by Khonzumenzi Dlamini
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Today marks the beginning of a new liturgical year. Holy Mother Church invites us to celebrate the First Sunday of Advent. A season of waiting as we anticipate the Parousia (second coming of Jesus Christ). This is a period that impacts our faith since it reminds us of our ultimate end. This time helps us to remain vigilant in our homes and not lose sight of the true meaning of Christians, it prepares us to welcome the mystery of the Word incarnate.
We are also reminded today that as we prepare ourselves to celebrate Christmas, a historical event, we should also look beyond that and stay focused as we wait for the second coming of our Lord. To wait for the Lord means to place our lives unto the Lord as in the first reading according to Isaiah 64:8 “Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Advent this year also occurs at the time when the world is held hostage by the Corona virus and has led us to live in between what was and what will be, “In the midst of our uncertainty we lack nothing as we await the revealing of Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7). All of us are waiting for the day the World Health Organisation announces “we have found the vaccine for the corona virus.” There is something more worth waiting for, and that is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The first reading tells us that
“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.”
For us to qualify to be the elects, to experience the Day of the coming of the Lord we have to stay focused. The Church gives us the Advent time to remember that Jesus Christ is coming and He will come at an hour we do not know. He will judge us on how well we worked to spread the kingdom of God on earth. As a Christian family let us unite in prayer as we wait for the coming of the Lord.