Keeping watch for the third coming

First Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

Is 63,16-7; 64, 2-7; 1 Cor 1,3-9; Mk 13, 33-37.

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God comes

If there is a word or a phrase that we are going to hear repeated over and over again for the next four weeks of Advent, it is the phrase "God is coming." We will sing it in our hymns and recite it in our psalm antiphons. Advent in fact reminds us of the two great comings of Christ. The first one, we are all familiar with: the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem which the Prophets announced with such great expectation, as we read in today's first reading: "Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down!" Isaiah prays in such powerful and symbolic language. The second reading reminds us of what we call the second coming of Christ: that which will occur at the end of time, and which we read about in last Sunday's gospel.

The third coming

However today I would like to share with you yet another coming of Jesus, a third coming of Christ, which occurs between the first and the last. One of the great saints of the twelfth century calls it "the bridge" between the first and the last coming of Jesus. This intermediate coming of Jesus helps us get ready for the final coming, the final encounter with Jesus. It trains our heart.

We are reminded here of the words that Jesus himself told us at the very end of his life on earth before his ascension into heaven. He tells his disciples, "Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mt 28,20). Jesus is in fact found in his Word, in the Sacraments, in especially in the Holy Eucharist, in our life through the various events that we pass through.

Recognising Jesus now that we may do so even then

This is the meaning of today's gospel. Jesus comes and enters our life but many times we are distracted because we do not expect him to be right there at that time. One of the worst things that can happen to us is that we live our life as though we are sleep-walking. Thinking that we are awake but in fact we are fast asleep because we are distracted. We can easily recognise Jesus in things sacred but we fail to recognise Jesus in the grind of our daily life. We can recognise the fair-haired and chubby-cheeked Jesus in the Christmas cards that we send to each other and in the cribs that we build in our living rooms but fail to recognise him in our brothers and sisters who demand our love and attention. We can recognise him in the Christmas carols that we sing but fail to recognise him in the challenges of our life where God seems not only hidden but even absent. If we fail to recognise him 

now, today, in our daily life, then neither will we recognise him in the final coming.

Wakefulness and awareness

And therefore advent is a time to remind us to be awake. Perhaps we might read the signs of times around us and the signals telling us to wake up. There might be signals around us as individuals and as a community, calling us to our senses to put ourselves on track again. But perhaps we prefer to stretch our hand out from under our cosy blankets and press the snooze button over and over again because we prefer the warmth and comfort of our cocoon, where we live our own life and nobody can disturb us. One of the things that impressed me in Pope Francis's memorable visit in Myanmar and Bangladesh was that he told the young people gathered in sports ground gathered in Notre Dame College in Dhaka yesterday, "Do not spend the day playing with your phone and ignoring the world around you."

Learning to keep watch

Last August, back in my home island, Malta, two young men went swimming next to some cliffs and got lost at sea. Due to the rough waters they ended up in a cave in the rocks, unable to climb back up. They spent three days and three nights in this cave. When they were finally found and rescued, they said that they took turns to watch. One would sleep while the other would keep watch for any passing boats. Can you imagine how long and dark the nights must have been in that cave, and what joy the first says of sunrise in the horizon brought to who was keeping watch? Can you imagine the even greater joy that they experienced when they finally spotted the fishing boat that eventually called for the armed forces to rescue them?

That is the type of watching that is expected of us this Advent. It is a watching for rays of hope in what otherwise look like bleak situations, attuning our vision to spot the presence of Christ where we would otherwise not even notice him.

Mary: icon of wakefulness and watchfulness

I think that there is no better companion to lead us throughout this advent than Mary herself. Whoever had a birth in his or her family knows how much preparation is needed. I am sure that Mary underwent the same preparation, to make sure that she is ready for when the moment comes. Who knows with what sensitivity she felt for the quickening for the Baby within her. Who knows how she kept watch during the nights until that night when Jesus was born.

In the meantime, let us keep watch with her, let us wake up from our slumber and recognise Jesus in the small and uneventful moments of our lives.