First Sunday of Advent, Year B: Commentary

Isaiah 63: 16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7
Psalm 80
I Corinthians 1: 3-9
Mark 13: 33-37

On the First Sunday of Advent, the Church will proclaim the plea of the prophet Isaiah, directed to the Lord: "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!"
The prophet reminds the Lord that he has done awesome deeds before, so could he please do them again for us now?!?

In the Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples, "Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come!" In these days when things are so unstable, many people are worried. In the Second Reading, Paul reminds the Corinthians that "God will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ!" And Paul reminds us why: "God," he says, "is faithful." During Advent, we re-ground ourselves in the faithfulness of God, and of the Chosen People who waited for his coming--and in our need to pray "When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus, until you come in glory."

Preaching about Advent, St. Bernard of Clairvaux says:

"We know that there are three comings of the Lord. The third lies between the other two. It is invisible, while the other two are visible. In the first, he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; in the final coming, 'all flesh will see the salvation of our God,' and 'they shall look upon him whom they have pierced.' The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it, only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. In this middle coming, the Lord comes in spirit and in power. Because it lies between the other two comings, it is like a road on which we travel from the first to the second. In his first coming, he was our redemption; in his last, he will be our life; in the middle, he is our rest and our consolation."
(Sermo 5 in Adventu Domini)

Music that goes with today's readings:

"Rorate coeli," "O Savior, Rend the Heavens Wide," and "Vigilate," all recorded by the Schola Cantorum of St. Peter's in the Loop on "Music for Advent," 1989, published by The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN (www.litpress.org)