Texts taken from the Missalette “On Your Word” November-December 2022

1st Sunday of Advent (A)
1st week, optional memorial

FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Isaiah (Is 2:1-5)
The message that Isaiah, son of Amoz, received in a vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s temple shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above the hills; all nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. – The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

All the prophets announced the Messiah awaited by the nations. Isaiah, perhaps more than any other, was the prophet who placed the coming of Emmanuel, God-with-us, at the heart of his entire book and preaching. On the very first Sunday of Advent, the Church’s liturgy brings one of the new things Emmanuel came to bring to our attention: peace. It would be better to say the Hebrew “shalom,” which is much more than peace as we understand it today. For us, peace is the absence of war; for Isaiah, and therefore for God, peace is a concrete commitment so that everything may be transformed, so that communion among living beings may be experienced at every moment of history. Utopia? Anyone who does not know the life and mission of Jesus of Nazareth might think so, and would have every reason to. But from Jesus onward, everything changed. One does not enter the history of the chosen people by birth, but through personal commitment, thanks to the contagion made possible by those who, in turn, allowed themselves to be touched by the good news of the incarnation. From witness to witness, God’s dream moves forward.

SECOND READING

From the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans  (Rom 13:11-14a)
Brothers and sisters, 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. Therefore, let us throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day: not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. Rather, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. – The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

The great temptation of Christians is not sin, defeated by the Lord Jesus, but rather falling asleep—that is, no longer awaiting anything, delegating the fulfillment of life to history. In this liturgical season of waiting for the Lord, Paul invites us to wake from sleep. When a mother knows that the days of childbirth are approaching, she no longer thinks about sleeping; only her vigilance will allow her to feel the labor pains as soon as they begin. In the same way, Christians cannot rest on their laurels. If this was possible until the middle of the last century, when one seemed still to be living in a more or less Christian society (Italian and Western), now, to an attentive and clear-sighted observer, it is evident that Christianity is, in fact, a minority—not even a particularly vocal one. A minority that cherishes certain traditions and, through them, sublimates its lack of a people and its lost appeal. “It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep” is an invitation I feel addressed particularly to me. Come on, a new day is beginning; you have been given a new opportunity.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 24:37-44)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. They knew nothing until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be 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. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of the night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” – The word of the Lord. 

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

Reading the Gospel of this first Sunday of Advent carefully, we realize that the sins of Noah’s contemporaries are not announced to us. What is condemned, as is clear from the sacred texts, is a life wholly intent on small earthly satisfactions. The people of Noah’s time were not very different from us (nihil sub sole novum, Qoheleth would say). Caught up in the routine of daily life and its demands, they notice nothing. As if God did not exist. They live a parallel life, just like ours, between what belongs to the realm of the sacred and what belongs instead to the realm of the profane. They eat, drink, marry. At a certain point they notice this strange character, Noah, who has begun building an ark. Yet even this does not move them from their indifference. People, especially when they feel self-assured, no longer make the effort to interpret the signs. The step from the sign to reality is a short one. The flood comes and sweeps everyone away. So it will be with the arrival of the Messiah: it will always be sudden, never awaited enough, and it will continue to upend the plans of those who feel secure in their homes, amid their possessions. Let us help one another remain awake.