Reflection for the First Sunday in Advent
By Sr. Sandra Brunenn, O.S.B.
Nov 26, 2022; Vespers
Once again we begin the holy season of Advent. And Once again today’s Gospel calls us to attention: “the Son of Man is coming at the time you least expect.” We will repeat this in a few moments in our Magnificat antiphon. “Stay awake.” Paul addressing the Romans reminds us: “it is now the hour for you to wake from sleep…for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”
In addition to today’s Scripture, reflection on our lived experience may also draw us to a deepened awareness of our personal vulnerability and present threats to the whole human race …. We are well aware that 6 of our sisters have entered eternal life in the past year as well as several of our family members.
And looking out at our world, we realize that we are on the brink of disaster….
Recently, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that “we are one misunderstanding, one mistake, one miscalculation away from Armageddon; leaders, he says, must stop knocking on doomsday’s door.”
The call to stay awake seems very relevant….
At the same time, the hours of daylight keep growing shorter; nightfall seems darker; and for some of us, sleepiness seems more and more familiar. We have just completed almost 6 months of ordinary time in our Liturgical Calendar. And it is possible that a spiritual drowsiness and lethargy has slipped in. This can be magnified as we move into the busyness of the holiday season: there are cards to write, decorations to prepare, extra tasks to perform…. the rhythm of everyday living can become burdensome, tiring and overwhelming.
The call to stay awake and be watchful may be very timely….
The Benedictus Antiphon tomorrow is: “Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead and Christ will shine upon you”. How timely a call is that!
The Antiphons and Hymns of our Advent office are brimming with invitations to wake up and stay awake. We might think of these 4 weeks as sort of a spiritual Boot Camp, an intensive period that helps us build up tolerance for all sorts of spiritual sleepiness and laziness.
Our Liturgy of the Hours, structured into the fabric of our monastic day, can be experienced as the foundational tool for celebrating the season of Advent. We will continually be challenged to wake up, put on the light, and rejoice in the coming of our God. Our lectio and personal prayer flowing from our Liturgy of the Hours assist us in applying this challenge to the particular circumstances of our daily life. Together all three elements of monastic prayer have the capacity to bring about in each of us a progressive transformation of consciousness. And this transformation prepares us…individually and as a whole…for a new incarnation of the presence of Christ among us.
As we pray the Liturgy of the Hours, we are aware also that we are praying not only for ourselves, but also in the name of our whole wounded world: “Come to us Lord and bring us peace” ; “Nations hear the message of the Lord, and make it known to the ends of the earth.” we pray tomorrow.
Let us together enter into these holy days with renewed intention to be spiritually alert to God’s call this day. Let us be wholehearted in our response. in the words of the Invitatory tomorrow:
“Let us walk in the light of the Lord; Come and do not tarry.”