Don Bosco Philippines South Province

Homily on the First Sunday of Advent, 3 December 2023, SJBP Liloan

One inconvenience that many of us have to go through in life almost everyday is waiting. Those who are not rich enough to have what they want instantly need to always wait, and at times for a long while. In the morning when we wake up, we need to wait for the water to boil so we can enjoy a cup of coffee, milk or sekwati (tablea). Ug tungod kay usa ra ang atong bathroom sa balay (since we only have one bathroom at home) we have to wait for almost an hour before we can use it kay dugay kaayo mahuman si ate o si kuya sulod sa banyo (because ate or kuya takes so much time inside the wash room).

When going to work or school we need to stand outside and wait for the bus, the jeepney or taxi to pass so we can go to work or to school. Those who have a little negosyo have to wait patiently for customers to come hoping they would buy what they are selling. When messaging our loved ones we sometimes need to wait for the whole day before we can get a reply. And so on and so forth…

At the end of the day we wait again for the next transportation to take us home, while other people get worried while waiting for their beloved to come home. When we are finally in bed some of us wait desperately the whole night for sleep to come. Those who are pregnant have to wait for nine months for their baby to be born. Some others wait for a lifetime for their prince charming to come and propose a wedding.

You see, life is full of waiting. And different people have different attitudes and feelings while waiting. Some get bored, worried, or anxious. Others remain patient, hopeful, and excited. A few years ago, for example, a pregnant mother who had been diagnosed of having cancer midway through her pregnancy was advised to have her baby aborted in view of her treatment so she can be saved. But she chose to wait for a few more months until the end of her pregnancy. And very soon when her baby was born she was miraculously declared by her doctors to be cancer-free.

Brothers and sisters we thank God for giving us this new season of Advent which we have begun today. As many of us already know, this period is meant to be a time of waiting for the joyful celebration of Christmas. That is true. However, our liturgy today reminds us that Advent is indeed a time of preparation not only for Christmas but more importantly for the second and final coming of our Lord at the end of time or at the end of our lives. If you might have noticed, last Sunday and in the past days the Scripture readings have been speaking about the end times including the final judgment. These passages were meant to prepare us for the return of the great Messiah who promised that he will come back on earth one day to take us with him to his heavenly Kingdom.

And now that we have begun the Advent season Jesus continues to speak to us about the same dreadful realities. Precisely in the Gospel passage we just heard today he is telling us that we should be watchful for he will be coming again on a day and at an hour we do not really know. But what is it that we should really watch? I believe it is not so much what is happening outside of us but rather we should watch what is presently happening within us, in our thoughts, our feelings, our attitudes, our reactions, the way we live our faith day by day, the way we relate with others. In other words today and in the coming days leading to Christmas we should be watchful of all the things that really matter in our life.

After all these months and years that we have been coming to Mass and listening to God’s Word let us we ask ourselves “In what way have I grown in my faith? Have I come to know Jesus more deeply and have become closer to him? Has there been any change in me in the way I think, I speak, I react, I do things and relate with other people… in the way I live and celebrate my faith as a Christian and as a Catholic? Have I become a little more like Jesus compared to last year?

The first reading offers us a good material for our prayer and meditation during this period of waiting. Isaiah in fact suggests a text for our prayer “You, O Lord, are our father and our redeemer… return for the sake of your servants…” This was the prayer of Isaiah and the Israelites during the time of their exile in Babylon, when they felt they have been banished from the Lord’s sight, away from the city of Jerusalem. As he prayed Isaiah realized how sinful and unfaithful they have become as a people and wished they would be forgiven and be renewed by God himself. Let me quote the continuation of this beautiful prayer composed by the prophet: “Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways! Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful; all of us have become like unclean people, all our good deeds are like polluted rags; we have all withered like leaves, and our guilt carries us away like the wind. There is none who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to cling to you; for you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us up to our guilt.”

These words, said with utter humility, are an acknowledgement of Israel’s sin before an ever faithful God. They are honest and sincere and yet also filled with trust and filial confidence as expressed by the last verse of this passage; and I quote “Yet, O LORD, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.” The Israelites through the prophet Isaiah were asking God to do with them as he wills… even to the point of re-forming them like a piece of clay according to his very own image & likeness.

In the second reading taken from the first letter to the Corinthians, St Paul is telling us that we have already been enriched with God’s grace. In fact this new season of Advent is God’s gift to us. God who is faithful does not want us condemned for our sins. Out of his goodness he gives us this chance, this period of time to be confirmed in our faith and conformed to his will, so that on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will be found irreproachable, holy and pleasing in his sight, much like Mary, the Blessed Virgin conceived without sin.

Brothers and sisters, the keyword for this Sunday is vigilance: it is not enough that we just wait passively while looking forward to Christmas. Jesus is actually calling us and challenging us to be vigilant while waiting. We need to be watchful of everything we think, say and do inside and outside so that we may no longer fear what we might have to face at the end of time. On the contrary we can look forward to it with joyful hope, for the glorious Lord will certainly come just as he himself had promised. And when he returns and finds us faithful he will surely take us to be with him in his heavenly Kingdom. And when we finally get there, only then will we be able to say, “It was worth the wait.”

May this Eucharist inspire us and empower us from this day forward to live to the full our Christian faith, always confident, hopeful and excited for the coming of the Lord, so that when that day comes we may be admitted to the great banquet in heaven together with our Blessed Mother and all the saints for all eternity. GiGsss!

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