{"id":918,"date":"2015-11-29T10:35:10","date_gmt":"2015-11-29T08:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/?p=918"},"modified":"2015-11-29T10:35:10","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T08:35:10","slug":"1st-sunday-of-advent-cycle-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/2015\/11\/29\/1st-sunday-of-advent-cycle-c\/","title":{"rendered":"1st Sunday of Advent, Cycle C"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today there\u2019s a change in color in\u00a0the liturgy to celebrate a change of season. It\u2019s not just that the weather is getting colder: today we begin a new season in the liturgical year, and a new liturgical year. Yesterday, the\u00a0end of a\u00a0liturgical year, symbolized the end of time when Christ will come to definitively overthrow sin and death so that we can live forever with him and everyone we love. Last Sunday we celebrated that by celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King.<\/p>\n

This Sunday we are beginning the season of Advent.\u00a0\u201cAdvent\u201d means \u201ccoming.\u201d Last Sunday we celebrated the Second Coming of Christ, which is going to come in the future.\u00a0During Advent we prepare to celebrate the First Coming of Christ: Christ\u2019s first coming happened on Christmas. Actually, it happened at the Annunciation, which was when he became man, which is why it is also called the feast of the Incarnation, but he was born at Christmas, which is also called the feast of the Nativity.\u00a0During the liturgical year we celebrate all the mysteries of Christ\u2019s life, from the beginning of time, even before he became man and came to earth, until the end of time, when he will return in glory.\u00a0We also celebrate the whole history of salvation during the liturgical year. In Advent we celebrate the start of the history of salvation from the beginning, but before Christ\u2019s First Coming to earth at the Incarnation.<\/p>\n

In today’s Gospel Jesus is talking about his Second Coming, but the question for both Comings of Christ is the same question: Are you ready?\u00a0How do you answer that question? It\u2019s going to influence how you live Advent a lot.\u00a0Is it \u201cfinally!\u201d? Is it \u201cyeah, right\u2026\u201d? Is it \u201cyikes\u201d? Those answers are not answers to what gifts\u00a0you\u2019re going to get, what family members you\u2019re going to see, or how much you\u2019re going to eat: they\u2019re answers to how you are getting ready for Christ\u2019s coming at Christmas.<\/p>\n

The Gospel today reminds us that he is coming at an unexpected moment and an unexpected way.\u00a0For the Israelites, that was nothing new. They didn\u2019t imagine that the Messiah, the Savior of the World, would come in such an unexpected way: as a little baby in a manger.\u00a0What\u2019s your response to the Savior of the World coming as a little baby and lying in a manger?\u00a0Maybe the question \u201cAre you ready?\u201d takes on a different light when you consider how he is coming.\u00a0For the Israelites, the coming of the Messiah was going to be at the end of time: he was coming to defeat all their enemies and clean house.\u00a0But then he came as a little baby, way ahead of schedule.\u00a0How did they respond? Some saw a little baby in a manger and said, \u201che\u2019s not the Messiah, come on\u2026.\u201d Others didn\u2019t even believe in a Messiah to begin with, and didn\u2019t change their opinion: \u201cyeah, sure, the Savior of the World\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Christians are often on the fence: Some have the same attitude as the Israelites and the skeptics, but others are saying, \u201cyikes,\u201d because the Second Coming is all they have on their mind, and they know they\u2019re not ready.\u00a0At Christmas we\u2019ll be celebrating the fact that God is with us as one of us. We have to do our part, we have to change our lives, but helped by him, sorry for our sins, but joyful in knowing he is near, ready to save us from them.<\/p>\n

Let’s get ready for Christ’s coming by rejoicing.\u00a0The Lord is giving you a whole liturgical season \u2013 three weeks — to reflect on what you\u2019ve done and could have done better so that he can help you draw closer to him.\u00a0Ask him to help you keep him in the center of your preparation for Christmas.\u00a0Christmas is going to be a time for family, friends, and rest, but it is also a time for rejoicing, because the Savior of the World, our Savior, is going to be born.\u00a0Let\u2019s live Advent with a spirit of gratitude, contrition, and joyous expectation.<\/p>\n

Readings:\u00a0Jeremiah 33:14\u201316;\u00a0Psalm 25:4\u20135, 8\u201310, 14;\u00a01 Thessalonians 3:12\u20134:2;\u00a0Luke 21:25\u201328, 34\u201336.\u00a0<\/em>See also\u00a034th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a034th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today there\u2019s a change in color in\u00a0the liturgy to celebrate a change of season. It\u2019s not just that the weather is getting colder: today we begin a new season in the liturgical year, and a new liturgical year. Yesterday, the\u00a0end of a\u00a0liturgical year, symbolized the end of time when Christ will come to definitively overthrow … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[119,121,120,15],"class_list":["post-918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-advent","tag-cycle-c","tag-first-week","tag-sunday"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p65qtw-eO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":921,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918\/revisions\/921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fathernikola.org\/liturgy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}