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Recalling God's promise of
salvation
Terrance Callan
First Sunday of Advent, Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke
21:25-28, 34-36
This is the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of a new liturgical
year
in which we will again celebrate the main events of salvation history.
During Advent we recall God's promise of salvation to the people of
Israel
and the beginning of its fulfillment with the birth of Jesus, which we
celebrate at Christmas. However, Advent is not simply a celebration of the
coming of Jesus in the past. Advent also looks forward to a second coming
of
Jesus in the future. At his first coming Jesus did not completely fulfill
God's promise of salvation. We still await the fullness of salvation at
his
second coming.
And Jesus is not absent between his first and second coming, but comes
into
our lives every day as we await the consummation of history.
The reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah is one expression of
God's promise of salvation. Through the prophet, God promised to
"raise up
for David a just shoot." Using the image of bringing forth new growth
on a
plant, God promised to bring forth a descendent of David who would do what
is
right and bring security to Judah and Jerusalem. We Christians believe
that
Jesus is the descendent of David promised by God.
The other readings make it clear that the first coming of Jesus did not
completely fulfill the promise but that Jesus will come again to complete
our
salvation. In the reading from his First Letter to the Thessalonians,
St. Paul prays that they will be ready for "the coming of our Lord
Jesus
Christ with all His holy ones." At the time St. Paul wrote this, the
life,
death and resurrection of Jesus were already in the past, and the
Thessalonians had entered into the salvation Jesus accomplished by
believing
that He was the messiah. In other words, their situation was very much
like
ours. And they were looking forward to the return of Jesus to complete
what
He had begun.
Similarly, in the reading from the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus looks
forward to the coming of the Son of Man, i.e., the second coming of Jesus
himself. Jesus says that the coming of the Son of Man will be accompanied
by
tribulations so terrible that "People will die of fright in
anticipation of
what is coming upon the world. "However, the followers of Jesus
should react
differently. When they see these things begin to happen, they should
'stand
erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand."
Both of these readings focus not only on the future coming of Jesus but
also on the necessity of preparing for it in the present. In the Gospel
reading Jesus warns us not to "become drowsy from carousing and
drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life. "In the reading from First
Thessalonians,
St. Paul exhorts his readers to conduct themselves in a way pleasing to
God
and prays that they will be blameless at the second coming of Jesus.
St. Paul makes it clear that being prepared for the return of Jesus is
itself
the work of Jesus within us. In the reading, he prays that the Lord will
make
the Thessalonians increase and abound in love so they will be blameless at
the coming of Jesus. Being ready for the coming of Jesus is something that
Jesus, who is with us now, accomplishes in us. We need to be attentive to
the
presence of Jesus with us every day as we await His second coming.
(Callan is a member of the faculty at the Athenaeum of Ohio in
Cincinnati.)
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