This essay first appeared in our weekly Scripture reflection newsletter on November 30, 2025.
Isa 2:1-5, Rom 13:11-14, Mt 24:37-44
You can find the readings for the First Sunday of Advent here.
Welcome to Advent, the season of holy anticipation! As the days get shorter and the temperatures colder, we begin a new liturgical year within our Church. Advent, from the Latin “ad venire” or “to come toward,” is a time when we reflect on Jesus’ promise of returning to us, and, of course, prepare to commemorate his birth. (Who doesn’t love a birthday party?)
The themes presented to us in this Sunday’s Gospel readings carry two contrasting energies: a hopeful sense of peace and a frenetic vigilance. In our first reading, the great prophet Isaiah paints us a picture of the impending Kingdom of God:
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!
Then, the Psalmist, who proclaims, “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord,” speaks of the flourishing of prosperity and love within this new Kingdom of God. In this new Jerusalem, we are together in our unity, saying to each other ,“Peace be with you! For the sake of the house of the Lord, our God, I will pray for your good.”
Maybe that’s a part of the Advent season: to be shaken awake, to take a look around, and to see how we can announce the Kingdom of God right here and now amongst us.
The next readings from the New Testament are a bit less idyllic, calling upon the readers to be vigilant and on alert. It is in Paul’s letter to the Romans that we hear that first exhortation to wake up, “for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” Paul instructs our ancient Christian ancestors, and us, to “put on the armor of light” and to “conduct ourselves properly.” The Gospel passage from Matthew takes it a bit further, and Jesus warns us that we “also must be prepared, for at an hour [we] do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Maybe that’s a part of the Advent season: to be shaken awake, to take a look around, and to see how we can announce the Kingdom of God right here and now amongst us. We must not be numb to the injustices that surround us.
An inclusive and loving world is not only feasible, but inevitable.
As LGBTQ Catholics and Christians, what is our takeaway? Mine is this: that an inclusive and loving world is not only feasible, but inevitable. A world where we beat our swords into plowshares and where peace is within our walls is coming towards us. This reminds me of a poem by the great St. Teresa of Ávila:
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
So my siblings in Christ, let us all wake up and be alert! Let us do our part to be the face of Christ to all and to help bring about the Kingdom of God in our own lifetime.
