Year A - First Sunday of Advent

At the beginning of the season of Advent the selection of Scriptures in the lectionary considers the coming of “the Day of the Lord” and what this means. It has many dimensions, and the most basic is “the manifestation of God’s justice”. God’s justice is always oriented towards establishing all things in right relationship; right relationship with God, and between people.

This is manifested in different ways. The first reading, from the beginning of the prophet Isaiah, shows “the Day of the Lord” as a time when all nations of the world will be united in hearing God’s word, worshipping God together, and living according to God’s judgements, that is, in peace and justice. This is symbolized in the well-known image of “beating swords into ploughshares”.

St. Paul describes the Day of the Lord in a different way. He describes it as a new dawn following a long night, and urges Christians to “throw off the works of darkness”.

In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of the suddenness and unexpected nature of the Day of the Lord. His message is to “be prepared” to avoid being taken by surprise.

These ideas are to be found throughout the season of Advent, which is a time of waiting and preparing to receive Jesus once again into our lives and our world.