GOSPEL
Jerusalem Bible © 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd and Doubleday & Company Inc.
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be on guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come. It is like a man travelling 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. So stay awake because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn; if he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep. And what I say to you, I say to all: Stay awake!’
(Mark 13:33–37)
DID YOU KNOW?
Points of interest and Catholic lore
- Advent is a four-week season of preparation for Christmas. During this time we reflect on the coming of Christ into human history as a small baby, the coming of Christ at the end of time and the coming of Christ into our own lives each day. Thus Advent has a past, present and future dimension.
- The season of Advent is the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year. The Church’s liturgical year follows a three-year cycle, and we move today into the second of those,
Year B. The gospel readings for this year come predominantly from the Gospel of Mark.
EXPLORING THE WORD
During Advent, in each year of the three-year cycle, the theme of the first week looks to the end times—the eschaton—with an emphasis on the second coming of Jesus and the need to be ready.
In the early church, there was an expectation that Jesus would return quickly. In their post-Easter faith, believers knew that Jesus had been taken up to heaven at the ascension (a man travelling abroad, as mentioned in this gospel?) and that he was remaining with God until the time came for him to return in triumph. For Mark, it is now the Church that waits and must remain always ready to greet the master on his return. The ‘waiting’ theme of Advent is established: we await the birth of the child and we await the fulfillment of human history at the end times when Jesus comes again.
- What must you do to be fully prepared for the coming of Christ into your life as a Christian?
- What is your greatest expectation at this point in your life?
- In what ways does Jesus give you a glimpse of God?
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Opportunities for group discussion and personal prayer
- This parable describes each of the watchful servants as having ‘their own task’. What do you see as your task at this point in your life? How well are you performing it?
- Are you fully open to the possibilities that each moment offers? What ‘unexpected’ things may hinder being attentive?
- Reflect on the periods of waiting in your life. Pay particular attention to times during this past year when you have had to wait—for the easing of restrictions, for news, for a test result. Use those periods of waiting to reflect on your year, and slowly repeat the ‘Maranatha’ prayer. Be attentive to the joy that is to come.
- Share stories of a time of waiting in your life: for a child to be born, a house to be built, a longed-for holiday to come around.
- What are some of the positive results of longing and expectation? What are some of the difficulties if the waiting is prolonged?
- Waiting is the dominant symbolic activity of Advent. It is difficult for modern humans to spend time waiting. We are so used to technology making things happen almost instantly and tend to become frustrated at being made to wait. But the waiting of Advent is an active waiting, not a frittering away of time. It is a waiting spent in preparation and reflection.
- The Maranatha prayer is one of the most ancient prayers of the Church. This invocation of Christ conveys the sense of urgency felt by the first believers and their hope for a swift union with Christ. It is a fine short prayer to use often during Advent:
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
SHARING THE TRADITION
A closer look at the Scripture of the day, to see how it makes more explicit God’s word to us through the teachings of Jesus Christ
The celebration of a feast to honour the birth of Jesus did not emerge in the West until the fourth century. Scholars generally note that by ad 336 such a feast was in place and celebrated in Rome on 25 December. This comparatively late development of a feast to celebrate the birth of Christ may seem surprising to contemporary Christians, for whom Christmas is so central. However, we must remember that the early Christians expected the glorious return of Christ in their own lifetimes. It was only with time and an obvious delay of the second coming that such a feast could emerge. Furthermore, time provided the opportunity for a greater and more mature theological reflection on the mysteries of the incarnation and the second coming.
Advent, as a period of preparation for the feast of Christmas, developed later still. There is no evidence of such a preparatory time in Rome until well into the sixth century. It was Pope Gregory the Great (ad 590–604) who established a four-week liturgical preparation for Christmas, but the eschatological (end times) themes of the second coming were not established until the Middle Ages.
‘Advent has a two-fold character—as a season of preparation for Christmas when Christ’s coming in history is remembered; and as a season when that first coming directs the mind and heart to await Christ’s second coming at the end of time’ (General Norms of the Liturgical Year).
- You could discuss and explain the liturgical year if that was not done with the Feast of Christ the King last week.
- You could discuss the origins and meaning of various Advent traditions, such as the Advent wreath, Advent calendars, the Jesse Tree and so on. The group may like to construct a wreath or calendar of their own for home or for use each Sunday as you gather.
LIVING THE WORD
Practical ideas for group leaders to employ in connecting Scripture and daily life, with suggestions for music and environment
- Discuss ways in which you prepare as a parish community for Christ’s coming at Christmas. Are there special ceremonies or gatherings that occur? Perhaps the parish has a tradition of collecting gifts for others in need or having a ‘giving tree’.
- Are there ways the group can become involved or even initiate such activities?
- Encourage participants to involve their families in this level of preparation for the coming of Christ.
- Use an Advent wreath as a focus for prayer during these coming weeks. Gather Australia includes brief candle-lighting ceremonies for each week (GA 272). Pray for all those who are waiting to enter fully into the Church. Conclude with the blessing in the RCIA at §97F.