1st Sunday of Advent

Gospel Reading: Mark 13: 33-37

33 Jesus said to his disciples: "Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come.

34 It is like a man traveling abroad: he has gone from home, and left his servants in charge, each with his own task; and he has told the doorkeeper to stay awake.

35 So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn;

36 if he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep.

37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake!"

Meditation

Although the passage is short, we can divide it up, as each section is different and we can meditate on each separately.

The key to understanding verse 33 is to take 'the time' as the time of grace, the time when a longed-for event finally comes to pass: Jesus is reminding us that if we are not awake we let those moments pass by.

Verse 34 and 35 are a parable, although the emphasis changes in verse 35, so that even these two verses should be meditated on separately. In verse 34 the vocation of the doorkeeper is the focus, so enter into it. In verse 35 the delay in coming is the main point.

Prayer 

Lord we remember the hard times:

•  a relationship meant everything to us, yet we were just not communicating

•  a beloved child had turned to drugs or alcohol;

•  the project to which we had given ourselves wholeheartedly collapsed

Then quite unexpectedly, something happened and all was well again.

How true, Lord, that when we are dealing with people we must never lose hope

But remain on our guard and stay awake,

Because we never know when the time will come.

The future will depend on what we do in the present.
Gandhi

Lord, the world today presents a dismal picture:

•  violence in families, in neighbourhoods, between nations;

•  famine in the midst of abundance

•  money that is sorely needed for food and drink spent on arms

It is enough to make anyone despair.

You tell us today that this is not your will for the world at all.

It is like when the master of the house goes abroad

and delays returning,

so that everyone become slack and undisciplined.

We pray that we Christians may be like faithful servants,

each of us with our own tasks,

and especially that we may be like doorkeepers,

a sign to all that this world is your home

and you will be returning soon to live with us.

Lord we thank you for the people who have waited for us.

•  parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts;

•  the church community

•  friends

When everyone else had given up on us and gone to sleep,

they were the doorkeepers.

As we hesitantly made our way home,

Wondering if we would be let in,

they were awake and welcomed us back.

Hell is not to love anymore .
Dorothy Day

Lord, forgive us for giving up too quickly

just because evening and midnight have passed.

But when we stopped hoping

We miss the opportunities you send us:

•  a moment of reconciliation comes but we don't even notice it;

•  the word of encouragement that could have brought a community or nation to life remains unspoken

•  we give things to people but we do not give them the space where they could grow in self confidence, all because we are not on our guard and have gone to sleep

Lord we watch today with all those who wait:

•  oppressed people throughout the world;

•  those who are trying to be agents of reconciliation in Colombia, in the Holy Land

•  those who are working for solidarity between rich and poor nations.

Evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn have all come and gone.

We watch with them, trusting that their time will come.

Lord there are many in our country who have lost hope.

Say to all what you have said to Christians

That we must not despair but must stay awake.