The First Week of Advent: Be Prepared! Stay Awake!
During his homily on the Solemnity of Christ the King, 2022, the late Pope Francis challenged the image of Christ as a worldly king “seated on a throne with magnificent insignia, a scepter in his hand and precious rings on his fingers, speaking in solemn tones to his subjects” this feast might conjure up.
The truth about Jesus, according to Pope Francis is that he was exactly the opposite. “He was not born in a palace but in a stable or a cave. He was not born in the capital city of Rome but in one of the poorest outskirts of the Roman Empire. He did not seek the company of princes but surrounded himself with sinners and the sick, widows and those wanting, fishermen and carpenters. And he surely never sat on an earthly throne or wore a crown made of gold. His throne was the cross on which he died. His crown was not made of gold but of thorns.”
The earthly life of our Savior did not involve thrones, crowns and scepters but a stable, a manger and ultimately, a cross. It is this very mystery of the humble birth and servant life of our savior that we contemplate during the season of Advent and Christmas.
The Spirit of Advent
The season of Advent is marked by deep listening and intense longing. If we listen deeply to our most inner being, to the needs of our sisters and brother, and above all to the voice of God we will experience an intense longing for that world God imagined for us, free of war and violence, suffering and pain.
Listening and longing both require time and space, admittedly a challenge especially during Advent. But if we want Advent to be spiritually fruitful, we must make time and space to prepare for the Coming of our Lord.
A New Liturgical Year: The Year of Matthew
On the first Sunday of Advent 2025 we begin a new liturgical year. The readings for this year are taken from the first of our three-year cycle of readings, known as year A, year B and year C. During year A we read mostly from the Gospel of Matthew, whereas Year B is dedicated to Mark and Year C is dedicated to Luke. The Gospel of John is read during the Easter Season of all three years as well as on select Sundays during year B because the Gospel of Mark is so short.
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they share a synopsis or a similar account of who Jesus was and what he did. 56% of the Gospel of Matthew, is borrowed from the Gospel of Mark. 24% of this Gospel is taken from an unknown source used by Matthew as well as by Luke. The remaining 20% of the Gospel of Matthew is unique.
Current scholarship holds that The Gospel of Matthew was written in the last quarter of the first C. AD, after the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem (70AD). It was written by an anonymous Jewish scribe who was very familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures. This Gospel which presents Jesus as the fulfillment of the long-awaited Messiah was written for a Jewish-Christian community growing increasingly distant from other Jews and gradually becoming more gentile in its membership and outlook.
Advent in the Domestic Church:
The Advent Calendar
Advent calendars originated in Germany during the 19th C where families would mark the days leading up to Christmas with calk or candles. The first commercial Advent calendars were printed in Germany at the beginning of the 20th C. It is believed that US soldiers who returned from Europe after the war brought them back for their children.
Advent Calendars allow children to keep up with the progression of Advent and countdown to Christmas as they open one little door each day. The better calendars have a Bible verse hidden behind the little door or maybe a suggestion for a good deed, rather than a treat.
The Advent Wreath
Today, many churches and homes are decorated with advent wreaths. The origin of the Advent wreath is unclear. There is evidence of a pre-Christian custom of decorating a wheel with candles, while prayers were offered for the wheel of the sun to turn so that light and warmth would reappear. Christians then adopted this ritual and began to use it in domestic settings.
The wheel itself, a circle with neither beginning nor end, signifies eternal life. The evergreens, too, represent eternal life, with holly implying immortality, cedar expressing strength and healing, laurel touting victory over suffering, and pinecones or nuts lauding life and resurrection. The four candles that were added to the wreath over time represent the four weeks of Advent.
Since the use of the Advent wreath originated in the homes of Christians, and only later made its way into churches we invite you to continue this custom. Advent wreaths are relatively simple to assemble. The candle for each week is lit and blessed on Saturday evening, starting with the first one on December 29.
A Blessing for the Lighting of the First Candle
After someone in the family has lit the first candle on the Advent Wreath the prayer begins with the sign of the cross.
Leader: Today we begin the season of Advent.
Let us open our hearts to God’s love
as we prepare to welcome Christ.
The candles of this wreath remind us that
Jesus Christ came to conquer the darkness of sin
and lead us into his glorious light.
Let us pray that we may always be ready to welcome him.
Leader: You came to turn the hearts of all to love of God and neighbor:
Lord, come and save us.
All: Lord, come and save us.
Leader: You come to enrich us with gifts of grace and knowledge:
Lord, come and save us.
All: Lord, come and save us.
Leader: You will come on a day we cannot know
bringing redemption to all your faithful:
Lord, come and save us.
All: Lord, come and save us.
Leader: Let us pray:
Ever-living God,
we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ,
whose coming is certain and whose advent we await.
As we light the first candle of this wreath,
enlighten us with your grace,
and prepare our hearts to welcome him with joy.
We ask this through the same Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
The leader ends with the sign of the cross.
Preparing for Sunday Eucharist by Reading the Gospel (Matt. 24:37-44)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Preparing for Sunday Eucharist by Meditating on the Gospel
- Why is it important that we don’t know the exact day or time of his return? How should this unpredictability affect how we live our lives?
- The passage describes a scene where one person is taken and another is left. What is the significance of this “taken” and “left” imagery?
- What does it mean to “be ready” for the coming of the Lord, especially in a practical, day-to-day sense?
- How does the promise of being “saved/delivered from the wrath to come” encourage believers?
May the Advent Season be a spiritual blessing to us all.