First Sunday of Advent - Year BMark 13: 33-37Greetings to all! Today begins the Advent season, and this word comes from Latin. The term 'adventus' was used in Latin to indicate the arrival of an official, even of the emperor himself, to a city or a province and from this visit the people always hoped for something good, that it would bring help, stimulate trade, and promote prosperity and perhaps remove some corrupt officials. To welcome this illustrious character, roads, houses, and aqueducts were fixed, preparing problems to be presented to him to give a solution.
With the word 'advent,' we indicate the time of preparation for the coming of the Lord, and then the question arises, but if the Lord already came more than 2000 years ago, why should we prepare for his coming? Jesus was born more than 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, but let us ask ourselves, have he and his Gospel entered our world and society? The answer is 'no'; do politicians’ and economists' moral choices and decisions refer to Jesus Christ and his Gospel?
The management of goods, the Creation's resources, and the relations between peoples and nations have the logic of the Gospel as a point of reference? The answer is still 'no' because the logic that orients all choices, both personal and national, are that of self-interest. Everyone seeks his advantage; States also seek their self-interest; therefore, if this is the logic governing the world, let us not fool ourselves because if the new logic of the Gospel is not accepted, nothing will change. The actors will change, but the comedy represented will always remain the same; the injustices will continue, and all attempts to build harmony and peace will fail.
Therefore, we must prepare for the Lord to come with the light of his Gospel to illuminate the darkness that still envelops our world. During this Advent season, we will turn our eyes to the past, rejoice, and prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, but then our gaze will be turned to the present because we need him to come to start something beautiful, something new.
In the Gospel passage we will listen to Jesus tell us how to prepare to welcome his light. This passage concludes a long discourse that the evangelist Mark tells us. Jesus is on the Mount of Olives, and with him are Peter, Andrew, James, and John; other people are contemplating the beautiful temple that Herod the Great, to thank the favors of the priestly caste, had built in Jerusalem. It is one of the wonders of antiquity.
At one time, Jesus dramatically announces: 'Of this marvellous temple, not one stone shall remain upon another.' The reason is that Israel has decreed its ruin by rejecting him and his Gospel. Jesus proposed peace, love, reconciliation, justice, forgiveness, and universal brotherhood that unites all peoples because all are children of the one God, but Israel preferred to follow the logic of the ancient world. It was taken by surprise; it was unprepared and did not welcome God's Messiah.
Let's be careful because it can happen to us. We could also repeat today the same mistake, wanting to change the world, to build something new but always following the old logic of looking for our interest. And if we follow our logic and don't prepare ourselves to welcome the light of the Gospel, let's forget about the new world. This is why Jesus needs to address a special recommendation to us today. Let us listen to it:
"Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.”
Jesus often warned his disciples of the dangers they might run. The evangelist Mark, in chapter 8, recalls that while they were in the boat and on their way to Bethsaida, at a certain point, Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them: 'Keep your eyes open; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’ He was referring to two dangers to be on their guard. Leaven represents that which is impure, that which corrupts, that which rots.
The leaven of the Pharisees was their catechesis, their presentation of the face of God, the lawgiver, and judge; beware, says Jesus, because the God they present to you is very reasonable; he thinks exactly as you do, but beware, the heavenly Father is not like that.
Herod's leaven was the lust for power and moral licentiousness; beware, says Jesus, because this catechesis of the Pharisees and these moral proposals of Herod corrupt your life. Always about the dangers, at the beginning of the chapter from which this Sunday's passage is also taken, Jesus says, 'Beware lest anyone lead you astray.' He was referring to the false messiahs, the heralds, those who present themselves as successful people, models of life, and embody the beatitudes of this world opposite to those of Jesus. Be on your guard; do not be seduced by these people whom you admire and even envy because they deceive you.
If one is not wide awake, one becomes drowsy, and when you sleep, you dream, you lose contact with reality, and then when you wake up, you realize that everything you thought was an illusion. In today's Gospel passage, the recommendation of Jesus to vigilance resonates almost obsessively. 'Stay awake,' 'keep your eyes open,' 'keep watch.' However, in our passage, Jesus' heartfelt recommendation does not refer to an impending danger to be on guard and take precautions. no; here, the problem is different: the danger of losing an opportunity, a favourable occasion that may not return.
The Greek term used is καιρός - 'kairos,' which indicates the moment to seize the opportunity not to be missed. 'Watch, says Jesus, for you do not know when this opportune moment comes.' To what moment does Jesus refer? He tells us with an allegory. Let us listen to it:
"It is like a man travelling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.”
Let's try to identify the characters of the allegory: the first is the man who leaves his house, and the house’s owner is Jesus. However, let's be careful when we say he left; we don't mean that he has gone far away, no, simply that he has changed his way of being present among us. And we must say that now he is closer to each of us than when he walked the streets of Palestine because then he was subjected to the limits of our human condition; when he was in Capernaum, he could not be in Nazareth with his mother. Now, these limits no longer exist for him since he entered the world of the resurrected. He invited his disciples always to keep alive the perception of his presence in their midst. He said to them, 'I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’
To perceive this presence, however, is not easy because it is a matter of seeing what is invisible to the material eyes, and this perception can only be had by the pure in heart; as Jesus said, 'Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.' We have identified the first character, the man who came out of the house.
What is this house? In the Gospels, when we find the term 'house' preceded by the article, 'the,' it is not just any house; it is the Christian community; it is the family of those who have believed in Jesus of Nazareth and have given him their adhesion. They have placed themselves at the disposal of the new world project he cultivates, and he has conferred his authority upon the servants.
Who are these servants? They are the third character. Note that 'servant' is the most beautiful honorific title in the Bible that is given to the great personages who have put their whole life at the Lord's disposal, at the service of his plan for the world, such as David and Moses, and only one woman has received this title, and it was conferred by the early Jerusalem community on 'Mary,' the only woman who received the title of the servant of the Lord.
Now, all of us have received this honorific title. We are servants in this house; that is to say, we are committed to putting our lives at the disposal of his new world project, of the kingdom of God, and each one of us has been entrusted with a task to be performed according to our abilities. So, he who truly believes in the cause of the Gospel and has given his adherence to Christ does not limit himself to some religious practice but places himself at the community's disposal to carry out the task that the Lord has foreseen for him.
The fourth character is the gatekeeper. Who is this gatekeeper? We know that the gatekeeper is the one who is responsible for guarding the door because it depends on him to let a person in or throw him out. It is a critical task, and he must always be wide awake and attentive more than the others. It is to him that Jesus makes the special recommendation to watch, and if he lets in some people who may disturb his house, he is responsible for not being careful.
Who is the gatekeeper? The conscience of every believer must be vigilant to distinguish well between those who propose life according to the Gospel and those who reason according to the world's logic instead. Let us remember what Paul says in the second letter to the Corinthians, 'Be careful because Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light.' The conscience must be well awake to identify if the evil one wants to enter our life. And Jesus said that false prophets may present themselves disguised as sheep, but inside, they are ravening wolves. We must know well whom to listen to, whom to hearken to, and our conscience if it has not been corrupted, knows how to recognize who has the right to enter into our lives and who, on the other hand, must remain outside.
We hear many voices and proposals of life, but which is true? Maybe one day, your heart is disturbed by passion, and you are approached by a brother of faith who lovingly tells you, 'Be careful, do not ruin your family'; but you also hear many other voices; they are the heralds pontificating in the media, they tell you, 'Forget it; it's okay, everybody does it.' But if your conscience is alert and awake, it will say to you, 'Listen to your brother of faith; let his voice come into your heart; he is an angel of the Lord who speaks to you and wants to bring you out of the darkness into which you lead your life.
Or you have turned away from the Lord, and you are not happy; you are disappointed by your life of sin, and maybe you have even lost your self-esteem, and one day, you hear a priest talking about the Father in heaven who loves each of his children, even those who have gone astray in life. Your conscience, the gatekeeper, if a false catechesis has not corrupted it about God, the gatekeeper will say to you, 'It is true what you hear; open your heart, let in this wonderful news of God's unconditional love; the happy message brings you light and joy.' Consciousness is a guardian that intoxicating drinks of the prevailing thought and current morality can also drug. This is why Jesus makes the most pressing recommendation to this gatekeeper: Stay awake.
And now, Jesus tells us when to expect the coming of the master of the house; we must be prepared because he comes at an unexpected moment. Let us listen:
"Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”
"Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming.” We know what the traditional interpretation of these words of Jesus has been: 'Let us beware because God comes at the end of your life, and he comes suddenly, and if he does not find you prepared for you, it is the 'woes'; it is a terrible punishment, and you may end up in hell for all eternity.’ And this would be Gospel, good news! Interpreted Jesus' words like that saddened and embittered our hearts; this is not good news.
This is spiritual terrorism that has turned so many people away from faith, and it is a misinterpretation based on a translation error. Here, it is not said that the householder will return; he cannot return because he has never left. In the New Testament, the word 'return' is never used to refer to Jesus; some translations put it referring to Jesus, but Jesus cannot return because he never left. In the New Testament, it is never used the verb 'ἐπανέρχομαι' - epanérjomai - to return, referring to Jesus. Always ἔρχεται 'érjetai' - he comes, he comes in every moment of our lives; he wants us to welcome him because he is always ready to offer us his love. And this encounter is the opportune moment, the καιρός - kairós, the opportunity not to be missed, the auspicious moment. When the Lord comes to enlighten our nights, do not fear; the Lord never comes to harm us, always and only to offer us his love.
Indeed, there will be a last coming, the final meeting with him when he will welcome all people, even those who have done wrong in life so that they have never experienced joy, so, finally, also for them, there will be the joy of the embrace with this householder. So, our life must pass as the day of the wife who, while engaged in work, must face even misunderstandings, bitterness, and humiliations, yet she always rejoices because she knows that in the evening, the embrace of the bridegroom awaits her.
The misinterpretation of this text has transformed the joy of the embrace with the lover into the terror of the encounter with a wrathful and executing God with those who have never been happy because they have done evil in life and are his children. The words of joy and consolation pronounced by Jesus could not be distorted worse. The encounter for which we must always be prepared happens today. He comes to illuminate our nights, so it is vital that each one questions himself and verifies where his life is still wrapped in the darkness of sin.
In each of us, there are dark corners in which we have not yet let the light of the Gospel enter; these are those contexts in which our selfishness, pride, and resentments still guide us by uncontrolled passions. This is the time of Advent Grace in which we are invited to identify these dark corners of our lives. Jesus says that he may come at any moment and mentions the four divisions of the night of the Greco-Roman world. He says he can come at sunset, at midnight, at cockcrow, in the morning to advise us to be always awake. The bridegroom must never find us slumbering.
The waiting can also be prolonged, and then the danger of closing our eyes is greater. When we have become aware of our nights, then will come to us spontaneously to raise the invocation that we find in the text of the Apocalypse, 'Come Lord Jesus', come with your word, enlighten my life, enlighten our world.
And before concluding his discourse, Jesus recommends once again, “What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” This invitation is addressed directly to all of us.
I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.
Greetings to all!
Today begins the Advent season, and this word comes from Latin. The term 'adventus' was used in Latin to indicate the arrival of an official, even of the emperor himself, to a city or a province and from this visit the people always hoped for something good, that it would bring help, stimulate trade, and promote prosperity and perhaps remove some corrupt officials. To welcome this illustrious character, roads, houses, and aqueducts were fixed, preparing problems to be presented to him to give a solution.
With the word 'advent,' we indicate the time of preparation for the coming of the Lord, and then the question arises, but if the Lord already came more than 2000 years ago, why should we prepare for his coming? Jesus was born more than 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, but let us ask ourselves, have he and his Gospel entered our world and society? The answer is 'no'; do politicians’ and economists' moral choices and decisions refer to Jesus Christ and his Gospel?
The management of goods, the Creation's resources, and the relations between peoples and nations have the logic of the Gospel as a point of reference? The answer is still 'no' because the logic that orients all choices, both personal and national, are that of self-interest. Everyone seeks his advantage; States also seek their self-interest; therefore, if this is the logic governing the world, let us not fool ourselves because if the new logic of the Gospel is not accepted, nothing will change. The actors will change, but the comedy represented will always remain the same; the injustices will continue, and all attempts to build harmony and peace will fail.
Therefore, we must prepare for the Lord to come with the light of his Gospel to illuminate the darkness that still envelops our world. During this Advent season, we will turn our eyes to the past, rejoice, and prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, but then our gaze will be turned to the present because we need him to come to start something beautiful, something new.
In the Gospel passage we will listen to Jesus tell us how to prepare to welcome his light. This passage concludes a long discourse that the evangelist Mark tells us. Jesus is on the Mount of Olives, and with him are Peter, Andrew, James, and John; other people are contemplating the beautiful temple that Herod the Great, to thank the favors of the priestly caste, had built in Jerusalem. It is one of the wonders of antiquity.
At one time, Jesus dramatically announces: 'Of this marvellous temple, not one stone shall remain upon another.' The reason is that Israel has decreed its ruin by rejecting him and his Gospel. Jesus proposed peace, love, reconciliation, justice, forgiveness, and universal brotherhood that unites all peoples because all are children of the one God, but Israel preferred to follow the logic of the ancient world. It was taken by surprise; it was unprepared and did not welcome God's Messiah.
Let's be careful because it can happen to us. We could also repeat today the same mistake, wanting to change the world, to build something new but always following the old logic of looking for our interest. And if we follow our logic and don't prepare ourselves to welcome the light of the Gospel, let's forget about the new world. This is why Jesus needs to address a special recommendation to us today. Let us listen to it:
"Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.”
Jesus often warned his disciples of the dangers they might run. The evangelist Mark, in chapter 8, recalls that while they were in the boat and on their way to Bethsaida, at a certain point, Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them: 'Keep your eyes open; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.’ He was referring to two dangers to be on their guard. Leaven represents that which is impure, that which corrupts, that which rots.
The leaven of the Pharisees was their catechesis, their presentation of the face of God, the lawgiver, and judge; beware, says Jesus, because the God they present to you is very reasonable; he thinks exactly as you do, but beware, the heavenly Father is not like that.
Herod's leaven was the lust for power and moral licentiousness; beware, says Jesus, because this catechesis of the Pharisees and these moral proposals of Herod corrupt your life. Always about the dangers, at the beginning of the chapter from which this Sunday's passage is also taken, Jesus says, 'Beware lest anyone lead you astray.' He was referring to the false messiahs, the heralds, those who present themselves as successful people, models of life, and embody the beatitudes of this world opposite to those of Jesus. Be on your guard; do not be seduced by these people whom you admire and even envy because they deceive you.
If one is not wide awake, one becomes drowsy, and when you sleep, you dream, you lose contact with reality, and then when you wake up, you realize that everything you thought was an illusion. In today's Gospel passage, the recommendation of Jesus to vigilance resonates almost obsessively. 'Stay awake,' 'keep your eyes open,' 'keep watch.' However, in our passage, Jesus' heartfelt recommendation does not refer to an impending danger to be on guard and take precautions. no; here, the problem is different: the danger of losing an opportunity, a favourable occasion that may not return.
The Greek term used is καιρός - 'kairos,' which indicates the moment to seize the opportunity not to be missed. 'Watch, says Jesus, for you do not know when this opportune moment comes.' To what moment does Jesus refer? He tells us with an allegory. Let us listen to it:
"It is like a man travelling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.”
Let's try to identify the characters of the allegory: the first is the man who leaves his house, and the house’s owner is Jesus. However, let's be careful when we say he left; we don't mean that he has gone far away, no, simply that he has changed his way of being present among us. And we must say that now he is closer to each of us than when he walked the streets of Palestine because then he was subjected to the limits of our human condition; when he was in Capernaum, he could not be in Nazareth with his mother. Now, these limits no longer exist for him since he entered the world of the resurrected. He invited his disciples always to keep alive the perception of his presence in their midst. He said to them, 'I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’
To perceive this presence, however, is not easy because it is a matter of seeing what is invisible to the material eyes, and this perception can only be had by the pure in heart; as Jesus said, 'Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.' We have identified the first character, the man who came out of the house.
What is this house? In the Gospels, when we find the term 'house' preceded by the article, 'the,' it is not just any house; it is the Christian community; it is the family of those who have believed in Jesus of Nazareth and have given him their adhesion. They have placed themselves at the disposal of the new world project he cultivates, and he has conferred his authority upon the servants.
Who are these servants? They are the third character. Note that 'servant' is the most beautiful honorific title in the Bible that is given to the great personages who have put their whole life at the Lord's disposal, at the service of his plan for the world, such as David and Moses, and only one woman has received this title, and it was conferred by the early Jerusalem community on 'Mary,' the only woman who received the title of the servant of the Lord.
Now, all of us have received this honorific title. We are servants in this house; that is to say, we are committed to putting our lives at the disposal of his new world project, of the kingdom of God, and each one of us has been entrusted with a task to be performed according to our abilities. So, he who truly believes in the cause of the Gospel and has given his adherence to Christ does not limit himself to some religious practice but places himself at the community's disposal to carry out the task that the Lord has foreseen for him.
The fourth character is the gatekeeper. Who is this gatekeeper? We know that the gatekeeper is the one who is responsible for guarding the door because it depends on him to let a person in or throw him out. It is a critical task, and he must always be wide awake and attentive more than the others. It is to him that Jesus makes the special recommendation to watch, and if he lets in some people who may disturb his house, he is responsible for not being careful.
Who is the gatekeeper? The conscience of every believer must be vigilant to distinguish well between those who propose life according to the Gospel and those who reason according to the world's logic instead. Let us remember what Paul says in the second letter to the Corinthians, 'Be careful because Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light.' The conscience must be well awake to identify if the evil one wants to enter our life. And Jesus said that false prophets may present themselves disguised as sheep, but inside, they are ravening wolves. We must know well whom to listen to, whom to hearken to, and our conscience if it has not been corrupted, knows how to recognize who has the right to enter into our lives and who, on the other hand, must remain outside.
We hear many voices and proposals of life, but which is true? Maybe one day, your heart is disturbed by passion, and you are approached by a brother of faith who lovingly tells you, 'Be careful, do not ruin your family'; but you also hear many other voices; they are the heralds pontificating in the media, they tell you, 'Forget it; it's okay, everybody does it.' But if your conscience is alert and awake, it will say to you, 'Listen to your brother of faith; let his voice come into your heart; he is an angel of the Lord who speaks to you and wants to bring you out of the darkness into which you lead your life.
Or you have turned away from the Lord, and you are not happy; you are disappointed by your life of sin, and maybe you have even lost your self-esteem, and one day, you hear a priest talking about the Father in heaven who loves each of his children, even those who have gone astray in life. Your conscience, the gatekeeper, if a false catechesis has not corrupted it about God, the gatekeeper will say to you, 'It is true what you hear; open your heart, let in this wonderful news of God's unconditional love; the happy message brings you light and joy.' Consciousness is a guardian that intoxicating drinks of the prevailing thought and current morality can also drug. This is why Jesus makes the most pressing recommendation to this gatekeeper: Stay awake.
And now, Jesus tells us when to expect the coming of the master of the house; we must be prepared because he comes at an unexpected moment. Let us listen:
"Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”
"Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming.” We know what the traditional interpretation of these words of Jesus has been: 'Let us beware because God comes at the end of your life, and he comes suddenly, and if he does not find you prepared for you, it is the 'woes'; it is a terrible punishment, and you may end up in hell for all eternity.’ And this would be Gospel, good news! Interpreted Jesus' words like that saddened and embittered our hearts; this is not good news.
This is spiritual terrorism that has turned so many people away from faith, and it is a misinterpretation based on a translation error. Here, it is not said that the householder will return; he cannot return because he has never left. In the New Testament, the word 'return' is never used to refer to Jesus; some translations put it referring to Jesus, but Jesus cannot return because he never left. In the New Testament, it is never used the verb 'ἐπανέρχομαι' - epanérjomai - to return, referring to Jesus. Always ἔρχεται 'érjetai' - he comes, he comes in every moment of our lives; he wants us to welcome him because he is always ready to offer us his love. And this encounter is the opportune moment, the καιρός - kairós, the opportunity not to be missed, the auspicious moment. When the Lord comes to enlighten our nights, do not fear; the Lord never comes to harm us, always and only to offer us his love.
Indeed, there will be a last coming, the final meeting with him when he will welcome all people, even those who have done wrong in life so that they have never experienced joy, so, finally, also for them, there will be the joy of the embrace with this householder. So, our life must pass as the day of the wife who, while engaged in work, must face even misunderstandings, bitterness, and humiliations, yet she always rejoices because she knows that in the evening, the embrace of the bridegroom awaits her.
The misinterpretation of this text has transformed the joy of the embrace with the lover into the terror of the encounter with a wrathful and executing God with those who have never been happy because they have done evil in life and are his children. The words of joy and consolation pronounced by Jesus could not be distorted worse. The encounter for which we must always be prepared happens today. He comes to illuminate our nights, so it is vital that each one questions himself and verifies where his life is still wrapped in the darkness of sin.
In each of us, there are dark corners in which we have not yet let the light of the Gospel enter; these are those contexts in which our selfishness, pride, and resentments still guide us by uncontrolled passions. This is the time of Advent Grace in which we are invited to identify these dark corners of our lives. Jesus says that he may come at any moment and mentions the four divisions of the night of the Greco-Roman world. He says he can come at sunset, at midnight, at cockcrow, in the morning to advise us to be always awake. The bridegroom must never find us slumbering.
The waiting can also be prolonged, and then the danger of closing our eyes is greater. When we have become aware of our nights, then will come to us spontaneously to raise the invocation that we find in the text of the Apocalypse, 'Come Lord Jesus', come with your word, enlighten my life, enlighten our world.
And before concluding his discourse, Jesus recommends once again, “What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” This invitation is addressed directly to all of us.
I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.
No comments:
Post a Comment