1st
SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Readings: Jeremiah 33:14-16
1 Thessalonians 3:13 -
4:2
Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
“…stand erect and lift up
your heads,
for your deliverance is drawing near."
The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of
another year cycle in our liturgical calendar. This year is cycle C, and most
of our Sunday gospel readings are taken from the version of St. Luke. As usual,
the first Sunday of Advent connects us to the last Sunday of the previous year,
and that is why we notice today that Luke talks about the coming of Christ in
the context of the Parousia. But as we preserve this thematic continuity, let
us also try to open our reflections to the more joyous season of advent that we
begin today. For indeed, if Christ shall surely come at the end-time, it is
because, once upon a historical time, he came to us by becoming one like us.
1. “And at this time they will see the Son of
Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” This is how Luke, in
today's gospel, illustrates Christ when he comes for the second time. This
second coming that will happen at the end-time is something apocalyptic. Great
cosmic and astral signs shall accompany - or better, shall indicate before hand
– the glorious coming of the Son of Man. Surely, these things are bound to
happen. But quite unfortunately, this apocalyptic portrayal has created an
impression and a sentiment that the last days would be days of terror.
At one particular point, this impression could
perhaps be true since those who are not ready for the final encounter with
Christ will certainly find this moment scaring and terrifying. But the too much
stress of this horrifying aspect of the parousia has given way to a
certain fundamentalism that most often distort the original sense of the
biblical apocalypse. Let us remember that the apocalyptic literature in the
bible was written during the difficult period of the persecution. Beyond question, that particular historical
milieu was indeed terrifying. But the biblical Parousia is precisely portrayed
in some apocalyptic fashion not to instill fear and terror to the readers.
Rather, it is meant to encourage the believers
that their sufferings are in fact foreseen by God, that the eyes of heaven do
always see the persistence and endurance of the faithful ones, and that God
amidst these pain and suffering shall come out victorious and triumphant.
With this
positive and brighter sense of the apocalypse, the coming of Christ at the
end-time is given sense. Here, man's journey, amidst joys and sorrows, laughers
and tears, longings and anxieties, has a particular destiny to look forward to:
And indeed, the very history of man is given a sense of direction; that is,
everything shall culminate victoriously with the reign of Christ. So actually,
these apocalyptic signs are pointing out to Christ's victory. If there is
something dreadful, it is even perhaps dreadliest because something sweetest is
to come so imminently. If there is something dark, it will perhaps even be the
darkest since something brightest is so dose to unfold. Is not the deepest part
of the night, the midnight? Surely it is, because just a mere second after it
is the coming of a new day. And when it finally comes, a new light, a new
beginning, a
new hope shall dawn!
This certainty, therefore gives us that positive
anticipation of Christ's future coming. Christ's
triumph on the last day encourages us to be watchful, to be vigilant, and to be
attentive to the signs of the times. Of course, these signs of the times may
bring misfortune to some, especially to those who are carefree, to those who
take things for granted, and to those who are unprepared in many other ways.
Christ's coming at the end-time will be a day of reckoning, a day of justice,
and a day of final settlement. Those who have accounts must pay, and they must
pay in full. Thus, in this sense, they have the reason to grieve, to regret, to
fear. But to those whose faith has proven consistent, to those who labored so
much for the kingdom, to those who despite shortcomings and failures have risen
once or twice or even thrice more just to
run a good race and fight a good fight, to those who have stood firm to face
the tests of time - to them, the end-time
will surely be a day of reward. So, far from being a day of destruction; it will be a day of great jubilation.
2. This idea of Christ's coming as a moment of
rejoicing brings us to the real meaning of Advent, which -we celebrate as a season year after year. This
aspect of Christ's coming is featured and commemorated not at the end-time, but
at the fullness of time. But what does fullness of time mean in
the scriptures?
The fullness of time refers to the coming of
Christ in the context of the Incarnation. Advent literally means coming,
and this coming refers to Christ as he becomes flesh and dwells among us. By
having the Word made flesh, the eternal God
comes in time and enters into human history. This coming of Christ as the
Incarnate Word happens just exactly at the fullness of time. "When the
fullness of time came. God sent his Son,
born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the
Law" (Gal 4:4).
Sometimes we may wonder why Christ came only some
two thousand years ago. If we take science position that this world has already
existed for billions of years, Christ's
coming seems too late. Why did Christ not come much earlier? Or else, if we
consider the possible nuclear holocaust, we may think that the incarnation
could be best after everything turns into ashes and the world starts anew with
God becoming man. But Christ came neither before nor after the time he really
did. And the reason is quite simple: neither before nor after was the fullness
of time. This fullness of time then is part of God's eternal plan. And as he reveals himself in the person of the
Incarnate Word, we are also told of his noble purpose: "He has let us
know the mystery of his purpose, the hidden plan he so kindly made in Christ
from the beginning to act upon which the times had run their course to the end;
that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head, everything in
the heavens and everything on earth" (cf Eph 1:10).
3. As we see, therefore, the coming at the
end-time and the coming at the fullness of time are two main events
of Christ's coming. And both give meaning to Christian faith and life. For these two share the meaning of the biblical kairos,
which is nothing else but God's own appointed time.
On the one hand, Christ's coming at the fullness
of time reminds us of the timeless God entering into human time. By such a
great breakthrough, the Incarnate Word makes his history in time just as
history itself is dignified by the Incarnate Word. On the other hand, Christ’s
coming at the end-time gives a Christian sense of direction .to this dignified human history as history itself
points its all in all into Christ. Indeed, Christ is the Alpha and the Omega.