Here we are, another Advent, and hopefully more meaningful and penetrating than ever. It is for me! Every year we Christians wait in preparation and expectation to celebrate the birth of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. How does our preparation intensify year after year? How does our expectation intensify?

The theme of the first week of Advent is always “Stay Awake!” and “Be on Guard!”… We Christians believe that Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. We understand we must always be ready for this, doing His work and building up the kingdom, but what else does this mean? For me, it also means being ready to do His will, and be on the look-out for that! We also must be on the look-out for God our Father and Christ our King in our family, friends, neighbors and strangers! Are you praying for a spirit to see the Spirit of the Lord all around you in others? Are you praying to be ready to make that move when the Lord needs you and calls upon you? This is my prayer for this Advent season.

Isaiah 64:1-9
O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
      so that the mountains would quake at your presence–
as when fire kindles brushwood
      and the fire causes water to boil–
to make your name known to your adversaries,
      so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
      you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
From ages past no one has heard,
      no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
      who works for those who wait for him.
You meet those who gladly do right,
      those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
      because you hid yourself we transgressed.
We have all become like one who is unclean,
      and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
      and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls on your name,
      or attempts to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
      and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
Yet, O LORD, you are our Father;
      we are the clay, and you are our potter;
      we are all the work of your hand.
Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD,
      and do not remember iniquity forever.
      Now consider, we are all your people.

Before we can receive Our Lord, we must open up and have a real need for Him. Do we? Are we so self-sufficient these days that we’re in it for the Holiday and not the reason for the season? Or, are we in fear because of this economy or other reasons and really do need the Lord? Whatever it is, let us make ourselves ready and open our hearts to the Lord. Let us pray for God to come and save us from the mess we so often make of our lives and stay in our lives! Let us be ready to celebrate the birth of the one and only, real King in our hearts. Let us be ready to see the Spirit of the Lord all around in all peoples during this momentous season…

1 Cor 1:3-9
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,
that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge –
even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you –
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ;
who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

St. Paul sees the Corinth community waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Waiting and persevering to the end requires the strength of God. We can count on this because “God is faithful!”. God has given us everything we need, right now, to be Christ Our King to everyone. My prayer is that each of us use the strength of God and the gifts he has given us to be ready! Let us look to where we think we are lacking and then look again for the gifts of the Spirit we have to overcome any mental adversity that may be holding us back…

Mark 13:33-37
“Take heed, watch; for you do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
Watch therefore — for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning –
lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
And what I say to you I say to all: Watch.”

The message is clear. Our Lord is “abroad”!… He has indeed ascended but he will come again! Are we doing our job? You think life is easy? It isn’t any easier being a disciple! Let us be Love for everyone. Let us be Our Father and Our King in the world. Let us “Watch therefore” and be on guard, for we do not know when the appointed time will come. Let us watch, and be ready to be Our Lord for others and to see Him in others.

Alleluia. Lord, let us see your kindness,
and grant us your salvation. Alleluia.