1.Is2:1-5
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2.Rom13:11-14a
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Matt24:35-44
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" How are we
prepared?"
It happened that
someone had a dream whereby he was being chased by a lion while being running
away to escape it he encountered a tiger in front coming towards him, so what
could be a solution for him?? on my view I think a solution for him was to awake
from the bed since a dream is never a reality of what is happening out there.
Or in our lives we
encounter different types of preparations because we are waiting for someone to
come or something to happen in our lives. Normally we spend a lot of money and
energy for these preparations in accordance with our capacities. We are very
about these to come or to happen. However here we are being challenged that how
many of us are always awake and being prepared for our own death so that we can
enter in the Kingdom of God. We need always to be awake.
Today is the first
Sunday of Advent. Advent as you know, means "coming." In our gospel
today, it speaks about watchfulness and preparation on our part.
Dear brothers and
sisters what are we waiting for? What are we preparing for? What are we looking
for? Are we looking for a miracle? If we are waiting for Christ to be born, He
was already born two thousand years ago. He is our savior and our brother too.
If we are waiting for the Holy Spirit to dwell among us, He is already in us
but we do not recognize His presence and role in our lives. If we are waiting
the Church to be born, the Church is already born, the Church is already in our
midst. If we are waiting for the faith, God gives everything to us. The really
challenging question for us is what are we waiting for? Every Sunday, we attend
Mass, we pray and have our own Novena. We receive the body of Christ and Christ
becomes a part of us. However, after the mass we return to our old habits. What
God is looking from us is a changed way of life, a new direction and a renewed
life. A life by which we can see the face of Christ in other people especially
the lowly. As Christ said: " What do you do to the least brothers you do
it unto me."
To be awake, therefore,
is to live a life of faithful service to the Lord, following the Lord's
commands and abiding in his grace. In fact, our gospel story is story today is followed by the Parable of the Wise
Servant who faithfully carries out his master's instructions while his master
is on a journey. His master returns unexpectedly and finds the servant still
following the instructions he gave him.
In the same way, there is no better way for us to ready ourselves for the unexpected
coming of the Lord at the end of time than faithfully carrying out his commands in our daily lives.
We can ask ourselves
that why is it futile for us to run
about in search of a calendar for the end-times and the Lord's coming? Because
actually the great Day of the Lord can overtake us individually any day, any
time. The day we die is the day we appear before God. The challenge here is
that why should I be stockpiling for the day of the Lord in two or three years
time when I am not even sure tomorrow? for everyone of us there is an individual
Day of the Lord, the day we appear in personal
judgment before God and there is the general Day of the Lord, the day of
general judgment of all humankind. The Day of the Lord is as near to each of us
as the day of our death, which could be any day.
0 Response to "HOMILY FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR A"
Chapisha Maoni