The First Sunday of Advent, which is also the first Sunday of the liturgical year, opens, as it does every year, a unique period in the life of the Church, a time of yearning and waiting for the coming of the Lord. We wait to meet Him and often cry out in Aramaic MARANA THA - Come, Lord. The very term ADVENT comes from the Latin verb advenio, which means: I come.
In Judaism we often deal with the idea of the advent of the prophesied Messiah (Hebrew: Mashiach). In Tanakh, or the Hebrew Bible, many prophets, especially Isaiah, Daniel and Micah, announced the coming of the Messiah, who was to bring salvation to the world. Our brothers and sisters of the Mosaic faith continue to await the prophesied Messiah, or God’s Anointed One.
As Christians, we believe that Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem in Judea over 2000 years ago is the One who fulfilled all the messianic hopes of Israel. We believe that He is the Saviour of man sent by God. That is why we call Him Christ, or the Anointed One (Hebrew: Mashiach, Greek: Christos). We confess that in His Person God fully revealed Himself and, embracing human nature, intervened in a special way in the destiny of the world. Every year we celebrate this event during the Feast of Christmas, preceded by Advent, a joyful preparation and waiting for the arrival of Jesus.
In theological terms, however, the period concerns the dual coming of Christ; the emphasis is not only on the commemoration of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, but above all on the Parousia, the final coming of Christ at the end of time. This waiting should be marked by vigilance as we do not know when that time will come. This is why Advent is a time of hope as we await the Saviour.
In today's verses of the Gospel according to Mark (13:33-37), the call to be vigilant appears as many as four times. Why does Jesus repeat the reminder so often? It would be in order to get familiar with the context of the words by the Master of Nazareth to His disciples. These words are part of Jesus' so-called eschatological speech, also known as the Apocalypse according to Mark. It was delivered a few days before Jesus' death, when He and his disciples were visiting the Temple in Jerusalem. Hearing their admiration for its beauty: “Look, teacher, what stones and what buildings!” (Mk 13:1), Jesus shocks everyone and announces: “There will not be one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down” (Mk 13:2). Then He takes His disciples to the Mount of Olives, which overlooks both the Temple and the entire city. Intrigued by Jesus’ words about the destruction of Jerusalem, the concerned disciples ask about the specific time and wish to be told the signs accompanying the catastrophe: “Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be?” (Mk 13:4) Asked by His disciples, Jesus offers no direct answer, but calls for watchfulness and vigilance: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come” (Mk 13:33). Christ’s invitation to vigilance is illustrated in the Gospel by the behaviour of the landlord who embarks on a journey and does not specify when he would be coming back, urging the household members to be ever watchful.
These words of encouragement to be vigilant are also addressed to us. We can prepare well for an exam, a journey, an important speech, or a job interview, yet we only too easily put off preparing our spirit to meet the Lord, both at Christmas and at His coming again at the end of time. However, adequate preparation affects the quality of the experience of the event and frees us from anxiety. Good preparation increases the chances of a better encounter!
Let us, therefore, keep our eyes, ears and above all our hearts open, so that the Lord would “not come suddenly and find you sleeping” (Mk 13:36). May our Advent vigil bear the most wonderful fruit of an intimate, lasting, and trusting relationship with God.
About the author:
Rev. Dr. Mariusz Świder, Bible scholar, Rector of the John Paul II Seminary of the Diocese of Siedlce, postulator of the beatification process of Servant of God Bishop Ignacy Świrski. He studied the Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.