1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YR A
Is 2:1-5; Ps 122
Rom. 13:11-14a; Matt 24:37-44
ADVENT: A SEASON OF HOPE FOR PEACE
The prophet Isaiah in the first reading had an audacious dream of world peace. He dreamt of a day when all people will be one and no longer seek to cheat or hurt one another. Isaiah says there will be a time when the two main political parties (NPP and NDC) will come together and agree that they have caused our nation and its citizens too much trouble and they are coming together to have one manifesto and one agenda for Ghana. There will be a time in our country when our tribe will not become an issue. A time will come in our society especially in our church where social class and status is no sign of division.
Isaiah dreamt that there will be a time where there will be a transformed attitude of war to peace. He says, “they shall beat their ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks”. In fact these words have been inscribed on the walls of the United Nations in New York. But the attainment of world peace has eluded this organization for many years. This is because we cannot achieve true peace apart from God. One Vence Havner says, “our efficiency without God’s sufficiency is only a deficiency”. Without God all effort is in vain. It is amazing how these days many of us think we can achieve things on our own. The Wall of the UN remains a symbol of man’s search for world peace. We must come together and work towards it. The Readings give us some direction.
- Make Peace With God.
Isaiah says we must come to the Lord “…that he may teach us his ways and that we must walk in his paths” (Is 2:3). To be truly at peace we must be at peace with God. This we would achieve by allowing ourselves to be formed by the word of God. Without peace with God the search for peace in the world becomes fruitless and fragile. It is only the reign of God that can bring true peace.
The second reading says we must cast off the works of darkness and embrace the light of Christ. It points out orgies, licentiousness, and drunkenness as acts of darkness we should cast off. All these point to any kind of reckless lifestyle unbecoming of Christians. This is how peace begins. This is how the Lord saves us. He desires to save us first so that we too will become signs of salvation to the world. The only way we can transform the world is to be transformed by God first.
- Reconciliation With One Another
God sent Jesus into the world to reconcile people to himself and to one another. We must play our part in breaking the barriers of division and give peace a chance. The barriers of indifference, prejudice stereotyping, envy, jealousy and quarrelling.
The work of reconciliation begins with a simple gesture of reconciliation. It urges us to begin to speak to those we are not talking to. We need to be ready to forgive one another and let go of hurts and pains. This can become difficult but God has not abandoned us. We must acknowledge we need his help and ask him for it.
We must be ready to welcome others into our fold, whatever that may be. This is an effort to break the barriers of division. We must seek to welcome especially strangers, foreigners and outsiders. We must make an effort to overcome the issues that are keeping us from one another.
- Immediate Response
In the gospel, Jesus compares the coming of the end to the days of Noah. He said in the days of Noah, people were still eating and drinking until the very day that the floods came. They did not pay attention to the call of salvation from Noah and they perished at the coming of the flood. What Jesus seeks to point out is that there should be immediate response to the word of God. Many people hear God’s word and reject it or are indifferent towards it. Jesus demands immediate response from us. Some will frown at it. Just remember the days of Noah.
Our world can never promise us peace. Peace can never be attained by political negotiation and arrangement. It can only be made peaceful by people who are open for the grace of God to change and transform them. That is when we can genuinely hold hands to build a peaceful and better world.
In advent we are hopeful for the visitation of the Lord. May the thoughts of the coming of our righteous judge give us hope for a better world.
May God bless us. In the words of the Psalmist, I declare peace upon your lives, your homes, your children and your labour.
God bless you.
By Fr. Delight Arnold Carbonu
