A season of hope

Today the Church begins the season of Advent, the time when we wait in expectation for the coming of the child Jesus at Christmas. But on this First Sunday of Advent, the readings point us towards the coming of Jesus in glory at the end of time. Jesus warns his disciples that he will come at a time that no one expects. They have to be ready.

We may not like the idea of waiting. It often seems that we want everything straight away. But there are some things that we have to wait for. A gardener plants seeds, and waits months for the vegetables to be ready. A writer or an artist might spend years producing a great work.

A time of waiting shouldn’t be a empty, wasted time, but a time of preparation.  St Paul, in today’s Second Reading, tells us how to prepare for the coming of Christ; by living decently as people of the light. As Christians, we are people of hope. We believe firmly that Jesus will come again, and we will be taken up to eternal life with him, as he foretells in today’s Gospel. Our Christian hope should shape the way that we live in this life. We should always be ready for the Lord to come; always living as if he might return today. The season of Advent is a time to remind ourselves of our hope in Jesus Christ.

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