Be Watchful! Be Alert!

12-03-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

Welcome to a new Liturgical Year, “Year B.”

Welcome to the First Sunday of Advent, the Season during which we await the commemoration of the First Coming of Jesus, as well as prepare for His Second Coming. Whether it is the individual Second Coming, which will happen when each one will experience the separation of our mortal bodies from our immortal souls, or at the general Parousia when Christ comes again to reunite our bodies once more with our souls and call all humanity to Judgement; the Season of Advent reminds us of the need to stay spiritually alert and active, not in fear but in joyful anticipation of the restoration of our truest nature, our Sonship in the Kingdom of God.

The First Reading, taken from Isaiah’s Oracle, recalls God’s benevolent Fatherhood to the people of Israel and how, even when Israel had aroused God’s just anger as a result of their unfaithfulness and sin, Israel still hoped that she would enjoy a gratuitous restoration to righteousness by God. God would still be a Father to her, God is already the potter and Israel is the clay, the work of God’s hands. This Reading acknowledges the faithful Fatherhood of God and looks up in hope to the restoration of Israel to grace, a restoration that would be enacted by the coming of Christ among the Jewish people.

In the Gospel passage, Jesus instructs His Disciples both at the beginning and at the end of the passage, to “Be watchful! Be alert!” because they are the stewards to whom their master’s estate has been entrusted to be properly looked after with no idea of when He would return. He explains that we are not just waiting in passivity, we are to wait actively because we have been entrusted with work, God’s work, each according to his ability, and we shall be required to furnish our Lord with an account of our faithfulness to our given task when He returns. Watchfulness here entails a perpetual state of mental readiness to do our duty towards God and neighbor in accordance with the will of God and the example of Jesus Christ. The disciple who is awake and alert to his calling will see Jesus coming to him in the poor, the neglected, the ignorant who need Jesus in their lives, the immigrant who far from his homeland desires a helping hand to get on his cultural feet, the sick who need comfort and reassurance of God’s love, the child who desires a peaceful and happy Christmas in the warmth of a happy family, the bereaved who need kind words and actions to overcome grief, the deceased who may be in need of our prayers to cross the intermediate state to be in eternal happiness with God. The Christian who is awake is not only charitable to others but also sensitive to their needs and feelings and responds with kindness and compassion to all who encounter him. May Jesus provide the oil for the lamps with which we shall keep faithful watch for His coming and may He fi nd us ready when He comes again in glory.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh