Monday of the First Week of Advent Need for Watchfulness E-mail Print PDF Mk 13:33-37 [Jesus said to his disciples,] 33“Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. 34It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. 35Watch, 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. 36May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’ ” WAITING IN JOYFUL HOPE. On the first Sunday of Advent, the Gospel is telling us to be watchful, to be alert! We have to be on watch for the Master who is surely coming, but at a time we do not know. The Master is no other than Jesus, our Lord, who came once to live among human beings and is coming again at the end of human history, at the end of time. The Gospel paints this coming of Jesus in apocalyptic colors. Jesus’ parousia or Second Coming will be marked by cataclysm in the universe. If we take the picture literally, we will shake in fear. But the purpose of the apocalyptic language is not to instill fear but to inspire hope in the hearts of believers. The “old order” will fall, and this is symbolized by the darkening of the sun and the moon and the falling of stars (cf Mk 13:24-25); however, this will be replaced by a “new order”—a “new heaven and a new earth” as symbolized by the fig tree sprouting leaves (Mk 13:28). Christians in Mark’s time needed this assurance of their final victory because of persecution. Jesus will come again to set things right. In his second encyclical letter Spe Salvi (nn 43-44), Pope Benedict XVI says that people today need this hope as they see a world marked by so much injustice, innocent suffering, and cynicism of power, leading some to protest against the justice of God or even question the very existence of God. For this very reason, we must look forward with the certitude of hope. Christ will come again to “undo” past suffering and set things aright. It is impossible that the injustice of history should be the final word. If only for that fact, there is necessity for Christ’s return. Thus, the image of the Last Judgment when Christ returns is not primarily a picture of terror, but an image of hope. This is our consolation and our hope.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 08:20:28 +0000
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