IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Cathedral House & Clergy House telephone are currently down. We currently have a temporary number of 07493 108096, however, this phone number is for incoming and outgoing calls ONLY. Text and voicemail messages will NOT be responded to. For any enquiries, please kindly contact us at cathedral@brcdt.org, including a contact number. Apologies for any inconvenience.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C)

We stand today at the beginning of Advent and joyfully anticipate the celebration of Christmastide. Our pilgrimage invites us to revisit and partake in the events surrounding Jesus’ first coming: his birth and entry into human history when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Since the beginning, Advent has been a season in which we reflect on the first coming of Christ but also prepare for his second. The deepest longing of the Holy Spirit is expressed in the cry ‘Come’, which the Spirit gives to the Church. The prayer of both the Spirit and the Church will always be ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come.’

God always has in view the end towards which the whole history of salvation is directed. Our desire to prepare for Jesus’ return is proportional to our current relationship with him. His return heralds not just the coming of a kingdom, of a new order of things, but the return of the Lord of Lords, the Servant King who loved and died for us.

The call throughout the New Testament is to be active, to prepare, be watchful and be holy as God is holy, so that we can ‘stand before the Son of man’. At Jesus’ first coming he came to save and redeem so that we would know forgiveness and liberation from our sin. At his second coming, we will know the redemption of our bodies and full deliverance for which the whole of creation longs. Advent, then, is a time to grow in holiness through repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

‘Behold, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation: the great season of Advent. This is the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that holy Simeon rejoiced to see. This is the season that the Church has always celebrated with special solemnity. We too should always observe it with faith and love, offering praise and thanksgiving to the Father for the mercy and love he has shown us in the mystery.’ (St Charles Borromeo).

 

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