Mark 13, 33-37
Sunday, December 3rd, 2023 (1st Advent B)
At that time Jesus said to his disciples, “Take heed, watch, for you do not know when the time is… Watch, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, whether at evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, lest he come unexpectedly and find you asleep. What I say to you, I say to everyone: watch!”
This Sunday we begin the season of Advent. During the liturgical year we will contemplate the key moments in the life of the Lord. In this time of Advent we prepare ourselves to commemorate his first coming.
In St. Mark’s Gospel this first Sunday he calls our attention to be watchful, prepared for when the Lord comes to us.
Sometimes we meet people who say they don’t need God; that God has no influence in their lives. They live as if they have everything. They feel the (ephemeral) security that money, power or success can give them. Somehow they feel “self-sufficient”. At least for the moment.
Others of us need to keep hope alive for a better future, for ourselves and those around us. We feel the need for a Saviour to lend us a hand so that we can do something for those who need it most. For we can do little on our own. We must ask “come, Lord, do not delay”, and transmit to others the confidence that a new world is possible. Our life must be a commitment to work for the Kingdom of God. To live it this way is to “keep watch”, to be ready, even if we know “neither the day nor the hour” of his coming. We need to learn to wait.
Happy Advent season and Hope!
Juan Ramón Gómez Pascual, cmf
‘Are you watchful’?
