Happy New Year! To be exact, Happy New Liturgical Year or Happy New Liturgical Cycle!
Now we are on Cycle C, following Cycle B, which
completed last week, in the Liturgical Calendar.
We begin Liturgical Year on First Sunday of Advent.
This means that our Liturgical Year begins with our preparation for the first
coming of Christ (the incarnation of Christ, the Nativity of the Lord, a.k.a.
Christmas) and ends with meeting Christ upon his return for the Judgement.
As we begin Liturgical Year with Advent Season,
punctuated with four Advent Sundays, we make ourselves ready for the adventus of Christ, incarnated in the
human flesh of Jesus, who is born of the Blessed Virgin, Mary, the Immaculate
Conception. Then, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Incarnation of Christ,
to kick off Christmas Season, following the growth of Jesus until his Baptism.
Following the Sunday feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we begin Ordinary Time
to reflect on the early public ministry of Jesus in Galilee. Then, beginning on
Ash Wednesday, we move into Lenten Season, followed by Paschal Triduum. Lenten
Season is reflect on not only our sinfulness but our disposition to sin, in our
earnest effort to grow in faith, based on Christ’s teaching, punctuated with 6
Lenten Sundays, of which the 6th Sunday of Lent is known as Palm
Sunday or Passion Sunday, as it marks the beginning of Holy Week, which
includes Paschal Triduum, to focus on the climax of Christ’s Paschal Mystery:
his Passion (suffering), Death on the Cross, and Resurrection. Through Lenten
Season and Paschal Triduum, we prepare ourselves to witness Christ’s death on
the Cross to deliver us from the bounds of sin and meet risen Christ. Beginning
on Resurrection Sunday (Easter Sunday), we celebrate the Resurrection of the
Lord, until Pentecost Sunday. These festive 50 days constitute Paschal Season
or Easter Season, punctuated seven Sundays, before Pentecost Sunday. The Second
Paschal Sunday is designated as Divine Mercy Sunday and the Fourth Paschal
Sunday is celebrated as Good Shepherd Sunday. And, we memorialize Ascension of
the Lord on Thursday of the 6th week of Paschal Season. However, in
some jurisdictions, like many dioceses in the USCCB jurisdiction, Ascension of
the Lord is transferred to the 7th Paschal Sunday. Following Pentecost Sunday, we resume
Ordinary Time, renewed, enriched with the Word, and empowered with the Holy
Spirit, to grow in faith, preparing to meet Christ in his return as we move
forward to conclude Liturgical Year, in juxtaposition of the eschaton and the end of Liturgical Year,
Basically, Liturgical Year reflects the Paschal
Mystery of Christ, from his Incarnation to his death, Resurrection, and
Ascension, followed by Parousia (his
return). And as the focus of Christ’s Paschal Mystery is on his death and
resurrection for our salvation, as the ultimate Korban Pesach (i.e. Exodus 12:1-14, 22-23), as well as, the
ultimate Korban Asham (i.e. Leviticus
5:14-19; 7:1-6). Because of the focus on the Paschal Mystery, the highlight of
Liturgical Year is the Paschal Triduum, transitioning from Lenten Season to
Paschal (Easter) Season. Not Christmas. Nevertheless, the feast of the Nativity
of the Lord (Christmas) is important as Christ’s incarnation in the human flesh
of Jesus, conceived in and born of Mary, the Blessed Virgin and the Immaculate
Conception, was for him to go through his Passion, Death on the Cross,
Resurrection, and Ascension, besides to nourish us also with his own body and
blood, in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, instituted at the Last Supper. For
our salvation, God the Father needed to send His only begotten Son, Christ, to
us in the human flesh of Jesus. Therefore, the Incarnation of Christ and the
human birth of Jesus are indispensable to the Passion, the Death on the Cross
to shed his blood, the Resurrection, and the Ascension, of the Lord to complete
his salvific mission on earth. And, when he returns as the King of the
Universe, reflected on the last Sunday of Liturgical Year, 34th
Sunday in Ordinary Time, Christ will judge us to see who are fit to be redeemed
for his Kingdom and eternal beatitudes, based on our growth in faith,
demonstrated in our practice of faith, especially in our observance of his
commandments of love and compassion.
As we begin Liturgical Year C, on the First Sunday
of Advent, the Gospel Reading (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36) recalls the Gospel Reading
of the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B (Mark 13:24-32), as
these are basically drawn from Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (Matthew
24:1-25:46//Mark 13:1-37 //Luke 21:5-36). What is omitted in the First Sunday
of Advent Gospel Reading is the narrative on the lesson from the fig tree (Luke
21:29-33).
Though this Gospel Reading (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36) is
about the eschatological preparation for Christ’s second coming, Parousia, the principle of the
preparedness is applied also for our preparation for the adventus of Christ through the human birth of Jesus. And the
principle is to remain vigilant all the time (Luke 21:36) throughout the
preparatory period, which is Advent Season. As a matter of fact, the principle
of constant vigilance sets the tone not only for Advent Season but for the
entire Liturgical Year as we will revisit this principle as it gets closer to
the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe on the 34th Sunday
in Ordinary Time to conclude Liturgical Year, reflecting what it will be like
to meet Christ the King upon his return to judge us.
We put more weight on Luke 21:34-36 because we do
not want to miss the moment of Christ’s adventus,
for nobody knows exact hour. Sure, you may argue that it is in an early predawn
morning hour that Jesus was born. But it is because so it happened about 2,000
years ago in Bethlehem, and as it is so written by Luke (Luke 2:1-7). However,
how many of people at that time really knew when he was born and witnessed his
birth? Only the shepherd, who stayed vigilant in keeping their watch over the
sheep at that dark hour (Luke 2:8-20). The rest of the world did not even
realize the adventus of Christ, which
had been prophesized at least 700 years before that time (e.g. Isaiah 7:14; Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:14-16; Micah 5:1; Malachi 3:20; cf. Luke 1:68-79). People in Judea
were sleeping when Christ came by the human birth of Jesus. And they remained
ignorant of the presence of Christ at least until his public ministry began,
seeing the signs that he performed. Some exception to the ignorance was found with
the Magi, who saw astrological sign for the coming of Christ as the newborn
king of the Jews (Matthew 2:2) and paid their homage to him (Matthew 2:9-11).
Another exception to the ignorance of Christ’s coming was John the Baptist, who
called the Israelites to prepare the way of the Christ to come, as the voice
crying out in the wilderness (e.g. Luke 3:1-6), to fulfill the prophesy in
Isaiah 40:3-5.
What about the first part of the Gospel Reading
(Luke 21:25-28), which is about apocalyptic signs at eschaton for the second coming of Christ, in the context of
Advent? Would there be signs in the sun,
the moon, and the stars, to signal the first coming of Christ through the birth
of Jesus, as there will be for Christ’s second coming at eschaton? No exactly. The only known celestial sign for the initial
coming of Christ was the star that the Magi observed and followed (Matthew 2:2,
9-10), though the star sign did not lead the Magi to Jesus at his birth.
So, what can correspond to the signs in Luke
21:25-28 in the Advent context?
To answer this question, we will turn to the Gospel
Reading for next Sunday, Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle C, Luke 3:1-6, as John
the Baptist’s voice crying out in the wilderness of Judea was a clear sign that
the initial coming of Christ was near. Do you hear the voice of John the
Baptist, calling you to be ready for the adventus
of Christ, making the way for him to come? But if you were not vigilant,
then, you sure would be deaf to the voice of John the Baptist and spend the
whole Advent season without realizing anything about the coming of Christ.
The First Reading (Jeremiah 33:14-16) is one of the
Old Testament prophecies of the coming of Christ. In fact, this is a repetition
of Jeremiah 23:5-6, to remind that Christ draws the Davidic royal line to rule
with his justice and righteousness to bring salvation. Jeremiah announced this
prophecy to bring the post-exilic hope to rebuild Jerusalem and its Temple – so
that the Israelites would not sink in despair.
The Second Reading (1Thessalonian 3:12-4:2) reflects
Paul’s teaching to the Thessalonian church to prepare for Christ’s return. And
it is by increasing love for one another, strengthening hearts for purity and
holiness to face Christ at his coming, to be pleasing to him. And this is how
we prepare ourselves for the adventus
in each of our hearts. This is, indeed, how we make the way of the Lord to come
(Luke 3:4-5; cf. Isaiah 40:3-4).
Yes, Christ, our Lord is on his way. He is coming to
us! Let us prepare ourselves, making the smooth way for him to come into our
hearts, while staying vigilant not to miss the moment of his adventus, like the shepherd keeping the
night watch!
The true Christmas gift will be placed not in socks
hanging in your house but in your very heart – rather than the manger.
*The Scripture citations are based on the New
American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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