First Sunday of Advent

Reflection

The readings for this Sunday encompass a few different topics to start our journey through the Advent season. The first reading emphasizes God’s promise of a right and just Savior, often a major focus in preparing for Christmas. Then in the second reading, Paul encourages us to remember Jesus’ teachings and to conduct ourselves to please God. So now the readings have established the main idea of Advent and how we should be conducting ourselves especially during this season. However, the Gospel sends the most critical message because it discusses what our mindset should be. This message encourages a focus on viewing Christ’s coming as something that we need to be prepared for, as a priority. If this is our priority for this season, and we are vigilant throughout, we will be able to continually accept the promise of Jesus and conduct ourselves to His ideals. The Gospel message of awareness is our first step, our first tool for Advent. As Advent begins, I pray that we might gain a heightened awareness of God’s presence, so that we will be able to eliminate the worldly distractions that we face every day, and to gain a new ultimate focus of welcoming Christ into the world, and into our lives.

Tim Nagy, '15

Scripture

First Reading: Jeremiah 33: 14-16

Psalm 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14

Second Reading: 1 Thes 3: 12-4:2

Gospel: Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website