By Father Andrew Kelly
Advent celebrates the coming of God into the most ordinary human experiences. God becomes flesh (incarnated) and is discovered in these very experiences. This is where Christ is born, is present and will come again.
Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 24:37-44) refers to ordinary images of human beings doing ordinary things of life when God is encountered: “…they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage…” Amazing! A moment of Advent!
The problem was the people did not see, or even believe in the possibility that a God could be so present in such ordinary events of human life.
Men were working in a field. Women were grinding grain at a mill. God is encountered. Amazing! A moment of Advent! Again those taken saw and believed in the possibility of God being so present. Those left behind did not see or believe in the possibility.
What is Advent all about? In all the ordinary events and experiences of any given day, whether they are joyful or tragic, Christ is totally born into, is present and will come again.
What is the believer’s Advent task? “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
