First Sunday of Advent – Year A
In addition to being a time to prepare for Christmas, Advent begins a new liturgical year, inviting us to reflect on the entire Christian journey of faith to its end goal. On the first Sunday of Advent in all three lectionary cycles, the gospel focuses on the parousia, when “the Son of Man will come” (Mt 24:44).
In Year A, Matthew’s gospel emphasizes how this pivotal moment will happen during the ordinary things of daily life—eating, drinking, marrying, working. On God’s schedule, the kingdom comes unannounced.
Instead of trying to predict the unpredictable, Jesus calls us and his disciples to an eschatological way of life in which we live every moment doing the ordinary things disciples are called to do. Click To TweetInstead of trying to predict the unpredictable, Jesus calls us and his disciples to an eschatological way of life in which we live every moment doing the ordinary things disciples are called to do. Four parables following today’s passage show us what that kind of life looks like.
It is the servant who consistently fulfills his duties, treating others with dignity even when his master is away. It is the ten bridesmaids who plan wisely for the long term, or the workers who put to use every talent they are given. And the fourth, from Matthew 25 which we hear at the liturgical year’s end, reveals the outcome: You, who gave me food and drink, clothed and welcomed me, come, inherit the kingdom.
For disciples, every moment counts because every moment is a chance to encounter Christ’s return.
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