Gospel reflection for Nov. 30, 2025, First Sunday of Advent
Our neighborhoods and public spaces are resplendent with the lights, images and sounds of the coming Christmas season. In the midst of the coming winter darkness – the shortest day of the year is merely weeks away – this adds a reprieve from the starkness of the dark and the cold chill that fills the air.
This weekend we begin the Advent season, our annual four-Sunday observance of the time of preparation preceding Christmas. Traditionally a time of fasting and temperance, this has become instead a time of partying and celebrating as we lead up to Christmas day. All of the cultural hoopla around, and even the prevalence of Christmas observances in non-Christian cultures, has muted the power of Advent and the truth that lie behind the Christmas solemnity.
Advent is our time of preparation for the coming of Christ, which calls us to be vigilant and active in our life of faith. While we observe Christmas as a celebration of the Incarnation, we await the fulfillment of the Kingdom. Over the two millennia since the Incarnation many have grown weary of the amount of time since the birth of Jesus, and others have given up hope. Paul offers us direction as to how to live in light of the coming age. Be watchful, be ready. Live for and in Christ Jesus. The life focused on Jesus has no concern for anything else. Paul reminds us that as we “put on Christ” we live in the hope of salvation, regardless how long it takes.
Advent reminds us of two distant realities – the Incarnation and the Parousia – both of which reside in our imaginal worlds, but neither of which seem to impact us with any depth on a daily basis.
We talk about Advent as a period of waiting, without a true focus on what it is that we are waiting on. If we are just waiting to see what gifts will be under a tree or hung by the fireplace, then the season is truly lost on us. We are waiting for much more than that.
If we think we are simply celebrating a past event – much as we do our own birthdays – then, again, the point of the season is lost. I am sure we have all been asked why we are celebrating a season of waiting for an event that has already happened and is celebrated every year. Advent offers nothing new, except to prepare us for the celebration of the present.
Advent is our reminder that is still a kingdom to come and that in God’s time all will come to fruition. This preparation season then is a stark reminder to us of our own mortality and of our need to have a right relationship with God and his church.
In the midst of the decorating, shopping, and partying, there stands the reality that all of this is passing and ephemeral. Yet, we are also reminded that, as we celebrate anew the birth of the child Jesus at Christmas, there is the constant and steady hope in the fulfillment of the promises of the world to come.
We often overlook the fact that the Hebrew Scriptures reflect more on the coming end of history and the restoration of the Kingdom God planned in creation than there is about the birth and ministry of the messiah. We will spend the next few weeks listening to the prophecies foreshadowing the events in Bethlehem of Judea, and think that the Old Testament meets its fulfillment in the Incarnation and Paschal Events. Yet, both the Old and New Testaments are both farther forward thinking, reflecting more on the culmination of history and the finalization of creation.
Many live in fear of the end of times, and certainly those who live through that period will experience turmoil and much confusion. Yet, it is the fulfillment of a promise and the intention of creation itself.
God calls us all back to himself – he created us to be with him.
As we enter this Advent journey, then, our thoughts turn to two encounters with the Lord. First we give thanks to almighty God for the gift of his presence among us in the Incarnate Son. Secondly, we prepare ourselves to meet the Lord each and every day of our lives, knowing that our full hope and desire is to share with him in eternal life.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.