First Sunday of Advent
​"‘You must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming
at an hour you do not expect.’"
QR Code for Readings at Mass
By scanning this with your phone, you will be able to access each of the Mass Readings for today.
Today marks the beginning of the new liturgical year and the season of Advent, a time of watching and waiting, of longing and preparation for the Lord.
Isaiah (First Reading) presents his vision of a peaceful world, where weapons of conflict are turned into tools to rebuild communities, as people grow together in God’s love.
The Psalm continues this prayer for peace and security, with a reminder to look to the Lord for guidance on how to live in unity, peace and joy.
In the Second Reading, Paul urges the Romans to wake up; to abandon thoughts and behaviour that keep God in the dark, and to live in the light of his love. He is direct and uncompromising, but reassuring that God’s salvation is as attainable as putting on new clothes.
The theme of awakening features again in the Gospel, as Jesus calls on people to ‘be ready’ for God’s salvation by living in love and faith. Jesus uses examples ranging from the dramatic events of Noah and the flood, the mundane image of workers in the field and at the mill, and the unexpected thieves breaking into a house.
All of these highlight that God is constantly inviting us to follow his example in all that we do.
As Pilgrims of Hope in this Jubilee year, we reflect on how we might cast off old habits that keep us in the dark and walk in the light and hope of God’s eternal love.
A moment to reflect....
The Lord gathers all nations together First Reading
For the sake of my family and friends, let me say, ‘Peace upon you’. Psalm
‘Stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.’ Gospel
Further Reflection
​​
​Gospel Matthew 24: 37–44
Matthew Chapter 24
At first sight, it might seem strange that the Church picked chapter 24 of the 28 chapters of St Matthew’s Gospel to begin this ‘Year of Matthew’, and the time of Advent. There are two possible explanations: One is that it provides continuity with the discourses on the end of time from the previous weeks (32–33 of Ordinary time). The second is that Advent looks forward to the coming of Christ in judgement – sometimes called the ‘Second Coming’, or Parousia.
The Son of Man This phrase, Aramaic in its origin, does not indicate a traditional father-son relationship; rather it is used to represent an individual member of the human species: ‘a human being’. It is found first in the prophet Daniel (7: 13– 14) in an apocalyptic vision, and Matthew uses it in connection with the Second Coming. The term emphasises the humanity of Jesus and his communion with us all.
Noah’s Days People at that time would have been very familiar with the story of Noah. However, what is at stake here is not eating, drinking and getting married (in themselves not sinful occupations), but the fact that people were not aware of what was happening around them.
One will be taken, and one left The one who is taken is the one God has chosen; the other, like the people around Noah, were going about their daily occupations, but had allowed their inner spirit to fall asleep. They had lost their sense of anticipation and vigilance. Similar images are found in other parts of Matthew’s Gospel, where Judgement is a major theme: the sheep and the goats; the wise and foolish virgins; the wheat and the chaff.
Time of the Coming The emphasis is on being ready and alert. Matthew’s readers had expected the Second Coming to happen very soon after Jesus’s death and resurrection, but as nothing materialised, they were starting to lose heart and go back to their old ways. Jesus is reminding them to be prepared at all times. Knowing the exact time in itself is not the important thing.
The thief Palestinian houses were often built of clay bricks; consequently they were relatively easy to break into.
​
An Introduction to St Matthew’s Gospel
Each year, the season of Advent marks the beginning of a new Church Year, and a new year in the three-year liturgical cycle. This year (2025–26) is Year A, when we read the Gospel according to Matthew on most Sundays.
Matthew, Mark and Luke are referred to as synoptic Gospels (from the Greek, ‘seeing together’), and they share more or less the same theology and vision of Jesus. (We read Mark in Year B and Luke in Year C)
Matthew’s Gospel usually heads the list. However, recent study has established that Matthew depended on Mark, and his Greek text cannot be a translation of an Aramaic original. Matthew perhaps dates from the years 80–90 since it makes reference to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in c. AD 70 and the form of Judaism reborn after that.
By the time of writing, Peter and Paul had both died and Christianity had spread and developed. It is generally agreed that Matthew was an educated Jewish Christian of the second generation, who knew Greek well. He was apparently writing for a Jewish audience, and so makes no attempt to explain Jewish customs.
His style is conversational, giving us a portrait of Jesus as the supreme Teacher. He writes excellent Greek but also refers constantly to Hebrew thought and poetry.
No other evangelist makes so much use of the Old Testament. Matthew probably lived outside Palestine, perhaps in Antioch in Syria, a town with a large Jewish population. His task as evangelist was a difficult and sensitive one, as he endeavoured to reconcile the Pharisees and the Nazarenes (as Jesus’s followers were called). These two surviving groups of the destruction of Jerusalem each represented a different strain of Judaism.
Matthew’s writings are sometimes called the ‘ecclesiastical’ Gospel, for he is the only evangelist to use the word ‘church’ (ekklÄ“sia), and his teaching shaped the Early Church. He gives us the first baptismal formula and the familiar form of the Lord’s Prayer.
Matthew’s traditional symbol is a man (sometimes with wings), perhaps because his Gospel begins with Christ’s genealogy. (In contrast, the other three evangelists are associated with animals.) Theologians of the Early Church, including St Irenaeus of Lyons (b. c. 120), identified the evangelists with the four ‘living creatures’ that surround God’s throne in Revelation 4: 7.
To aid our reflection on the Sunday readings each week we are reproducing, with permission, content from St. Bueno's Outreach. If you would like to know more about them or access their guided prayer resources, 'Prego', you can contact them via their website.​​​
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit ,reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen
​
Pope Francis, Jubilee Prayer