IMPENDING SIEGE - A: 1st Sun of Advent

First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5 (27 November 2022)

"He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples" (Isa 2:4).

The readings of the Advent season on this liturgical year (i.e., Year A) commence with the beginning of the prophetic ministry of Isaiah. Isaiah started his ministry after the death of King Uzziah in 742 BCE. Immediately after that was the Syro-Ephraimite War that transpired in 735–732 BCE. It was the time when the Arameans (i.e., those in the kingdom of Aram-Damascus [Syria]) and Ephraimites (i.e., another term for those in the kingdom of Israel) revolted against the ruling neo-Assyrian empire, which was the ally of King Ahaz of the kingdom of Judah. In one of the early battles, 120,000 Judahites were killed in one day (2 Chr 28:6), while 200,000 others were held into captivity into their city of Samaria (v. 8).

Death was just around the corner, so to say, and Isaiah was prophesying with this basic knowledge.

The first part of the Advent season demands for a vigilant expectation on the Second Coming of Christ, which include each one’s final judgment (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Herein, we shall be judged based on how we lived on earth, especially on whether we performed charity. Advent, hence, is not just a joyful waiting for Christmas, but on making every Christmas truly valuable.

FIRST AND LAST CHRISTMAS

The first Christmas recalls the day Jesus was born.

A season when winter breezes chills and cold.

A night when darkness creates dread and fear.

A time when any child could be killed by the king.

Living on earth is precarious day by day.

One may just discover that now is the end.

A pandemic can wipe out human existence.

Every breath becomes a battle to survive.

The first Christmas can the last Christmas.

A joyous smile can be a last happy moment.

If we don’t care as if it were our last,

We may lose the one chance to be in love.

People fall in the streets left and right.

Bombs destroy homes, towns, and lands.

Wars sap each family’s bliss and dreams.

Only peace can bring the Yuletide back.

We do not know what tomorrow gives.

We cannot control how nations think.

But if we live each day like the first Christmas,

We worry less should it be our last Christmas.

… If we don’t share as if it were our last,

We may lose the persons whom we truly love.

- Rex Fortes, CM