Advent – A Reminder that We are Samurai Servants of Christ the Lord – Christ the King - Virtue of Vigilance: First Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Happy New Year!

You may find it rather odd to hear “Happy New Year” as it is still December,  not even Christmas yet. But, to the Catholics throughout the world, I say again, “Happy New Year!”

Though Christmas is still more than 3 weeks away, it’s already a new year in the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, as a liturgical year begins with Advent and ends with the Saturday of the Christ the King week. 

As the last Sunday was the Christ the King Sunday of the Year C (11/24/13), the very last Sunday of that liturgical year, this past Sunday (12/1/13) marked the beginning of a new liturgical year, Year A. And, it was also the beginning of Advent for this year. 

The Church’s liturgical years go through an A-B-C three-year cycle. As we completed the 3-year cycle last Saturday, as it was Year C, we have now begun a new cycle with Year A.

Though we tend to associate ringing in a new year with a merry and jolly time, marking the new liturgical year with Advent is far from such an impression of “Happy New Year!” impression. Rather, a liturgical year begins with a somber tone, reflecting the penitential nature of Advent, with which a liturgical year begins. 

The penitential nature of Advent parallels that of Lent, as symbolized with purple liturgical color – except for Gaudette Sunday in the Advent season and Laetare Sunday in the Lenten season. Thus, penance is a primary task in our preparation for the coming of Christ during Advent season. 

Advent literally means “coming” (from the Latin word, “adventus”: advenīre, from ad- to + venīre to come).  In the Christian context, it means the coming of someone noble, the coming of the Christ the King. 

Notice that the liturgical year ends week of the Christ the King Sunday, to give its way to the Advent of the following liturgical year.  A connecting theme of this transition from an outgoing liturgical year and an incoming liturgical year is our hope and desire to welcome in the Christ the King.

The last Sunday of a liturgical year, Christ the King Sunday, symbolizes our realization of Christ’s identity as the King of all kings. On the very last Sunday of a liturgical year, we finally come to become enlightened to know that  Jesus, whose teaching we have been heeding in the Gospel readings throughout a year, is not the king of the Jews, as those who conspired to kill him mocked, but rather the spiritual King, whose Kingdom is the spiritual paradise.  This aspect of his Kingdom was hinted in Jesus’ words to the “good thief”, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”(Luke 23:43), when he said to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom(Luke 23:42). 

The previous liturgical year ended with our realization that Jesus, indeed, is Christ the King, as the “good thief” became aware of.  And, now, as we have just begun this new liturgical year, we are not simply waiting for but actively preparing the coming of the Christ the King in this Advent season!

So, how are to actively prepare for the coming of Christ?

For the first Sunday, the Gospel reading (Matthew 24:37-44) reminds us of our needs to be ready to welcome Christ in at any time.  In other words, Christ’s coming cannot be predicted.

Let’s go over the Gospel reading:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Note that Jesus is talking about what his second coming, parousia, would be like to his disciples.  And, on the very first Sunday of Advent, we read this Gospel story to prepare for Christmas, the first coming of Christ, in our collective memory  - in anamnesis, juxtaposing our current hope and active preparation for Christ’s second coming with our anamnesis of Christ’s first coming, anticipating for Christmas.  Thus, this Gospel reading alludes to the duality of the Advent nature: preparing for Christ’s second coming (parousia) in reality, while preparing for the coming of Christ, the Messiah, in anamnesis, as prophesized in the Old Testament – as the Israelites had for more than 1,000 years since it was allegedly indicated by Moses in Genesis 3:15, and perhaps more consciously for at least 600 years since the virgin birth of Christ was prophesized by Isaiah in Isaiah 7:14. And, we wait for Christ’s coming, saying “maranatha” (“Come, Lord!” (μαρανα θα - "marana tha") – 1 Corinthians 16:22).  Or, singing J.S. Bach’s Advent cantata - BWV 61 , "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" (Now come, Savior of the Gentiles):

Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland,
Der Jungfrauen Kind erkannt,
Des sich wundert alle Welt,
Gott solch Geburt ihm bestellt.

(Now come, the gentiles' Savior,
As the Virgin's child revealed,
At whom marvels all the world
That God him this birth ordained)

So, the dual nature of Advent, characterized by our “maranatha” or “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” hope can be summed as below:

First Coming (Christmas)	Gospel (Prophesized in prophecy books in the Old Testament) i.e. Genesis 3:15 (prophesized) - Matthew 1:20 (fulfilled) Isaiah 7:14 (prophesized) -  Matthew 1:22-23 (fulfilled) Isaiah 11:1 (prophesized) – Matthew 1:23 (fulfilled)	Repentance, as encouraged by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-12), to be worthy of receiving the Messiah
Second Coming (Parousia)	Gospels (i.e.  Matthew 24:37-44) Epistles  (i.e.  1 Corinthians 15:23) Book of Revelation – especially Chapter 19	Judgement to be determined who are to be in Heaven that comes with the return of Christ

With this understanding of the dual nature of Advent, we now better appreciate Jesus’ teaching on how we keep our maranatha hope as we prepare ourselves for the Christ’s coming. 

First, Jesus tells us that his coming is like the Flood (Genesis 6:1-9:17), saving those who are prepared but let those who are not perish. This also suggests that the parousia and judgement are all together. In our preparation for parousia, we sure want to be worthy enough to be saved with Noah.

Back then, Noah was given 120 years to save himself and his company, by building the Ark. The 120 years given to Noah was also a “grace period” that God gave to His people to prepare themselves to be saved by repenting, as they were morally corrupted. Only Noah, who was righteous and those who repented and converted (metanoia), returning to God, were saved from the Flood. 

So, here is an indication of continuity of this Gospel reading into the Gospel reading of the Second Sunday of Advent – Matthew 3:1-12, which emphasizes on the importance of repentance. 

It is also important not to confuse the disasters in the Philippines (Typhoon Haiyan) this November, in Japan back in March 2011, in Indonesia back in December 2004, and other natural disasters in the world, to God’s judgement – just because the Flood in Genesis was so.  Those who argue that these disasters are God’s judgements or punishments must be false prophets or false teachers that Jesus warns (Luke 21:5-19).

What is important is that we are prepared to the coming of Christ not just as Noah prepared the Ark and those who were saved from the Flood repented during the “grace period” but to be ready to meet the judgement and Christ, who is coming, at any time. 

The latter half of the Gospel reading emphasizes the importance of our readiness – readiness of any time, because nobody knows when Christ will return.  That is why Jesus tells that his coming is jut as unpredictable as a burglar breaking into a unguarded house in the night. So, the way we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ is like how must stay awake and remain on guard. The importance of vigilance in preparing for parousia is also addressed by Jesus through the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), and we sure want to be as prepared as the wise virgins who never let the lamp oil run out. 

Being a descendant of a samurai in Japan, Jesus’ emphasis on vigilance as our way to prepare for his coming invokes how my ancestor, samurais, practiced their virtue of vigilance. 

Samurais were servants, by definition, rather than warriors – though they were practically so. Their primary purpose is to guard and protect their feudal lord, whom they serve with absolute loyalty and love (agape).  As good servant to their feudal lords, samurais strived not only militarily but also spiritually so that they are not just good warriors in battles but also to guarding their lords all the time. It is indispensable to provide impervious and impregnable protection for their lords by keeping their watch all the time,  just as Jesus teaches vigilance in this First Advent Sunday Gospel (Matthew 24:37-44 – especially vv. 42-44) and his parable of ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). 

Of course, such vigilance was also to protect samurais themselves as there were always many people who were after their lives, as well as the lives of their lords. 

To sum up what we can gather from the First Advent Sunday Gospel, Jesus advises us to be good samurai servants as we prepare for his coming.  As Christ is our Lord, we serve him all the time and keep our watch all the time – though we may not know when he comes. One thing we know for sure is that he comes when he comes – in his time but not in our time.  Thus, we must be patient in our vigilance. 

17th Century Japanese Christian Samurai Feudal Lord - Justo (Ukon) Takayama of Settsu (Osaka)

 *Justo Takayama was one of samurai feudal lords, who became Christian, and later endured persecution. Justo was expelled by the Tokugawa Shogunate and reached Manila, Philippines, where he died from exhaustion. Because he refused to denounce his Catholic faith, he lost his castle of Settsu (northeastern Osaka) and his territory as a punishment. But, his real Lord, not the Tokugawa Shogun, but Christ, blessed him abundantly, for his absolute loyalty.

 

Also, as samurai servant of Christ the Lord, we never let our weapons and armor down!

So, in order for us to journey through this Advent season, let us strive to become better samurai servants of Christ the Lord, keeping our spiritual weapons and armors all the time and remaining vigilant – not only to prepare for the coming of Christ the Lord but also to prevent enemy’s (Devil’s) attack in the meantime. 

For this, as a descendant of a real samurai of Japan, I want to add these words of St. Paul to enhance the First Sunday Gospel reading:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-18 

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In this blog, I addressed samurai’s relevance to Christian faith in the following articles:  

Let the Divine Mercy Fuel Us to Serve the Lord as Lorenzo-like Christian Samurais! Bushido, Martyrdom, Samurai, San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila -9/27/13          

    

Jesus Teaches Bushido as Necessary Conditions to inherit the Kingdom of God – 19th Sunday Gospel Reading Year C. Assumption of Mary, Bushido, Jesus Christ the Lord, Miyamoto Musashi, the End of Time - 8/15/13         

St. Ignatius of Loyola – A Saint of Gutso, Who Asks, Seeks, and Knocks, as Taught by Jesus Ignatian spirituality, persistence, prayer, St. Ignatius of Loyola  -  8/2/13    

Costly Grace in Bushido-like the Christian Discipleship - A Reflection of the Scripture Reading on the 12th Sunday Year C Bushido, Christian discipleship, Courage, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Fear, Martyrdom, Morita Therapy, San Lorenzo Ruiz, St. Peter, the Book of Hagakure, Zen    -    6/25/13

Vigilance Necessary to Inherit the Kingdom - 19th Sunday Gospel Reading in Reviewing Gospel Readings since the 12th Sunday

The Costs and Conditions of the Discipleship and of inheriting the Kingdom of God

Everybody wants to inherit the Kingdom of God as the ultimate treasure, as the very reward of being a faithful disciple of Christ.  

Jesus certainly understands this desire of ours. That is why he instructs us how we can attain this most important reward: the Kingdom. It is the ultimate goal of the faith pilgrimage for Christians. To put this in the context of Viktor Frankl’s meaning-focused psychology, the Kingdom is the ultimate meaning of Christian life.  To Christians, it is the source of hope and courage to endure any hardship on the pilgrimage, similar to how Abraham and Sarah endured their challenging journey to Canaan to settle, as well as the way how Moses and his fellow Jews endured the 40 years of hard journey of Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land.

So, the Christian path to inherit the Kingdom of God certainly comes with challenges and trials to endure meaningfully.  To make sure that we make it through our pilgrimage all the way to the Kingdom – until his return, Jesus teaches us how we prepare ourselves for the Kingdom.

As the path that Abraham and Sarah took at their old age, and like the path of Exodus that Moses and his fellow Jews took, came with heavy “costs” to reach their promised lands, our pilgrim path to the Kingdom of God certainly comes with significant costs and conditions.

“The costs of the discipleship”, to borrow Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s word, are certainly a part of the costs and conditions to inherit the Kingdom. 

Since the 12^th Sunday’s Gospel reading on, Jesus has been addressing the costs and conditions on us to receive the Kingdom. In order to understand Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom in the 19^th Sunday Gospel reading better, let’s review main points of Gospel readings from the 12^th Sunday and see how these build up to the teaching in the 19^th Sunday reading. The costs and conditions of the discipleship also mean the costs and conditions to be entitled to the Kingdom of God.

In the 12^th Sunday Gospel reading (Luke 9:18-24), Jesus listed Buddhist-like self-denial and Bushido-like self-sacrifice (carrying one’s own cross – a prospect of martyrdom) as a part of the costs of the discipleship.   

In the 13^th Sunday Gospel reading (Luke 9:51-62), Jesus continued on with the costs of the discipleship, teaching about giving up on the desire to settle and the immediacy in following him , resembling Buddhist-monk’s imitation of Shakamuni Buddha’s life of pabbajja and not delaying a commitment to follow because of the attachment to earthy matters, including families.  

Jesus’ teaching shifted a bit form the cost of the discipleship to the benefits of the discipleship, in the 14^th Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 10:1-12, 17-20).  In this Gospel story, Jesus alluded that the faithful discipleship’s ultimate reward is to have one’s name written in heaven – inferring to the Book of Life in the Judgement (Revelations 3:5, 20:12) the book, which is the register of those who are inheriting the Kingdom . 

In the Gospel story for the 15^th Sunday (Luke 10;25-37), Jesus’ teaching begins to focus on inheriting the Kingdom, which is the ultimate reward for the faithfully embracing the costly discipleship, as alluded in the 14^th Sunday Gospel narratives. 

In the 15^th Sunday Gospel story, Jesus teaches that we need to observe God’s command to love God with all our heart, being, strength, and mind, and our neighbors as ourselves, exemplified by the Good Samaritan, in order to inherit the Kingdom. 

Then, in the 16^th Sunday’s Gospel reading (Luke 10:38-42), Jesus teaches the importance of listening, which is essential to maintain a good relationship with God. If we love God, then, we naturally listen to God, as Mary listened to Jesus. And, this Mary-like listening is an essential part of prayer. 

In the 17^th Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 11:1-13), Jesus focuses on prayer – in particular, our petitions to God. On this matter, Jesus teaches us to be like a persistent seeker, who will receive and find, to whom doors will be opened on his/her journey to the Kingdom. The persistency needed in this is like the persistency of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28, the widow who gets an unjust judge to listen to her (Luke 18:1-8) and Hanna who persistently prayed for having a child (1 Sam 1). This teaching on prayer hints that our path to inherit the Kingdom requires a significant amount of persistence as in our resilience to fight any setbacks on our journey of faith. 

In the 18^th Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 12:13-21), again, Jesus teaches like a Buddhist master, on non-attachment to earthly matter – earthly treasure, through the parable of the rich fool. Jesus wants us to know that our attachment (worries) on earthly treasures can keep us from inheriting the real treasure – the Kingdom. 

So, from the 12^th Sunday on until the 19^th Sunday, Gospel readings have built up Jesus’ teaching on the costs and conditions of inheriting the Kingdom through our discipleship, as the 20^th Sunday will deal with a different subject. 

With the above overview from the 12^th Sunday Gospel, let’s take a deeper look into the 19^th Sunday Gospel.

Vigilance in Waiting for the Lord Christ’s Return to Inherit the Kingdom

In a nutshell, the 19^th Sunday Gospel reading (Luke 12;32-48) is about the importance of our readiness to inherit the Kingdom at any moment through our constant vigilance. To put this important teaching of Jesus in a Buddhist term, it is about mindfulness, as it is what vigilance requires. In inheriting the Kingdom, it is indeed, “You snooze, you lose”. 

Jesus said: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  (Luke 12: 35-40)

To better understand these words of Jesus in the Gospel reading for the 19^th Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year C, it is helpful to interpret this narrative in light of the Book of Revelation 19 – 20.

Revelation tells that we will inherit the Kingdom of God, as long as our names are written in the Book of Life, upon Jesus’ return, Parousia. Here in this Gospel narrative, Jesus is teaching what it takes us to inherit the Kingdom upon his return. Namely, it is our steadfast vigilance. 

As said in the 14^th Sunday’s Gospel reading (Luke 10:1-12, 17-20), embracing the costs of discipleship and serving for God’s greater glory (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam) like the disciples on mission is a way to have our names written in heaven – written in the Book of Life.  This means that providing services (ministries) to the world’s needs through the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit is a way to inherit the Kingdom by having our names in the Book of Life.  In the 15^th Sunday Gospel story (Luke 10;25-37), Jesus further goes on to tell that we must serve the needs of the world as the Good Samaritan did in order to be entitled to the Kingdom. 

Now, the 19^th Sunday Gospel reading further adds that another important condition – besides serving as the disciples on mission and the Good Samaritan did, as well as listening to God as Mary did and persistent prayers, we must remain spiritually vigilant.  So, to put the 19^th Sunday Gospel reading with the Gospel readings from the 12^th Sunday on, we can say that service (work) through the gifts of the Holy Spirit (i.e. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Isaiah 11:1-2), persistent prayers, and constant vigilance are three necessary conditions to inherit the Kingdom of God by embracing the costs of the discipleship (self-denial, carrying our cross – a prospect of martyrdom, pabbajja-like simple life not attached to any earthly matters, and immediacy to follow God’s call in our heart’s desire).

Now, let’s think of the 19^th Sunday Gospel narratives (Luke 12:32-48) together with the 13^th Sunday Gospel story (Luke 9:51-62). 

As I mentioned, the 13^th Sunday Gospel story (also see my 6/30/13 entry, “Pabbajja (pravrajana) in Christianity   キリスト教における出家  - Reflection of the Scripture Reading on the 13th Sunday Ordinary Time Year C”),  to become disciples of Jesus, we must act immediately upon being called.  To make sure we can follow him with such immediacy, we also must denounce all our attachments to earthly matters, including our personal assets and even families.  Of course, this does not mean that we cannot have any personal assets and we have to abandon our families. Rather, it is to teach us that our worries about our personal assets and families really hinders our abilities to follow Jesus – negatively affecting the quality of our discipleship. 

That is why Jesus said at the beginning of the 19^th Sunday’s Gospel reading, “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be”(Luke 12:32-34), to set the tone for his teaching on vigilance.

Practically, if you have so many things to worry about – your assets and families – your own earthly matters, then, you are likely to be distracted and become less vigilant.  Spiritually, this is a tension between ego and our servant identity in Christ.  

Ever since the Gospel reading of the 12^th Sunday, self-lessness, namely, overcoming our ego, has been emphasized as our need to be disciples of Christ, because the discipleship means being servant. Our own big ego compromise our abilities to serve. 

So, we have a choice: to revert back to our ego for our own earthly gain, like the Rich Fool,  or to overcome ego and strive to be a better servant of Christ in order to inherit the Kingdom. 

If we prefer the latter choice for the sake of the better reward: the Kingdom, then, we’d better be a really good servants– just like the vigilant servants in the 19^th Sunday Gospel reading.  

The vigilant servants, who dutifully and faithfully wait for the return of their servants, are also like the Ten Wise Virgins in Matthew 25:1-13.  The vigilance in this kind of faithful service of waiting is empowered by the same spirit that enables us to pray with the kind of persistence, demonstrated by the Canaanite woman’s faith (Matthew 15:21-28), the widow challenging the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8), and Hanna (1 Samuel 1).  It is also about endurance. 

When the Lord returns, he will knock on the door (Luke 12:36). If we fall off-guard and asleep, we may not recognize the knock.  Not being able to recognize the knock of the returning Lord indicates not only a compromised alertness but also our sinful heart. 

Christ cannot enter the stone of heart, which is an image of unrepentant sinful heart. But, as we repent and convert our heart to open heart, then, Christ can enter. Our heart that Christ enters in becomes the heart found in Christ.  

 As St. Augustine of Hippo said in his “Confession”, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee”, we remain restless, mired in kleshas, to put this in a Buddhist term, as long as our heart is not in one with Christ. That is why we may never be free from worries and other forms of restlessness – until the return of Christ at the end of time.  That is why we have to remain vigilant. But, this time with unknown length is also a time to make sure that our heart is repentant and open to welcome Christ in to find our heart in Christ, upon his return. This way, we can hear him knocking and appreciate these words of Jesus: 

 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me (Revelation 3:20).