Advent Sunday
Something a bit more edifying today. Apparently Advent Sunday is the start of the Church's year, something that means very little to most people (including me), but what does make sense is the idea of preparing for a new year, for the new birth that Christmas celebrates. Isaiah 2:1-5 Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:36-44 This Sunday's Gospel reading calls us to be ready in an urgent way. The doctrine of the second coming is not everyone's favourite, and perhaps suffers from the over-simplistic interpretation of fundamentalism, but "He will come again" is a creedal statement which is one of the building blocks of our faith. Advent Sunday focuses us on that future coming, which completes the cycle begun with Christ's first coming into the world. Did Jesus' disciples expect it to happen in their lifetime? Certainly , at least for the first few years. Did Jesus expect it to? Not necessarily . Despite the urgency of this saying, "no-one knows the day or the h...