1st Sunday of Advent, Year A

On this First Sunday of Advent, the Church begins a new liturgical year not with the gentle cooing of the Babe of Bethlehem, but with the thunderous warning of the Judge of the Universe. Our Lord commands: “Stay awake!”

Jesus compares the end times to the days of Noah. The sin of that generation was not just open rebellion, but a deadly spiritual lethargy. They were consumed by the mundane affairs of life—”eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage”—oblivious to the coming catastrophe until the floodwaters rose. They lived as if this world were all there is.

This Gospel strikes at the heart of our own distraction. We, too, can be lulled to sleep by the rhythm of daily life, forgetting that “at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” The sudden separation described—one taken, one left—reminds us that Judgment will be personal and inescapable.

Advent is a season of holy vigilance. It calls us to shake off the drowsiness of sin and worldly attachment. We prepare not only to celebrate Christ’s first coming in humility at Christmas, but to be ready for His final coming in majesty.

Let us heed the Master’s warning. Let us examine our consciences, return to the Sacrament of Penance, and live in the state of grace, watching with lamps lit. For the Lord is coming, and blessed is that servant whom He finds watching.