Pastor's Message

1st Sunday of Advent

   “Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”  Matthew 24.42

         “O come, O come Emmanuel.”

          Today we begin the year of the Church 2025 - 2026, with the period of Advent. It’s a time of preparation and a time of “joyful expectation,” in wait to celebrate Christmas.

          Each year the Church exalts us to awaken and contemplate anew the mystery of the love of God. Traditionally the book of Prophet Isaiah is mainly chosen to alert us to the messianic age.

          In the 1^st Reading today, as Israel thirsts for God, Prophet Isaiah, son of Amos foresees in a vision, the days of the Messiah;

         “In those days … the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above all hills; all Nations shall be streamed to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” Isaiah 2:1-3

          Ever since the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, God did not abandon us. Out of love, he pursues us and at his chosen time, called Abraham to prepare for his physical presence in our human history. He prepared humanity through Israel, he spoke through prophets, until, in the time for his choosing, he sent the Angel Gabriel to Mary, with the message that would be the fulfillment.

        “You will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you must name him Jesus.  He will be Great and will be called Son of the Mot High God. The Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David.” Luke 1:31-32

         Today, the Gospel reading exalts us “to keep awake” “As in the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the Ark and the floods came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.” Matthew 24:37-39

         The call is to keep awake, to be alert to participate yet again and celebrate the time of our visitation. God comes and lives physically among us. This is a privilege we cannot ignore; It is God’s doing, to re-establish his relationship with us.                                   

         Let us open our eyes of faith to see God, who is always present and active in our lives. Let us allow ourselves to be molded into sons and daughters of God through Christ Jesus! Then we will be in joy, in the worship of him, Our Creator and Father, inviting all with the words of the responsorial psalm of today; “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”

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