Jesus is coming, but we do not know when.  So, we have to watch.

It seems odd that we are to look to the end at the beginning of the liturgical year.  For we are urged to watch and wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.  He will come, yes, but we do not know when.  And his coming will spell the end of time as we know it.

Is it true, then, as T.S. Eliot says, that in our beginning is our end, and our end in our beginning?  Or are they right, those who say that awareness of the end makes authentic life possible?  And, yes, Sir 7, 36 says, “In all you do, remember the end of your life, and you will never sin.”

But be it as it may, what is plain is that we are to be awake and watchful.  And we hear again, for good measure, that we, disciples and non-disciples, must watch.

Jesus, though, does not tell us what to stay awake or to watch means exactly.  He only says that he is like a man traveling abroad.  This man places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to watch.

So then, the suggestion is that to watch is to do the tasks that Jesus has given us.  And there is no one who does the tasks better than the worthy wife (Prov 31, 10-13. 19-20. 30-31).  Needless to say, then, we have to feel and do as the co-owners.

That is to say, we have to live up to our being heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Rom 8, 17).  God, besides, is our Father; we are his children by adoption through Jesus Christ (Eph 1, 5).

Lord Jesus, grant to us who feed on your body and blood to be truly one with you.  We will thus breathe you, live by your death, die by your life, hidden in you and full of you (SV.EN I:276).  So, too, will we get to watch as your true co-heirs do.

29 November 2020
First Sunday of Advent (B)
Is 63, 16b-17. 19b; 64, 2-7; 1 Cor 1, 3-9; Mk 13, 33-37