Sunday:       First Sunday of Advent
Date:         November 30, 2008
Year:         B
The readings: [Is. 63:16b-17; 64:1, 3-8; 1 Cor. 1:3-9; Mk. 13:31-7]
The message:  God is faithful!
Prepared by:  THE CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY
Total words:  1231

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"He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful!" [1 Cor. 1:7-9] My brothers and sisters in Christ, these are powerful words that we have just heard during the Second Reading. [1 Cor. 1:3-9]

I wish to welcome you all to today's celebration of the Holy Mass on the First Sunday of Advent! May the grace of God be with each and everyone of you as I share today's Holy Scriptures with you.

Today's readings touch upon a number of spiritual issues. They reveal to us that God is faithful, His Word being unchanging. They teach us the end result of righteousness. They tell us that although we presently dwell in our present sinful physical bodies that seek to oppose what is spiritual, we can still be blameless before God on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. These are all very powerful statements that deserve to be reviewed so that they may be understood.

When hearing the aforementioned Words, the first thing that comes to mind is the New Covenant of grace that God made with us through Jesus Christ, this making obsolete the Old Covenant of the Law. [Heb. 8:13] As found in the Holy Bible, this New Covenant echoes "I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." [Is. 43:25] "For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." [Heb. 8:12; Jer. 31:44]

Today's First Reading shines in the grace of God. It echoes Divine love that is forgiving towards those who live righteously. As we heard, God gladly meets those who do right, those who remember Him and His Holy ways.

But for those who turn their hearts away from the Lord, God treats them as children, disciplining them as a loving Father. [Heb. 12:8] Allowing all to enjoy their free will, the Lord permits them for some time to stray away from His ways, hardening their hearts so that they do not fear Him.

When some deliberately turn to sin, the Lord is angry. He hides Himself from them because they are like filthy cloths. Like a leaf, the sinners are taken away by the wind to fade away at a distance. Having turned from the ways of the Lord, no longer calling on His Holy Name, the sinners are left to their own iniquities.

As we heard during the reading of the First Letter to the Corinthians, the grace of God flows abundantly towards those who walk their living faith in Jesus Christ.

First of all, we heard that those who walk their living faith, they are enriched in Jesus, in speech and knowledge of every kind, not lacking in any spiritual gifts for the betterment of the Church.

Through Jesus, the faithful are strengthened to the end of their worldly lives so that they will be blameless before God the Father on the day of Judgment.

One may wonder how he could be blameless before God on the day of Judgment since all are sinners. Those who walk their living faith by the grace of God the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit in the Most Holy Name of Jesus, will not have their sins of the weak flesh held against them because they will not be judged according to the law of men but rather according to the law of God.

Being spiritually minded, they have received the indwelling Holy Spirit who protects them against the grip of the evil one. While their sinful flesh shall die and turn to dust, their new hearts and spirits, these being gifts of God that they have received during the Sacrament of Baptism, are their first instalment towards the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven as legitimate children of God. By persevering in the Sacraments of Confession and the Holy Eucharist, they will receive assurance of the final instalment that awaits the faithful saints, eternal life in the Divine Presence of the Lord God.

Those who walk by the flesh, setting their minds on worldly things, they shall be judged by the law of sin. Those who walk in faith through Jesus Christ, setting their minds on spiritual things, they shall be judged according to the law of God. "There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of (spiritual) death." [Rom. 8:1-2]

Those who persevere in their living faith, God will no longer remember their sins. He will blot out the transgressions of those who strived in their living faith for His own sake. As such, they shall be blameless before God the Father on the Day of Judgment.

The Gospel Reading reminds us that while Heaven and earth shall pass away, the Words of the Lord shall not pass away. Every promise that He has made shall be fulfilled. God shall prove His faithfulness to all by His Divine actions.

But there is a catch! Everyone must remain consistent in his living faith. He must keep alert for no one but the Father knows when the time shall come, when the Son of God shall return or when each individual person will be called to experience physical death.

Jesus said to keep awake, in the evening, or at midnight, or at the cockcrow, or at dawn. By this, He meant to be spiritually active and consistent. Do not take a break in your spiritual lives to relapse into sin. For that sinful moment may be the moment when you will be called and judged according to the actions of your heart at the moment of physical death.

Some may say, 'That is not fair!' Consider it similar to when you buy a house and have to make monthly payments. What happens if you miss a monthly payment? You lose your house! In His infinite grace, God patiently awaits for all to live according to His Holy ways, not suddenly calling everyone who misses on a payment. If He did so, He would not have any children left because we are all sinners, weak in the human nature.

In His infinite mercy, God seeks to build up His Heavenly Kingdom through Jesus Christ. He seeks to have millions of saints to populate the eternal world of love, joy, peace and glory. To do so, He will blot out the sins of those who sincerely persevere in their living faith.

But to inherit the faithfulness of God, one must hear and live by the Words of Jesus, "And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake" for His words shall not pass away.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us be thankful to the Lord for His persistent reminder that we keep awake so that we will not miss out on our inheritance as children of God. Let us encourage one another in Christ so we may all share into the eternal glory that awaits all those who faithfully answer their calling.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"You, O Lord, are our father; 'Our Redeemer from of old' is your name. Why, O Lord, do you make us stray from your ways and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you? Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake 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." [Is. 63:16-7, 64:1, 3-8]

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Second Reading...

"My brothers and sisters; Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind - just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you - so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." [1 Cor. 1:3-9]

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Gospel Reading...

"Jesus said to his disciples, 'Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; 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 slaves in charge, each with a particular task, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake - in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.

And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.'" [Mk. 13:31-7]

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