THE Advent Season begins this Sunday, December 2, ushering in the most awaited part of the year – the celebration of Christmas on December 25. Commemorating the thousands of years of expectant waiting for the birth of Jesus Christ before that first Christmas Day, Advent is also a season to anticipate the second coming of the Lord.
“Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand,” Jesus tells us in this Sunday’s gospel (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36). What does this mean?
Let us imagine ourselves walking with our heads bowed down. What do we see? We will see your feet and the ground, so much so that we will fail to notice what is happening around us, and lose sight of where we’re heading to. In so doing, we might bump our heads countless times along the way, and soon we may reach the end of the journey, both unaware and unprepared.
Jesus does not want us to take our walk in this life that way. He tells us to walk with our heads raised up high, knowing that our salvation is near.
We were told in advance that various signs will precede the Lord’s second coming. Among many other signs recorded in various parts of the Scripture, the Sunday gospel highlights the frightening changes that will happen in the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earth itself. Yet instead of being fearful, Jesus teaches us to be hopeful and vigilant.
We hope that with the coming of the Lord, or with the end of our earthly life, whichever comes first, we shall see the fulfillment of everything that God has promised us. We shall be redeemed from the temporary sufferings of this world and move to our eternal home in heaven where, in the company of the Lord and all the saints, we shall experience the incomprehensible joy that will last forever.
We have to be vigilant or watchful, if this hope were to find fruition. We must guard our hearts not be “drowsy from carousing and drunkenness,” that is, from the passing happiness and pleasures of this world. At the same time, we are to guard ourselves not to be distracted by the anxieties of our daily life, that is, by the extreme busyness in pursuing practical and legitimate needs, to the sacrifice of our more important spiritual needs.
And how can we keep ourselves in this disposition of hope and vigilance? The gospel suggests one powerful weapon---prayer. True, the world will experience a lot of tribulations before our Savior returns, but if we keep on praying, Jesus assures us that we can have the strength to overcome.
One day, we shall stand before the judgment seat of God. This Advent, let us be reminded that this great event will surely come. Let us then look forward to it with hope and vigilance, praying that God’s grace will bring us to eternity.