First Sunday Of Advent, Year A

On the First Sunday of Advent, we light the first candle, traditionally called the Candle of Hope to remember to hopefully look for the coming of Christ.

The virtue of hope originates from God through the grace of faith. It draws the Christian towards God, providing him or her with hope in God and eternal life (Catechism 1812, 1840).

God's holy presence in a person's soul caused by sanctifying grace is like a lit candle that we need armor to protect from getting blown out.

E.g. there is the story of the frog and the scorpion, where a scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion says, "Because if I do, I will die too because we will both drown." The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but the frog has just enough time to gasp "Why did you sting me," The scorpion replied: "It’s my nature to sting..."

No person can be the sufficient cause of another’s spiritual death, because no man dies spiritually except by sinning of his own will—ST. THOMAS AQUINAS ST, I-II, Q. 73, ART. 8

Nevertheless, we need protection from ourselves and from bad company. Our Second Reading says: “Put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12) to protect yourself from sinful desires of the flesh. They are false hopes. They will sting you.

According to our Second Reading, chastity precedes and is parallel to faith.

The reference to the armor of light, of day, acknowledges that forces of nighttime still exert pressure.

Arm ourselves by taking on acts of kindness and generosity, with no rivalry and jealously.

The Second Reading also said, Make no provision for the sinful desires of the flesh. This is the verse that led to St. Augustine’s conversion.

2. The story is told of a bible study group that had been asked the question, "In your time of discouragement, what is your favorite Scripture?" A young man said, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want (Psalm 23:1)."

A middle age woman said, "God is my refuge and strength (Psalm 46:1)."

Then Mr. John, who was 80 years old, said, “my verse is ‘and it came to pass’," which is not a complete verse.

He explained:

"At 30 I lost my job with six hungry mouths and a wife to feed. I didn't know how I would make it. At 40 my eldest son was killed overseas in the war. It knocked me down.

At 50 my house burned to the ground. Nothing was saved out of the house. At 60 my wife of 40 years got cancer.

But each time I looked in the Bible I saw one of those verses that included the phrase 'and it came to pass.'

This story is less about recalling a favorite Bible verse or part of a verse, than about the virtue of hope.

Isaiah's words in our First Reading speak hope-filled sound into desolate silence to remind us: how we live today is determined not by the circumstances that surround us, but by what we believe about the future. And sometimes, to gather that belief that flies in the face of current reality and defies all logic, we must listen care¬ fully—pay attention—for sounds of hope, even faint, all around us.

During hardships, the Christian maintains hope. "Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer," says Romans 12:12.

Hope is powerful enough that one can hope against all odds, against all human evidence, which is phrased by St. Paul in Romans 4:18 as “hoping against hope.”

E.g. how do you like 2 to 1 odds? If you win, you’ll get paid a $2 profit for every $1 bet.

Our Gospel today says:

Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.

Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left (Matt 24:40-41).

Outwardly they may be about the same task, but one destined for life, one for eternal loss.

Of these four, two are saved and two are lost.

Verse 39 in our Gospel states that the flood came and "took away" the people [carried them all away]. But Noah and his family were “left behind” and received God's mercy.

This is a common pattern in the OT.

The remnant that is left behind is often contrasted with those who are killed or destroyed which is symbolic for dying in the state of mortal sin on the soul. Committing a mortal sin is spiritual death. Jesus intends that we understand ourselves as being in a situation analogous to that of Noah— a righteous remnant in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation— and thus to persevere in righteousness.