First Sunday of Advent, Year A Mt 24,29-44

In many professions, it is important to be alert and focused. For example, a soldier on guard duty must listen and look carefully so that the enemy does not catch him by surprise. Similarly, an athlete must concentrate before a competition to give their all and win their event. A fisherman watches quietly, trying to work out which bait will be effective today. All of this is done for a small profit or a bigger trophy. So, what must a person do to obtain the laurel wreath of eternal glory? Should they try less hard or be less alert? Working with people is demanding, and raising children is invaluable. Even if it sometimes seems that they are not listening, at some point we will discover that they are. Children can use various myths and half-truths. 

Before Christmas, Misha prays and then shouts, “Jesus, bring me a bicycle!” ‘Jesus, bring me a bicycle!’ ‘Jesus isn’t deaf,’ his sister tells him. ‘He doesn’t, but Grandpa does!’ Another boy threatens his father: ‘If you touch my ears one more time, I’ll run away from home!’ “Where would you go?” ‘I’ll go back to the stork.’ Let’s try to be truthful and believable in our upbringing and opinions, and appropriate to our age. We are all walking on Calvary, but are we heading towards life or death? It depends on whether we carry a cross, nails, or a hammer. This world wants achievements; it needs victories because it needs profits. But spiritually, even if our efforts are fruitless, we do not lose the opportunity to gain merit. We only lose the opportunity to boast. Instead, we are given the opportunity to learn patience and to accept God’s will.

One Jewish scholar was very familiar with the Old Testament and all Jewish traditions. According to him, the rabbis had collected 456 prophecies concerning the Messiah, or Christ, who was to be born and establish a New Covenant with humanity. Let’s assume that the likelihood of each prophecy fulfilling solely by chance is the same. Regarding the location of his birth, for example, the probability would be one in a hundred. If two prophecies were to be fulfilled, the probability would be one in a thousand. If all the prophecies about Christ were to be fulfilled at a given time and place, the probability would be one in 84 followed by 126 zeros. There are billions of possibilities, and yet they all came true. Let those who want to understand, understand.

Hell and heaven are not far apart, and man is a weak and deceitful creature. Let us imagine a beautiful day. Birds sing, meadows bloom, and the waters of the lake reflect the mountains, as if nature reflects the divine power of the Creator. Suddenly, a man appears in this undisturbed scene and goes to the pond where the fish live. He catches a fish and puts it on dry land. How do you think the fish feels? It must feel like hell, yet heaven is so close. The fish was created to live in water, so any environment outside of it feels like hell. Similarly, we were created to live with God. We will be with Him in Heaven because Heaven is where God is. As St Augustine wrote, ‘Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.’

How many fish die in this world? And how many are caught and deceived? Many die as a result of disasters and harmful environments, and conservationists are sounding the alarm. But how many people will fall victim to the same traps without anyone sounding the alarm? Do we value eternity? Do we believe in atheism and want to live forever in this world? In a spiritual conversation, a boy asks a priest how he would put on a shirt over his wings if he were an angel. If you’re in hell, you should worry about how to cap your horns!

Let us learn to live in friendship with God so that nothing surprises us, after all, heaven begins here on earth, and Jesus’ words to the thief on the cross confirm the existence of heaven: “Today you will be with me in paradise,” and he (Jesus) never lied.