Today is the First Sunday in Advent. The liturgical color moves from green to purple, the same colors we use when we observe Lent. The Gospel reading for today is not about a cute baby but is a jarring one, an apocalyptic prophecy, a reading that helped to give rise to Rapture Theology.
The Gospel is really about the world Jesus was born into, one of Roman oppression and violence, a world where people had almost no control over their own lives. As we hear the news, whether it concerns Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, inflation, or a serious illness of people we love, we realize how little control we have in our world.
This Gospel reading also tells us that God breaks into our lives at unexpected moments, which we cannot explain. This passage is more about hope of a new future. Although the examples given belong to the thinking of the first century, we are called to look for the many unexpected ways God breaks into our lives.
Prayer for the Day
During this Season of Advent, we pray, come, Lord Jesus, come,
But, you, O God, know we really just want to get to Christmas;
During this Season of Advent, we bustle about, looking for bargains,
As we try to shrug off our fears of the reality we inhabit.
Break the seal around our hearts and shatter our preconceptions
So we may live the Gospel of justice and mercy.
In the name of the One who opens our hearts,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life.
- Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, from Meditations (121-180)
Sometimes people surprise us. People we believe we know.
- Joyce Carol Oates, American novelist, from The Falls
For God alone my soul waits in silence; from God comes my salvation.
God alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be shaken.
On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
Trust in God at all times, O people; pour your heart before God.
God is a refuge for us.
Psalm 62: 5-8