Advent invites us to reflect on the coming Christ, both on his first coming in Bethlehem and his second at the end of time. Of course there is the third coming, which is his presence with us every day, especially in the Eucharist. “And behold, I am with always, to the end of the world” (Matt. 28:20).
We have been remembering our departed loved ones during the month of November. At the beginning of Advent our attention is drawn again to endings, namely the final fulfilment of God’s plan. Jesus uses the imagery of Noah and the flood to point to the necessity of keeping ourselves focussed on God’s guiding light and not to be led astray by worldly distractions. St Paul expected the Second Coming to happen imminently and he warned his followers to lead good lives in preparation for the event.
God worked through his chosen people, the Jews, for many centuries. Mary and Joseph did not come out of nowhere but were descendants of many remarkable and unexpected people. Matthew writes in his genealogy of Tamar who bore a child to her father-in-law Judah, of Rahab who was a prostitute, of Ruth who faithfully followed her mother-in-law into a new land, and of Bathsheba who illicitly bore a child to David. This reminds us that God works in very unexpected ways and every day we need to be aware of his action in our everyday lives.