First Sunday of Advent

Sunday, November 30, 2025

First Sunday of Advent

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/113025.cfm

76. GETTING READY (MT 24:37-51)

“He first came in the order of divine providence to teach men by gentle persuasion, but when he comes again they will, whether they wish it or not, be subjected to his kingship.”

- St Cyril of Jerusalem

Matthew 24:37-51

‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of Man comes. For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and they suspected nothing till the Flood came and swept all away. It will be like this when the Son of Man comes. Then of two men in the fields one is taken, one left; of two women at the millstone grinding, one is taken, one left. 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. What sort of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the dishonest servant who says to himself, My master is taking his time, and sets about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’

CHRIST THE LORD The Church presents us with this passage at the start of Advent. During the season of Advent, we gratefully recall Christ’s first coming, we renew our faith in his continual coming in the life of the Church, and we stir up our anticipation of his Second Coming at the end of time. In the context St Matthew provides for these words, Jesus is also referring to three comings: the imminent destruction of Jerusalem (and foundation of the Church), the future destruction (and remaking) of the cosmos at the end of history, and the inevitable end of each individual’s earthly existence. In few passages does Christ’s universal Lordship – past, present, and future – show itself more clearly.

It is worth contemplating this scene: sitting with Jesus and his apostles on the Mount of Olives in the cool of the evening after a busy day in the Temple, eagerly listening, trying to understand, glad to be there with him. See the gleaming marble and domes of the city, recently refurbished by King Herod the Great. See the busy throngs pouring in and out of the city gates and through the city streets, preoccupied with the hundred-and-one cares of daily living while their Creator and Lord looks on from above. See the sun setting behind the guard towers on the far side of the city walls, silhouetting the taller palaces and sending rays of color through the clouds. Hear the voice of Jesus, instructing his followers. Did he speak slowly, or was he full of eagerness and zeal? Did his voice reveal the sadness he felt at the rejection of the city leaders, or the enthusiasm of knowing that the Church for which he was about to give his life would last for centuries, pouring his grace into the hearts of

people throughout the globe? See the faces of his twelve closest disciples and friends. Some are rapt with attention; others perhaps are disturbed by his words and look off into the distance. Some are perplexed. All are simply glad to be at their Master’s side...

In our own hearts and imagination, and not just in the Advent season, we can join the apostles there to experience the Lord as they did.

CHRIST THE TEACHER Up until this point, Jesus has been answering his disciples’ question about when the destruction of the Temple and the establishment of the new Kingdom would take place. Jesus has explained the signs of those events; he has given a sketch of the apostolic age of the Church, which will serve as a pattern for the whole messianic age until the Second Coming. The time has come to draw some conclusions.

The disciples now know that both exciting growth and painful persecution await them. They know that Jerusalem, the center of the Old Covenant, will be destroyed to make way for the New Covenant, and then the world itself will eventually be destroyed to make way for the new heavens and the new earth at the end of the messianic age – though they don’t know exactly when all this will happen. This is the lesson of Noah: a prophetic event.

What should they – indeed, what should we do with this knowledge? The answer is: Use it to give sharp focus to how we spend whatever amount of time we have left. The bottom line is that our time is limited. This awareness should keep us awake and dedicated to the mission we have received. Jesus considers this lesson to be so important that he dedicates these and three other parables to getting it across; he knew how easily even the most faithful disciple can fall into the trap of thinking that this life is the goal, not merely the path.

CHRIST THE FRIEND Love is never satisfied. Christ’s three comings – originally at his incarnation, continually through the Liturgy, and finally and definitively at his second coming – all have the same purpose: to reestablish and deepen our friendship with God. But even these do not satisfy his desire to be with us. He wants to come into our lives every day. He yearns to encounter his bride, to renew his covenant with the Church and with every individual soul as often as possible. In the Eucharist, he found a way to continue coming to us day after day: a new advent, a new Bethlehem, a renewed communion every time the Eucharist is celebrated. At each Mass, every day, he longs to take up fresh lodging in our hearts; his only hope is that there will be some room in the inn.

Jesus: It is hard for you to imagine how glad I am whenever you take time to pray, to sit with me and listen to my words and speak what is in your heart. This is what my first disciples did; this is what all my followers have done, through the centuries. I am the Lord of history, and I am the Lord of your personal history. I will never rule you by force, however. I love you too much for that. So whenever you look to me and listen to me, my heart rejoices, because it means you want to share your life with me, just as I yearn to share mine with you.

CHRIST IN MY LIFE Thank you for coming to be our Savior. Thank you for taking my sins upon yourself, and for enlightening me with these eternal truths. I can count on your word. You will come again to bring history to its conclusion. And you want me to organize my life

with the end in mind. So many people search so anxiously for an answer to this question of what the future holds. I already have the answer. Thank you, Lord...

What aspects of my life need to be reformed by this teaching? I want my whole life to be pleasing to you, to glorify you, and to bear fruit for your Kingdom. If I am close to you, I will be able to do so much more to help those around me. Take me on an inventory of my habits, activities, and attitudes and show me what to change...With the Kingdom of your heart, Lord, reign in my heart...

QUESTIONS FOR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

1. What struck you most about this passage? What did you notice that you hadn’t noticed before?

2. Why does Christ want us to be ready for his coming? Why would it matter to him?

3. Why do you think God hasn’t revealed to us the exact time of his Second Coming?

4. Some non-believers criticize Christians for disengaging from this earthly life because they are so worried about eternal life. How would you respond to this criticism? Do these parables encourage us to disengage from earthly life?

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 673-674, 1040 on the uncertainty of the time of the Lord’s coming; 522-526 on the meaning of Advent and Christmas; 1, 27, 45 on communion with God as the meaning of life