Fr Antonio Pineda
esus tells us: “So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
These warning words from this Sunday’s Gospel are powerful, if somewhat fear inducing. Isn’t Advent supposed to be a joyful season? Why then do we have a passage from St Matthew’s Gospel that uses apocalyptic images to express fear, agony and distress? Well, it is not because what is coming is something to dread. Quite the opposite: it is something so, so wonderful that to be unprepared for it would be catastrophic for our spiritual lives. Imagine waiting for the last bus home and then you miss it because you fall asleep. This Sunday’s Gospel is telling us to wake up to welcome … light … hope. Someone is coming.
Yes, Jesus is coming and the Church gives us the Advent season to prepare for his arrival. The first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of the liturgical or Church’s year and it is a chance to begin again, to reconcile and to reinvigorate our faith. Many aspects of the year 2022 were clouded in darkness. There were challenges that affected us all, on both national and international levels: the continued war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, the death of a beloved Queen, changes of prime ministers, to name but a few. No doubt, many of us had to face many personal crises on top.
But Advent gives us renewed hope. Advent builds up hope, stressing how God is ever coming towards us. Hope is the anchor which holds fast in storm and current. Hope is our strength to survive. It is the tablet we take to persevere. And hope comes from Him whose birth we await. Advent’s prayer is “Come”. As long as there is Someone coming, there is hope.
This year, I am blessed enough to start the Advent season with a week-long retreat in Rome. I will be staying at the Venerable English College where I did my seven-year training for the priesthood. I couldn’t think of a better place to begin Advent, for the English College was the place where I learned perseverance and patience, and the humility to allow the Lord to shape me to be the person he wanted me to be. That shaping process continues to this day and is particularly significant in Advent, because the season gives me hope of conversion, no matter how many times I get out of shape.
Assuring you of my prayers in the Eternal City.