| Readings for November 27, 2011
BE WATCHFUL! BE ALERT!
Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7a
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:33-37
We begin a new Liturgical Year with the First Sunday of Advent. The first weeks of Advent turn our attention to the second coming of Christ at the end of time.
Today's first reading from Isaiah begins with a note of discontent by the Israelites who feel as though they have been, abandoned by God, left to wander on their own. Do we sometimes feel that way, especially at this time of the year? Most of us get so caught up in our preparations for Christmas that it might feel as though we have been left alone to get ourselves ready spiritually. Later on in the reading, however, the Israelites realize that they are not being left alone, God is guiding them:.
...No ear has ever heard, no eye has ever seen, any God but you doing such deeds for those who wait for him...
Then this reading concludes with a powerful observation -
...Yet, O Lord, you are our Father, we are the clay and you are the potter, we are all the work of your hands...
God is our Father. We are his creation, formed by his own hand. These words become a very powerful message for us as we begin this season.
We must be watchful, we must be alert. These become our words of hope and expectation.
...we do not know when the lord of the house is coming...
We certainly do not know the day or the hour when the end will come. Many have tried to predict this, and have failed. We must be watchful, we must be alert whether it is:
...in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning...
We must stand ready to greet the Lord.
Let us take time out of our busy schedules this week to prepare ourselves inwardly for that second coming, so that we will be ready when the Lord comes in glory!
Prayer for the Week:
Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming,
so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to posses the heavenly kingdom.
Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Sprit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen
(Collect - First Sunday of Advent)
Jim Wojcik is the Director of Operations in the College Admission Office at the University of Chicago. At Ascension Jim is a lector and minister of communion, and is the coordinator of the Environment and Art committee, as well as an RCIA team member.
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