Adventum

It is the start of Advent, and today's readings point to a preparation for the coming of Christ. In today's readings we have a most ominous outlook of the coming of the Son of Man. One where some will be taken and others left. Where do we find our assurance for the future? We cannot find assurance unless we look to Christ. If we don't live each day as it could be our last and prepare each day to be our last here, then we are not ready for the "thief in the night."

Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into. ~ Matthew 24:43

So what if we could know when the thief was coming? When we would be tempted away from the assurance of Christ? We already do. It's our conscience, which the 1965 pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes explains as the following:

In the depths of his conscience, man detects a law which he does not impose upon himself, but which holds him to obedience. Always summoning him to love good and avoid evil, the voice of conscience when necessary speaks to his heart: do this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law written by God; to obey it is the very dignity of man; according to it he will be judged. Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God, Whose voice echoes in his depths. ~ Gaudium et Spes, par. 16

Let us prepare for the coming of Christ in our hearts and for when the end of ages comes.

Today's readings:
First Sunday of Advent
First: Is 2:1-5
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Second: Rom 13:11-14
Gospel: Mt 24:37-44