd of Israel’ is urged to ‘visit this vine’ and to give life to those who ask for help.
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians (1:3-9)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I am continually thanking God about you, for the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus; for in every way you have been richly endowed in him, in every kind of speech and knowledge, just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed; he will continue to give you strength till the end, to be irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is trustworthy; through him you were called into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
In these early verses of his first letter to the Corinthians Paul celebrates their faith. Before embarking on criticisms of the community he acknowledges the grace they have received ‘in Christ Jesus’. They have been enriched ‘in every kind of speech and knowledge’. The ‘testimony (martyrion) of Christ’ has grown among them. Paul emphasises that the Christian community is waiting for the ‘revelation’ (apokalypsis) of our Lord Jesus Christ, and must be prepared for his coming. Finally, God is ‘trustworthy’ (pistos), and it is by God’s will that they were called into communion (koinonia) with Christ.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Mark (13:33-37)
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Take care, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come. It is like a man travelling abroad, leaving his home, and putting his servants in charge, each with his own work to do; and he has told the doorkeeper to stay awake. So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening, midnight, cockcrow or dawn; when he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake!’
These are the final words of Jesus’ discourse on the end of the world. They are punctuated with the call to ‘stay awake’, familiar in our Advent liturgy. This speaks of the need to live, not in lazy indifference, but responsibly in the present, not gazing aimlessly into the future. Lack of knowledge of the ‘time’ (kairos) makes vigilance even more urgent. The parable of the absent master does not need to be taken to a conclusion. Its meaning is obvious.
What might ‘staying awake’ mean in your life?
Pray for faith amid the troubles of the world.