Watch!

First Sunday of Advent Year B
November 30, 2008
Isaiah 63:16-17; 64:1, 3-8; Cor 1:3-9; Mark 13:33-37

Stay Awake!
(Be watchful! Be alert!)

Introduction
Have you seen the Australian game show “The Singing Bee”? This game show is originally from America and because of its popularity it has now many international versions.

The basic rule of the game is simply to sing lyrics to songs correctly or risk being eliminated immediately. In a karaoke challenge each contestant sings the blanks in the lyrics being displayed on the screen with correct words. For every word correctly sung, the player is given a point.


The player who finishes with the least amount of points for instance in Round 1 and 2 combined is eliminated from the game.

Let's try this game. I will sing a song and you sing the missing word.

We wish you a merry _ _ _
We wish you a merry _ _ _
And a happy New Year!

You better watch out you better not cry
You better not pout I am telling you why
_ _ _ _ is coming to town!

It’s hard to believe that today we begin the first week of Advent leading us to our four weeks of preparation before Christmas. It's hard to believe we can now hearing again Christmas carols on radio, tv and in shopping malls.

Look around us, everyone is getting ready for Christmas. Too often, however, people are so busy with the material preparations that we lose sight of the real reason for Advent season: the coming birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many times I really would like to change the lyrics of this Christmas carol.

You better watch out you better not cry
You better not pout I am telling you why
Jesus Christ is coming to town!
Jesus Christ is coming to our homes!
Jesus Christ is coming to our hearts!

Jesus – is - Christmas.
It – is – Jesus – who – is coming – this - Christmas

I am not against Santa Claus. He was in fact a Catholic bishop known for his generosity especially to the poor. We love Santa Claus because of goodness. But let us remember that Santa Claus was generous because he loved Jesus. Let us be watchful not to be misled by our consumer society that is making Santa Claus a mere symbol of consumption of material things during Christmas.

Be watchful
Be watchful. It the call of today's Gospel reading on this first week of Advent. Be watchful in preserving the spiritual focus of Christmas amidst our prevailingly secular and consumer-driven society.

The Lord teaches us in today’s Gospel reading to “wake up”, be watchful and be alert because like a master of the house who traveled abroad He will come back anytime without a warning. We must be always ready and alert for his arrival.

What it means to be watchful? To be watchful means to understand the call of Advent Season, thus the true message of Christmas. First of all we have to understand the history of salvation. Advent Liturgy celebrates beginning today the history of Israel, pointing us and leading us towards the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies - the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

As for today’s readings – the First is a poem entreating God to come and save his people. It recalls God’s past goodness, and acknowledges the ingratitude and sinfulness of his people.

The Second Reading and the Gospel talk about the final coming of Christ, something that early Christians believed was imminent. For the faithful, the Lord’s coming is not something to fear, only if you are ready, watchful and more conscious of our actions – the way we treat other people, in our words, and in our thinking.

Three times in today’s Gospel Jesus urges his disciples, so us, to ‘watch!’ To 'watch' is a word we need to remember as we ready ourselves for the coming of the Lord.

How to watch?
We are watchful even in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the season, when we strive to keep Advent a season of waiting and longing, of conversion and hope, meditating often on the incredible love and humility of our God in taking on flesh of the Virgin Mary.

In our shopping, we are watchful when we remember to purchase and prepare something for the poor. We are watchful when we clean our homes, we remember to distribute some of our possessions to those who lack many necessities. While we are decking the halls of our homes, we become watchful when we don't forget to prepare a peaceful place in our hearts wherein our Savior may come to dwell.

Singing bee
Let’s imagine Christmas like The Singing Bee game show. Jesus is giving us the missing lyrics we need to know by heart, watch! Let us memorize it, keep it, learn it and practice it if we don’t want to be eliminated from this beautiful season of Advent.


photo: My friend Stacy's two friends singing at KTV in Taipei.