NOTES for Isa 2:1-5; Rom 13:11-14; Mat 24:37-44
The readings for the first Sunday of Advent call us above all to vigilance. Not only because we cannot determine the moment when a child will begin to be born, but also because our present expectation of seeing Jesus should resemble the expectation of parents who have already spent eight months awaiting their child’s birth. All patience is gone: when at last will we be able to see the child, to discover who he is and what he is like? Life must change from one minute to the next, and there are far too many of those minutes. The changes Jesus brings into our life are immeasurably greater. He will come to us as a newborn child who cannot speak and who will get nowhere unless we carry Him. During the time left before His birth, we must accustom ourselves to the thought that, like any small child, Jesus means care, constant concern, and vigilance at every hour of day and night. Is He comfortable with us, is He warm, will we teach Him to smile? And will we unlearn our habit of fighting against His appearance in our life?