Happy New Liturgical Year and Welcome to the Holy Season of Advent

11-30-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh lorchir, VC

Happy New liturgical year and welcome to the holy Season of Advent, the Season during which we prepare ourselves spiritually to commemorate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and to await His promised second coming. “When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for His second coming.” (CCC524). The Readings on this First Sunday of Advent highlight this two-pronged waiting.

In the First Reading, the prophet Isaiah foresaw a glorious dawn for Mount Zion which shall be raised above every other mountain and around whom all nations shall gather to learn God’s ways and walk in His paths. This encounter shall effect such a drastic change in the pilgrims to the extent that they would turn weapons of war into agricultural implements and so abandon a life of violence and sin in order to embrace fruitfulness and righteousness.

In the Second Reading, St. Paul tells us what to do as we await the coming of the Lord. He reminds us that the night is long spent and the day of the Lord is approaching, thus, we must cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, avoiding improprieties, drunkenness, impurities, rivalries and jealousy, putting on Christ and making no provision for the desires of the flesh. The Christian who is preparing to meet the Lord learns selfless sacrificial love from Christ and discards pride and selfishness which wounds our relationship with Him.

The Gospel passage speaks more about the waiting for the second coming of the Lord. Christ will come at a time we least expect and if we are too engrossed with the pleasures and things of this world, we shall miss spending eternity with Him when He calls us to judgement. So, we are urged to stay awake and be prepared as we await the coming of the Lord.

May Jesus teach us to order our priorities properly so, being awake when He comes, He shall find us ready for eternal life with Him.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC