November 27, 2011
First Sunday of Advent B
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
Yet, O LORD, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands. Isaiah 64:7
"Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'" Mark 13:35-37
Piety
Piety is the alertness of our readiness for the Lord. Looking for the Lord in each now moment of our lives makes us ready for his coming. We do not want to be asleep when the Lord comes for us. Watchfulness is the work of our hearts. Christ enriches us in every way. We are the clay and the Lord is the potter. We are the work of the hands of our Lord. Our piety is the alertness of our hearts to the coming of the Lord.
Study
We carefully look over what the Lord has done for us. For those who wait for the Lord, his coming is assured. In Christ we are enriched in every way with all the words of the heart of Jesus passed down to us through the scriptures and the good people of our lives. The sky is the limit. There is no way we can put a limit on what the Lord has waiting for us. Eye has not seen. Ear has not heard all the wonders the Lord does for us. We are surrounded by a thousand examples of the Lord’s love for us that pass us by without our noticing because we have not studied the Lord’s way of doing things. The ordinary is extraordinary in the kingdom of God.
Action
Disciples are watchful and alert waiting for the coming of the Lord. Advent is the time of waiting. It is an active waiting seen in how we prepare for his coming. The list is made of who love us and expect our love. Four weeks of preparation for the most important coming into our lives. Our work of Advent is revealed in how we give notice to our friends and family of how much we love them. Christmas is best celebrated in community. There we can go beyond the expected in our reach out to those who have no one. We celebrate our best gifting with those who have nothing other than what we give. Our Advent gives us the chance to determine who most needs the gifts we can give. We try to give without counting the cost. We try to feed the Christ we find in the needs of others. We wake up to ourselves and move closer to the Christ of our hearts.
