This first Sunday of Advent reminds that Christmas is just around the corner. We all have our hopes and aspirations for Christmas. This season of Advent waiting reminds us that everything is not quite right with our world. Our world is somewhat broken and needs fixing. The world is broken because it does not pay attention to the Lord or put him first. The only way to fix our broken world is to mend and repair it with Christ. Christ is the solution to our broken world! Jeremiah the prophet whom we read in the first reading today, was also living in a broken world[1]. In fact, he lived in pretty desperate times. He witnessed the Babylonians putting Jerusalem under siege and finally destroying it. He escaped with some of his fellow people down to Egypt. Yet despite all this destruction and chaos he was hopeful. In the first reading today, Jeremiah proclaimed to his fellow Jews that the Lord would fulfill the promise he had made[2]. What kind of promise? To make a righteous Branch grow up for David, to make a just Shoot grow up for David and that shoot will do what is right and just in the land. This means Jeremiah believes God will fulfill his promise to provide offspring for King David. But David had been king centuries before Jeremiah and Jeremiah in his own time saw the monarchy coming to an end right before his eyes when Jerusalem was destroyed and there was never again a king in Jerusalem. So, what could Jeremiah possibly mean that God would fulfill his promise to provide offspring for King David? Jeremiah was talking about Jesus, the Messiah. David was of the tribe of Judah and Jesus also was of the tribe of Judah. Jesus would be the answer to all the Jewish hopes of the Old Testament. Not only did Jeremiah foresee that God’s promise of Jesus would be fulfilled, but as we heard in the reading, Jeremiah also said the city of Jerusalem would be called, “The Lord is our justice.” Very often the prophets refer to a future glorious Jerusalem and they mean the Church of the New Testament[3]. So even though the city was attacked Jeremiah said God will send Jesus, and instead of this destroyed city being our home our future home will be the Church. Jeremiah saw that the answer to the chaos of his time was Jesus and that our future home would be the Church! Isn’t wonderful? Jeremiah looked to the future, to Christ. We too during Advent look to the future, and during this early part of Advent our liturgy looks forward to the Second Coming of Christ. Jesus himself talks about his Second Coming in the Gospel today[4], and he warns us to be vigilant[5]. There is really only one gift at Christmas and that gift is Jesus coming to us. What better gift can we give to Jesus at Christmas than to have lived Advent in union with him? What better gift can we give to Jesus at Christmas than to have removed from our lives this Advent anything and everything that keeps us apart from him? What better gift can we give Jesus at Christmas than to be able to say to him, “Lord, during Advent I reformed my life because I love you”? If there is anything therefore in our lives that is not pleasing to Jesus, we can use this time of Advent to break with sin and leave sin behind so that we can stay awake and pray waiting for Jesus. We want to give Jesus this gift of our lives because just as Jeremiah looked to Jesus as God’s promise we also look to Jesus this Advent as God’s promise in our lives • AE

Todos vivimos con la mirada puesta en el futuro. Siempre pensando en lo que nos espera. Y no sólo eso: andamos buscando algo mejor, una seguridad, un bienestar mayor. Queremos que todo nos vaya bien y, si es posible, que nos vaya mejor. Es esa confianza básica la que nos sostiene en el trabajo y los esfuerzos de cada día. Por eso, cuando la esperanza se apaga, se apaga también la vida. La persona ya no crece, no busca, no lucha. Al contrario, se empequeñece, se hunde, se deja llevar por los acontecimientos. Si se pierde la esperanza, se pierde todo. Por eso, lo primero que hay que cuidar siempre en el corazón de la persona, en el seno de la sociedad o en la relación con Dios es la esperanza. La esperanza no consiste en la reacción eufórica y optimista de un momento. Es más bien una forma de vivir, una manera de afrontar el futuro de forma positiva y confiada, sin dejarnos atrapar por la tristeza. El futuro puede ser más o menos favorable, pero lo propio del hombre de esperanza es su actitud positiva, su deseo de vivir y de luchar, su postura decidida y confiada. No siempre es fácil. La esperanza hay que trabajarla. Lo primero es mirar hacia adelante. No quedarse en lo que ya pasó. No vivir sólo de recuerdos y nostalgias. No quedarse añorando un pasado tal vez más dichoso, más seguro o menos problemático. Es ahora cuando hemos de vivir afrontando el futuro de manera positiva y esperanzada. La esperanza no es una actitud pasiva sino más bien un estímulo que impulsa a la acción. Quien vive animado por la esperanza no cae en la tristeza. Al contrario, se esfuerza por transformar la realidad y hacerla mejor. Quien vive con esperanza es realista, asume los problemas y las dificultades, pero lo hace de manera creativa dando pasos, buscando soluciones y contagiando confianza. La esperanza no se sostiene en el aire. Tiene sus raíces en la vida. Los cristianos vivimos de pequeñas esperanzas que se van cumpliendo o se van frustrando. Hemos de valorar y cuidar esas pequeñas esperanzas, pero el ser humano necesita una esperanza más radical e indestructible, que se pueda sostener cuando toda otra esperanza se hunde. Así es la esperanza en Dios, último salvador del hombre. Cuando caminamos con el corazón desalentado, hemos de detenernos un momento y recordar las palabras del Señor que acabamos de escuchar en la proclamación del evangelio: «Levanten la cabeza, porque se acerca la hora de su liberación»[1] • AE