Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Today, the first Sunday of Advent, the Gospel reading from Matthew depicts Jesus telling the disciples about the Second Coming of Christ. Jesus compares that time to the time of Noah, where people were carrying on with everyday concerns: eating, drinking, and marrying. Jesus urges us to remain vigilant for the day when he returns. On this first day of Advent, what can I do to prepare for the arrival of Christmas, the First Coming of Christ, when Jesus becomes through his birth the Word Incarnate, God with us?

God, help me take to heart the significance of this day and of this season and where it leads me. I want to learn how to become closer to you, Lord, and devote more of my time to you. Give me the grace to see you and your work throughout the day and be grateful for your abiding presence day after day.

Thank you, Lord, for this time of expectancy, the time to await the coming of your Son, a child born of Mary in Bethlehem. The pathway to joy you make clear; embrace me with your mercy and help me stay on it so that I can say as the psalmist says: “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen.