Wait, Watch, Witness

First Sunday of Advent Year B

For the past few months, we have been constantly reminded by the public health authorities to practice three actions which should form the basis of a “new normal.” To help us remember they adopted a simple mnemonic: 3 W’s- Wear a mask, Wash your hands, Watch your distance.

Today, the readings also present us with a simple 3 action formula, not just for this season of Advent but for the entire season of our lives as we await the Advent of our Lord at the end of this age. Taking the cue from public health mnemonics, let’s consider them under our own set of 3 W’s: Wait, Watch and Witness.

Waiting is one of the principal movements of Advent. At every Mass, after praying the Lord’s Prayer, we hear “. . . as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.” This prayer reminds us that during Advent, we wait in joy, in hope, and in anticipation for the wonderful event we are about to experience—the feast of Christmas, the coming of Christ into our lives in new ways, but also the return of Christ in glory at the end of time.

Isn’t it amazing that the Church has an entire season dedicated to fostering the virtue of waiting because she understands its essential value in our lives. Fasting is the necessary prelude to feasting; excellence is contingent on the readiness to sacrifice; enduring joy can only emerge after passing through the crucible of aches, trials and sometimes, great suffering. There are multiple examples taken from nature to back up this proposition. A tree does not just spring into existence without having to pass through various stages of growth, from seed to sapling, from the first leaf to sprouting branches, and finally producing its first flower from which the first fruit would emerge. Everything of value takes time and when it finally bears fruit, there is a realisation that it was worth the waiting. Unfortunately, waiting is not popular in today’s society which is driven by an obsessive attitude of instant-gratification. In an “instant” culture, waiting can seem unbearable, almost “hellish”. Waiting, therefore, requires a maturity that many of us do not possess. Children want instant gratification. Adults should learn to wait.

The Church’s liturgy helps us to understand that there is a sacred dimension to waiting. In Advent, the Church takes on a very counter-cultural stance. We don’t turn our days of waiting prematurely into the commercial Christmas that surrounds us. We take seriously the importance of learning the art of waiting in joyful hope, prayer and spiritual preparation. This waiting is far from empty. It fosters self-denial, a spirit of sacrifice, repentance, prayer and learning to trust in God’s providence. In this time of pandemic, Advent is the perfect season to assuage our fears and impatience. It teaches us to wait upon the Lord, for as the prophet Isaiah assures us “those who hope (wait upon) the Lord will regain their strength…” (Isaiah 40:31).

Advent is also a season of watching. In the gospel, our Lord calls us to sober watchfulness: “Be on your guard, stay awake.” This is what we hear in the First Advent Preface: “Now we watch for the day, hoping that the salvation promised us will be ours, when Christ our Lord will come again in his glory.” Watching is not just a major theme for Advent but also a major theme in scriptures. Our Lord frequently warns us to be alert and to watch, because we do not know when He will return. There is a double sense of His coming. At some unknown time, perhaps soon, He will return and we must be alert and watchful, our lamps burning, ready to give an account. But even more urgent is the fact that probably much sooner, He will call each of us to Himself as we pass over into eternity. We are then, in the words of Paul, to avoid the works of darkness and to watch and be sober (see 1 Thess 5:6 and Rom 13:11-14).

We watch for we know not the day and the hour of the Lord’s coming. We watch because we must be constantly on guard against temptation and sin. We watch in prayer, because prayer is the only antidote and defence we have against the power of Satan. To watch means to enter into the mystery of Christ’s passion and death. Notice that in the parable of our Lord, four specific times are mentioned: “evening, midnight, cockcrow and dawn.” These are the names used for the four “watches” between 6 pm and 6 am. Although, the Hebrew tradition counted three watches, the Romans divided their night into four segments. Interestingly, these four hours also correspond to the four hours of our Lord’s Passion, the evening of the Last Supper, the midnight at the Garden of Gethsemane, the cockcrow at the moment of Peter’s denial and the dawn of His trial and subsequently His resurrection. It is as if we are plunged into a long night that only breaks into dawn on Easter morning. We would have missed the most important event in human history and the climax of salvation history, if we fail to be watchful.

This leads us to the third thing we must do – we are called to give witness. St Paul commends the Corinthians in the second reading because they were filled with enthusiasm, richly endowed with the Holy Spirit and “the witness to Christ has indeed been strong among” them as they awaited the return of the Lord. Advent may be a season of waiting but not idle waiting. Advent should always be an opportunity to shape our faith, inculcate patience in waiting, and sharpen our vigilance. It is anything but a season of stagnation and passivity. On the contrary, Advent is a season where Christians must go to work and much work has to be done before Christ returns.  We recall the parable of the talents where we are invited to imitate the example of the first two industrious servants and avoid the folly of the third servant who was idle. Likewise, Christians must take this opportunity between our Lord’s first coming and His second coming, to witness to God’s mercy and grace, and be committed to working for the salvation of souls.

The message of Advent challenges our impatience, and heals our frustration and anxiety. We’re called to wait with greater calmness, to watch with greater vigilance, to witness with greater resolve, and finally, to live with greater hope. So, we wait not like a lost ship at sea seeking a distant port, but as God’s people already comforted by the knowledge that we have a permanent and eternal home. We wait with not so much idly for a “second coming,” but for signs of the Risen Lord who is already in our midst and who calls us to cooperate in completing His work of salvation: “Wait with Hope! Watch with Vigilance! Witness with Courage!”