Texts taken from the Missalette “On Your Word” November-December 2023

1st Sunday of Advent (B)
1st week, Psalter

FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Isaiah  (Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7)
You, Lord, are our father; from of old you are called our redeemer. Why, Lord, do you let us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so that we do not fear you? Return for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage. Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down! Before you the mountains would quake. When you did awesome deeds we could not hope for, you came down and the mountains quaked before you. No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen any God besides you doing such deeds for those who trust in him. You meet those who gladly do right and remember your ways. Behold, you are angry, and we have sinned against you for a long time and have been rebellious. We have all become like something unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags; we have all withered like leaves, and our iniquities have swept us away like the wind. No one called upon your name; no one roused himself to cling to you, because you had hidden your face from us and given us over to our iniquity. But now, Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hands. – The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

This sublime prayer of Isaiah expresses all of humanity’s longing for its God, creator and redeemer. Usually, in the prophets, the opposite happens: it is God who “complains” because humanity has forgotten him, turned away, and followed and pursued other idols or deities... And so he sends the prophets to cry out in his name: “Return to me! Do not abandon the right path; do not lose yourselves pursuing things that do not save!” Here, instead, it is humanity, lost in the desert of the world, that implores the divine presence. God seems to have withdrawn; he is silent and does not make himself heard. Humanity implores him: “Come! Come down!” The encounter takes place when these two wills desire and seek each other: God’s will, which loves humanity, and humanity’s will, which feels it cannot do without him despite its betrayals and estrangements. Humanity’s cry will culminate in the Nativity of Christ. “Come!” humanity implores, and he comes, making himself accessible, true God with a child’s body in the cave of Bethlehem. The meeting point is the incarnation of the Word, the definitive and unsurpassable manifestation of God for us and with us.

SECOND READING

From the first letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (1 Cor 1:3-9)
Brothers and sisters, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, for in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord! – The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

Paul greets the community of Corinth to which he is writing. First of all, he thanks the Lord because he has manifested himself powerfully in that community, enriching it with every gift. We should recognize that the Corinthians are a family of believers, made so by the powerful action of the Holy Spirit. This also applies to us and to our own settings, whether parish communities or individual religious communities: first of all, let us realize why we are here and what God has intended for us. Then Paul speaks of a manifestation that will come, which the Corinthians must await: this refers to the second coming of the Lord, or perhaps to his final coming at the Last Judgment... We do not know, but there is no need to investigate; we know only that we live in the time between the life inaugurated in the Holy Spirit through the death and resurrection of Jesus and the final “day of the Lord.” In the meantime, what must we do? Saint Paul tells us in the continuation of the letter, offering practical advice. For now, we are placed in the right perspective. We live in a time of grace. Constant complaining is forbidden.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Mark (Mk 13:33-37)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves his house and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening or at midnight or at cockcrow or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” – The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

The Lord’s emphatic command in today’s Gospel is just one: to keep watch, which simply means to stay awake, alert, and not sleep. Jesus repeats the invitation to keep watch many times in the Gospel, both directly and in various parables. Why is it so important? Because it is precisely when we are watchful that we can be accountable for our actions and rush immediately to the door of our existence when the master appears. Outside the metaphor, it is sin that puts us to sleep. It is no coincidence that the Benedictus (Lk 1:68-79) speaks of “darkness and the shadow of death.” Sin makes us fall into a spiritual sleepwalking, in which everything becomes confused, indistinct, and gray. We can no longer understand the Lord’s voice or see the beauty of creation; we no longer understand the language of his love and tenderness, because everything seems senseless, painful, and tiring. So here is the exhortation: live in grace! Confess your sins, nourish yourselves with the body of Christ, and love one another with dedication and a spirit of sacrifice. In this way, we will always be ready to answer Jesus whenever he calls us, both in the present time and at the final calling.