Brian’s Reflection: Saturday, December 1, 2007



Understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what
part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake
and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must
be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

- From the version of the Good News called “Matthew”


The “Unexpected hour” is not in the time-space continuum - if I may sound a little star-trekkie. Matthew’s Jesus does not say these words so that we spend our lives furtively looking around in anxiety and fear for what might spring unexpectedly upon us. Matthew’s Jesus says these words for one reason only: so that we actively live every moment understanding that we are in the presence of the Source of Life we call “God”.

The “coming of the Son of Man” is not a straight line. It is a continuous loop. This is what we are proclaiming in the Eucharistic Liturgy when we say, “Christ has died, Christ is risen; Christ will come again”. We are saying, God, keep pouring out your life for us; God, keep lifting us out of death into life; God, keep us living in the eternal present of your Presence. Past, present, future collapse into One Reality. Now. The Moment.

For Christians, Advent is the Season of moment by moment expectation that Life has captured us. That we are in the swirl of Compassion, Justice, Joy, Peace, Generosity of Self, Graciousness of being blessed.

“Do not be anxious”. The “hour” is now - calling us to be our true, our divine, Selves.

Brian+