Waiting in Hope!

Sunday, November 30, 2025

First Sunday of Advent

Is 2:1-5; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44

As we light the candle of hope on the first Sunday of Advent, the Day of the Lord invites us to blend ethical living with our hope.

The readings explain that awaiting the Lord’s coming should be coupled with an active, intentional, and transformative discipleship. 

The first reading combines hope for the future with ethical living. Isaiah’s vision underlines the elevated status of God’s house (Mount Zion/Jerusalem) as the spiritual centre of the world. The reading is home to the famous image of swords beaten into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks, which together symbolize not just the absence of war but also the transformation of it. However, we are called to understand that this miracle of true peace happens only when we submit ourselves to God’s will and walk in the light of God’s ways. Isaiah’s vision shows that God will indeed establish peace, though His people must already begin to live it in the here and now. The fractured world needs the witness of Christian ethical living to give glory to God.

The second reading illuminates the theme of the first reading as Paul demands an ethical living while preparing his followers for the imminent coming of the Lord. Paul’s command is earnest as he distinguishes between ‘night’ and ‘day,’ reminding Christians that they must behave like the people of the light and therefore walk in the light of God’s ways. For Paul, putting on the armour of light would mean to perceive the unbreakable connection between Christian identity and conduct and act on it. Our Christian identity is more enhanced by exemplary living. If we belong to Christ, we must live in a way consistent with our claim. Thus, for Paul, Christian hope is fused together with holiness and blamelessness.

The Gospel text about the end times is not meant to frighten us about unpredictability or separation. However, because we cannot predict the time of the Lord’s coming, instead of indulging in speculation, the disciples are invited to improve their present. In this way, the text both comforts and challenges us. It comforts us with the sureness of the Lord’s coming. But it does challenge us to live a life of moral uprightness. Hence, holiness becomes a precondition to receiving the Lord into our hearts and homes.

While the three readings are unanimous in emphasising an ethically upright living before the Day of the Lord, we are to ask ourselves what good is Christian hope as we await the Lord’s coming. 

The beauty of Christian hope is that it transcends mere optimism. It exhibits trust in God’s faithfulness by recalling the fulfilment of the Divine Promises in times of the past. In this respect, we light the first candle of hope because it marks the very beginning of our faith. Before we see, we trust. Before we celebrate, we anticipate. Before Christ is born in Bethlehem, he is conceived in our hearts.

Hope shapes how we await the Lord’s coming. By giving us purpose and direction, hope enlivens what is otherwise a mere waiting in restless emptiness. In this way, hope calls us to be vigilant, active, and change-oriented.

Pandora’s Box is a Greek myth in which Zeus gave the first woman, Pandora, a box and commanded her never to open it. But when curiosity got the better of her, she opened the box only to release all the evils and miseries of the world, such as sickness, hate, death, and sorrow. Realizing her mistake, she quickly closed the lid, and the one thing that was left inside was hope. The myth offers a rich symbolism to explain the human condition. As such, the significance of hope is that it empowers humanity to endure hardship, reminding us that, despite suffering, there is always the possibility of a better future.

If so, what is the role of hope before Christmas?

For Christians, the birth of the Lord is the fulfilment of God’s promises. We look forward to the coming of the Lord, who will deliver us from evil and help us live in peace and prosperity. 

Let us pray that we may overcome our moral complacency and await the Lord’s coming in an active and hopeful manner. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar