The article discusses the importance of readiness during the Advent season, focusing on the second coming of Jesus. It emphasizes the need to be alert and aware of what is happening, urging readers to be morally awake and responsible. The Gospel highlights the need to be prepared for the unexpected arrival of the Son of Man. The article references specific Mass readings from Isaiah, Psalms, Romans, and Matthew for the First Sunday of Advent.
17 days ago
The article reflects on the First Sunday of Advent, observed on November 30, 2025, emphasizing readiness for Christ's second coming rather than just his birth at Bethlehem.1 It draws from the day's Mass readings, including Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122, Romans 13:11-14, and Matthew 24:37-44, urging believers to stay vigilant as the Son of Man will arrive unexpectedly.1
St. Paul's letter to the Romans provides a foundational "recipe" for spiritual preparedness, starting with awakening from moral slumber to remain alert and rooted in reality.1 This involves rejecting worldly distractions and embracing responsibility for one's actions.1
The text advises steering clear of orgies, promiscuity, lust, and making provisions for fleshly desires, viewing these as serious threats that God seeks to protect against.1 Sexual sin, in particular, is highlighted as gravely deceptive, with the call to preemptively avoid situations that enable it.1
Drunkenness is critiqued for clouding the mind and impairing judgment, contrasting it with the sobriety needed for sound spiritual decisions.1 Rivalry and jealousy stem from ego-driven sins, and the remedy is fostering a heart marked by love, generosity, forgiveness, and meekness—shifting from ego-centrism to God-centrism.1
True moral transformation is not self-achieved but received by "putting on the Lord Jesus Christ," allowing his life to indwell believers.1 This reception enables the virtues outlined, preparing the soul for Christ's return.1
Written by Msgr. Charles Pope, a pastor and dean in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, the piece ties into Advent's liturgical focus on eschatological hope.1 It connects to related themes in companion stories, such as family Advent practices and heart preparation as a gift to Christ, reinforcing communal and personal readiness.1
Examine the Catholic Church’s theological basis for Advent readiness
Advent, as a liturgical season, invites the faithful into a profound spiritual preparation, drawing from Scripture's urgent calls to vigilance and the Church's tradition of expectant hope. This readiness is not merely seasonal but eschatological, orienting believers toward Christ's threefold coming: in humility at Bethlehem, in grace through the sacraments, and in glory at the end of time. Rooted in biblical prophecies and apostolic exhortations, it emphasizes repentance, righteous living, and joyful anticipation, as articulated in the Catechism and papal teachings. By examining these sources, we uncover a theology that transforms Advent into a time of personal and communal renewal, fostering a heart open to divine encounter.
The Bible provides the bedrock for Advent readiness, portraying God's coming as both imminent and transformative, demanding an active response from humanity. In the prophetic vision of Isaiah, the season echoes the call to ascend the Lord's mountain, where nations will learn His ways and beat swords into plowshares, ushering in universal peace. This imagery underscores readiness as a communal journey toward justice and light: "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!" Isaiah's oracle, read during Advent liturgies, reminds the faithful that preparation involves forsaking darkness and embracing God's instruction, prefiguring the peace Christ brings.
The Apostle Paul intensifies this theme in his letter to the Romans, urging believers to recognize the hour of salvation's approach. "Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers." Paul likens the Christian life to shedding the "works of darkness" — reveling, debauchery, quarreling — and donning "the armor of light" by clothing oneself in Christ. This vigilance is practical: it rejects provisions for the flesh and cultivates honorable living "as in the day." Advent readiness, thus, begins with self-examination, awakening from spiritual slumber to align daily actions with the Gospel, anticipating Christ's purifying presence.
The Responsorial Psalm reinforces this joyful pilgrimage, evoking the ascent to Jerusalem as a metaphor for drawing near to God. "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord!' Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem." The psalmist prays for the city's peace — "Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers" — and commits to seeking its good for the Lord's sake. In Advent, this becomes a prayerful readiness, where the faithful "stream" toward the divine house, as Isaiah describes, fostering unity and gratitude amid worldly strife.
Jesus Himself warns of the suddenness of His return in the Gospel of Matthew, comparing it to the days of Noah, when people were unprepared until the flood came. "Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake." This parable demands constant watchfulness: one taken, one left; readiness as the difference between eternal life and loss. Theologically, it roots Advent in eschatological urgency, transforming seasonal observance into lifelong vigilance against complacency.
The Magisterium interprets these Scriptures through the lens of liturgy, presenting Advent as a season of dual preparation: commemorating Christ's nativity while yearning for His parousia. The Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year describe Advent's "twofold character," blending remembrance of the Incarnation with anticipation of the Second Coming, marked by "devout and expectant delight." This delight is not passive but active, stirring "minds and hearts" toward eschatological hope. The Catechism echoes this, noting that Advent renews "the ancient expectancy of the Messiah," uniting the faithful in desire for both historical and future comings. By reliving Israel's longing, believers decrease like John the Baptist — "He must increase, but I must decrease" — making space for Christ in their lives.
Papal teachings deepen this foundation, emphasizing Advent as a "visit" from God that disrupts routine absorption in worldly "doing." Pope Benedict XVI explains the term adventus as Christ's royal arrival into our "poor province" of earth, manifesting His presence in worship and daily events.[9†L28 November 2009] Readiness involves opening to this visitation: "God is here, he has not withdrawn from the world."[9†L28 November 2009] Yet, it requires time for the Lord and self, countering modern busyness with prayerful encounter. Similarly, Pope John Paul II portrays the entire Christian life as an "advent," a vigilant expectation where one recognizes Christ's presence in daily trials and graces. The liturgy's "O Antiphons" — cries like "O Wisdom," "O Emmanuel" — express this ardent plea for peace, demanding a "worthy dwelling place" through Gospel renewal.
The Homiletic Directory highlights Advent's focus on Christ's glorious return, quoting Isaiah's plea: "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!" Preparation counters unreadiness with "righteous deeds," as in the Collect: "Grant your faithful... the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming." This aligns with the Catholic Encyclopedia's view of Advent as admonishing the faithful to ready souls for the Redeemer in Communion, grace, and final judgment, symbolized by Isaiah's lessons on ingratitude and the Man of Sorrows.
Central to Advent theology is Christ's threefold advent, as articulated by theologians like Joseph Ratzinger (later Benedict XVI), blending past, present, and future. The first coming was "in the flesh and in weakness"; the intermediary, "in the spirit and in power" through Word and Eucharist; the last, "in glory and majesty." Readiness spans these: vigilance as "openness to the good, to the truth, to God" amid evil, living by faith's "signpost" rather than whims. The Maranatha prayer — "Come, Lord Jesus!" — captures this tension: gratitude for His presence ("the Lord has come") and invocation for fulfillment ("Lord, come!"). In the Eucharist, He is "with us always," yet Advent pushes toward definitive union.
The Catechism affirms the parousia's imminence since the Ascension: "This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment," though delayed, urging perpetual readiness without date-setting. Echoing Matthew, it warns of the final trial preceding glory, yet salvation's nearness demands wakefulness. Pope John Paul II reinforces this in eschatological reflections, noting apocalyptic imagery symbolizes Christ's sovereign power over a precarious world; history advances to judgment, but only after universal Gospel preaching. Attempts to predict the end deceive; instead, creation "groans" for redemption (Rom 8:19-22), calling believers to hope amid "beginnings of sufferings."
Advent readiness manifests in concrete practices, as popes describe. John Paul II recalls Poland's confessional throngs during Advent, mirroring Lenten penance, where children count "rungs" on the heavenly ladder to Bethlehem. This joy in expectation — "The Lord is near!" — purifies hearts for midnight Mass. Benedict XVI urges recognizing Christ's "intermediary coming" in sacraments, fostering sobriety and right action. The General Catechetical Directory ties this to final communion with God, where catechesis instills hope, salutary fear, and responsibility: judgment after death, Purgatory, and eternal realities await, recompensed "according to his life in the body."
Thomas Aquinas, commenting on Matthew, interprets the Son of Man's coming as visible to all in human form for judgment, with angels as witnesses to accepted or rejected guardianship. Readiness thus involves heeding divine protection, ensuring one's life merits the glorious body (Phil 3:21).
In summary, the Catholic theological basis for Advent readiness weaves Scripture's prophetic and apostolic imperatives with the Church's liturgical wisdom, culminating in vigilant hope for Christ's comings. From Isaiah's light to Paul's armor and Jesus' thief in the night, it calls for repentance and righteous deeds, renewed annually to orient life toward eternity. As the Universal Norms affirm, this season of delight prepares us not just for Christmas but for the parousia, where God will be "all in all." May this Advent stir us to wakefulness, that we might truly meet the Lord with transformed hearts.