Luke 21:25-28, 34-36; First Sunday of Advent

An airline passenger was clearly stressed because of his fear of flying. To calm him down, his seatmate assured him, “Huwag kang mag-alala, hindi mo pa panahon.” The passenger however would not be consoled. He said, “E paano kung panahon na ng piloto?”

Advent, which literally means coming or arrival, begins with the end. Here we are just about to take off in the liturgical year, then we are told to “prepare doors for arrival and cross check”, to stow our tray tables, fasten our seat belts, and ensure our seat back is upright.

As we start our descent to our destiny, we can be more afraid than excited. We dread the coming of the Lord because we tend to link it with the end of days. The fear is only confirmed by the dramatic images in the Gospel today:

… on earth, nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Does the Lord come into our life to say, I’m here, time’s up? Is timekeeping all there is to God? Is God just a lender of time and life, asking for an accounting at the very end?

If God were to come like the roaring waves to drown us all, who would that satisfy? God?

If God were to arrive and take the lights out from the sun and moon and stars, what sense is there then in letting there be light in the first place? What then was the point of the Incarnation, that first arrival of God into our world to be light which darkness can never overcome?

If God arrives like a storm that uproots and levels things to the ground, what is it that he would uproot and take away? What would we hold on to; what would we let go? What would we ask God to leave alone; what would we have him pull out?

In another image, God comes like a thief in the night. Here we find yet another reason to fear his coming. But if God does come to loot our lives, what in our lives does he come to steal? All that we have worked for? Those we have loved? Is that the God who has been revealed to us? A snatcher of dreams, someone who picks the pockets of hope and delights in our loss?

Or will he steal only what we have stolen, what is not ours? Speaking of, do we even know what is ours and what is not? Should we really be afraid of this thief, knowing he comes to take only what is not ours?

Advent is that special time in our lives to prepare for the arrival of the Lord not only at the end of our days. We prepare by staying awake today. We prepare by not leaving each other to our own devices, “drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of life”.

We prepare by learning to be patient, learning to wait in the arrival area, keeping in touch with our longing to be redeemed. We prepare by schooling our hearts to recognize him in our day to day. We ready ourselves by learning to miss the Lord, so that when we do get to meet him, it will not be as slaves hiding in fear or shame but as friends standing erect, heads raised, hearts open, in joyful anticipation.

We prepare ourselves by believing in our heart what the prophet Jeremiah tells us today:

In those days Judah shall be safe

and Jerusalem shall dwell secure

For all the trials and purging and separating that are bound to happen, we need not dread the coming of the Lord.

When he comes into our lives, he comes only to save what was lost, to heal what was broken, to plant what was uprooted, to steal what is not ours, to offer life again not death, as it was in the beginning in Paradise, as it is now and ever shall be, love without end.

So, how can we let fear or guilt or shame take over? Whenever, wherever the Lord comes to meet us, we know it will be a joyful encounter. E ano ngayon kung panahon na ng piloto?