First Sunday of Advent

 Lectionary: 1 

You know the time;
it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;
the night is advanced, the day is at hand.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..."

 So begins the Gospel of Saint John.

Advent begins with a similar voice of command -- "Now!" 

• And now we have set foot
  within your gates, O Jerusalem.
• it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
• For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

Whatever we may have put off, we must do now.

For whatever we've prepared, now is the moment. 

There is no tomorrow in now. 

There is a season for everything, as the Book of Ecclesiastes says; and now that season has arrived when the Son of Man must come. 

Does it seem sudden to you? Were you not warned?

Two men will be out in the field;

one will be taken, and one will be left.

Two women will be grinding at the mill;

one will be taken, and one will be left.

We've seen this kind of thing happen to others. A tornado struck the neighbor's house, yours was left unharmed. Fire swept through a forest burning homes and businesses; yours was left untouched. An armed man invaded someone's home and killed the family; yours was spared. 

It could have happened to you. It didn't. 

In those days before the flood,

they were eating and drinking,

marrying and giving in marriage,

up to the day that Noah entered the ark.

They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. 

Disasters remind us of this. But so do blessings. We call them news. "Have you heard the news?" An entire industry is built on startling, unexpected news. We tune in the radio; we keep the TV on twenty-four-seven; we check our Facebook and Twitter accounts continually. We dread not knowing the news. 

Sometimes it's happening now. Turn on your radio! Turn on your TV. Oh my God! You'll remember this moment, the day you heard, where you were, what you were wearing, who you were with -- the rest of your life. 

Therefore, stay awake!

For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

The Mass takes us back to that day long ago, a day which began at sundown as Jesus gathered his disciples in the Upper Room to celebrate his Last Supper; that same day which ended at sundown as he died on the cross. 

The Mass also takes us forward to that Day when the Lord will come. 

The Mass, finally, takes us to this moment -- Now! -- as wait.