For 1 December 2024, The First Sunday of Advent, based on Jeremiah 33:14-16, Luke 21:25-28
Jeremiah 33:14-16
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”
Luke 21:25-28
There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
On this Advent Sunday of a new liturgical year, we will do well to remember what Pope Francis says in his encyclical, The Joy of the Gospel. In 2013, he wrote: “The first proclamation must ring out over and over: ‘Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.’ This first proclamation is called ‘first’ not because it exists at the beginning and can then be forgotten or replaced by other more important things. It is first in a qualitative sense because it is the principal proclamation, the one which we must hear again and again in different ways” (#164).
On the first page of his encyclical, Pope Francis wrote: “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. . . . [T]there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless” (#2).
As we hear this papal warning of danger, we can consider how the images of today’s gospel apply to us here and now—distress and confusion, fear and foreboding of what is coming upon our shaken world. I recently spoke with a mother seeking mental health for a junior teenager awakening to a foreboding sense of our world. Would you agree that this distress and confusion extends to millions of sisters and brothers in this shaken world?
Today’s scripture warning is clear: make room for others and for the poor; desire the good; hold on to joy. Stand up; raise your heads; your redemption is drawing near.
As we await the coming of the Advent mother and child, we pray words from Psalm 85:
Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us.
Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. (Ps 85: 4-7 NRSV)
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 
1 Dec 2024
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Jeremiah 33:14-16
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”
Luke 21:25-28
There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
On this Advent Sunday of a new liturgical year, we will do well to remember what Pope Francis says in his encyclical, The Joy of the Gospel. In 2013, he wrote: “The first proclamation must ring out over and over: ‘Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.’ This first proclamation is called ‘first’ not because it exists at the beginning and can then be forgotten or replaced by other more important things. It is first in a qualitative sense because it is the principal proclamation, the one which we must hear again and again in different ways” (#164).
On the first page of his encyclical, Pope Francis wrote: “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. . . . [T]there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless” (#2).
As we hear this papal warning of danger, we can consider how the images of today’s gospel apply to us here and now—distress and confusion, fear and foreboding of what is coming upon our shaken world. I recently spoke with a mother seeking mental health for a junior teenager awakening to a foreboding sense of our world. Would you agree that this distress and confusion extends to millions of sisters and brothers in this shaken world?
Today’s scripture warning is clear: make room for others and for the poor; desire the good; hold on to joy. Stand up; raise your heads; your redemption is drawing near.
As we await the coming of the Advent mother and child, we pray words from Psalm 85:
Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us.
Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. (Ps 85: 4-7 NRSV)
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.