Today we begin the journey towards Christmas. The reading from Jeremiah reminds us of the long wait of the chosen people for the coming of the Messiah. The genealogies at the beginning of Matthew and Luke’s gospels should remind us of this. Jeremiah, who lived in a time of turbulence and has been described as the “Weeping Prophet”, gives a message full of hope and expectation. The gospel draws our attention to the second coming of Christ, similar to the extract we read from Mark last Sunday. We seem to be asked to reflect on the fulfilment of God’s plan at the end of time, which appears to happen in a dramatic setting. In contrast, the birth of the Messiah, which the Jewish people had longed for, came very quietly. The expectation was that he would come in splendour like his ancestor David. However, the great event, when God became incarnate, was hardly noticed. Few people seem to have realised what had happened. Elizabeth rejoiced when she was inspired to recognise Mary as the mother of the Saviour and her son, John the Baptist, prophesied his coming. Other than these it was only the shepherds, the magi and Simeon and Anna that seem to have been aware that something stupendous had come about. God does the unexpected. For this reason we are constantly reminded in scripture to be alert and watchful.
Perhaps at the beginning of Advent we are being invited to take a look at God’s overall plan, in viewing both the first coming and the second. We must also remember that, although we await the coming of the Nativity, Jesus has a continuous presence with us as he promised.