First Sunday of Advent

Welcome to the start of a new Church year! The season of Advent, in this part of the world, gets overshadowed by the end of school and secular years and the Christmas events which have begun even as I write. The tinsel and the decorations appear many of which are predicated on the Northern Hemisphere winter. As Catholics we are often distracted by these things and so we tend to miss the crucial messages of this holy season. The first two weeks strike a penitential note. We are reminded of the Second Coming of Christ which will inaugurate the eternal age: "... so that God may be all in all." (1 Cor 15: 28) Hence, in the second reading, St Paul reminds us: "He (God the Father) will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." (1 Cor 1: 8) We strive to respond to this call by going to reconciliation where we are forgiven our sins and given new grace to rejoice in God's gifts. This year the Rite II celebration will be on Thursday 17 December at 7pm at Sacred Heart church. With Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, the mood changes from solemn to rejoicing as we look forward to celebration the birth of our Saviour. More about that in due course! For the time being we are alerted by the Church to not have  our senses dulled by self-indulgence or our hearts distracted by the cares of the world. Christ is coming  and it is we, as his disciples, who need to be alert so that he finds us ready to greet him: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come... And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake." (Mk 13: 31-33, 37)