Trusting God ’s promises, preparing our hearts, and looking beyond the noise

Dec 01, 2024

1st Sunday of Advent (C)
Readings: Jeremiah 33:14-16;
1 Thessalonians 3:12 — 4:2;
Gospel: Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

As you are reading this reflection of the First Sunday of Advent, it is the weekend of our gotong royong to get the church ready for Christmas. The parishioners of the Church of the Divine Mercy (CDM) in Skudai, Johor will be planning on where to put the Christmas crib, wreath, lights, and so on. By that time, the shopping centres will already be putting up Christmas decorations and playing Christmas songs. Even now, all four language groups of CDM are already practising and getting ready to start their one or two-week-long carolling at the homes of their respective language communities.

All that is nice and, for many people, Advent is a nice time. We are beginning to close the current year and getting ready to welcome the next. Many of us know already that the purpose of Advent is not to merely prepare for Christmas festivities because Advent offers us a chance to reset. Advent is a season that pulls us out of just moving from one thing to the next. It is a season that reminds us of what matters. Advent asks us to prepare for something bigger than ourselves.

Many of us think of Advent as preparing for Christmas but Advent is about preparing for the second coming of Jesus at the end of time, too. Sometimes, the second coming is like a fantasy or something unreal. As Christians, we do not forget about the second coming of Jesus though it is beyond our imagination of how this can be.

What we can do is take a step back to reflect on our lives, about where we are, where we are going, and where God is in our lives. The readings today really help us understand this. They remind us of God’s promises, challenge us to prepare our hearts, and invite us to look beyond the noise of our life toward our redemption. In the first reading, the people of Judah were going through a hard time. They experienced wars, instability, and fear. God gave them a promise, “The days are coming when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah. I will raise up for David a just shoot.” That’s the promise of Jesus. Even in their darkest moments, God hadn’t forgotten them and was already working towards their salvation.

We all need that reminder sometimes. It’s easy to get discouraged when things get hard, like when our work gets overwhelming, relationships are strained, or the world feels crazy and messy. But God doesn’t forget us. Just like with Judah, God’s promises are real. Christ has come, and Christ will come again. That is the Christian hope we hold even when things seem uncertain.

However, we are invited to go deeper. Trusting God’s promise is just the beginning. Advent is also about preparing. The psalmist today prays, “Your ways, O Lord, make known to me, teach me your paths.” That’s what preparation should be like, that is, asking God to teach, guide, to help us see where we need to grow.

St Paul, in the second reading, makes this point even clearer. He writes, “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.” Love is the heart of our preparation. It is not just about celebrating the festivities of Christmas and shopping or trying to make everything perfect for Christmas. Can we ask ourselves or reflect about how we are loving the people around us? Are we holding onto grudges? Are we too busy to really see the needs of others? Advent is a time to clear out the mess and the noise in our hearts to make space for Christ by growing in love. Jesus’ words in the Gospel today might sound a little intimidating. Jesus says, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars... People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world.” Wow, but His message isn’t meant to scare us but to wake us up.

He continues by saying, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing, drunkenness, and the anxieties of daily life.” We should be watching that there is perhaps not too much carousing or drunkenness lest we get dull and blur about our Christian life. However, the anxieties of life are something for us to ponder on. It’s so easy to get caught up in the busyness, the stress, and the neverending noise of the world. Jesus is now clearly warning us by saying, hey, do not let all these things distract you. Lift up your head. Look beyond the moment. Your redemption is at hand.

Advent is our chance to do just that. Therefore, let us take a step back to reflect on what really matters. Let us look beyond the festivities surrounding Christmas. Can we ask ourselves - are we ready to meet Christ? Not just at the end of time, but today, in the people around us, in the Eucharist, in prayer? Advent reminds us that this life isn’t all there is. Christ is coming again, and everything we do now should reflect that hope.

Therefore, in this season of Advent, let us trust in God’s promises, prepare our hearts, and lift our eyes beyond the moment so that we do not miss Christ right in front of us.