Do we Lead or do we Follow?

Next Sunday's gospel plunges us into the heart of Advent: "Watch out! Stay awake! Take Heed!" If the purple vestments and the sudden appearance of the Advent wreath don't get our attention, these imperatives will surely pull us up short.

For most of us, the warnings fit right in with the seasonal alarms in the secular media: "Only four weeks till Christmas!" "Lay-away!" "Shop early!"

It's not just the marketers, it's party-goers, liturgy planners, and college students who all have deadlines this month. So, the news from Jesus fits right in: The end is near.

You might expect the Gospels of Advent to tell the events leading up to the birth of Christ. After all, that's what the season is supposed to do. However, today's reading comes from chapter 13 in Mark. It's the last saying of Jesus before the beginning of the Passion. It had nothing to do with Christmas.

There are reasons for this. First of all, Advent begins a new liturgical year, now featuring year B of the lectionary cycle. (The Sunday scriptures follow a three-year cycle.) The Gospel that dominates this new year is Mark. Mark, the oldest of the four Gospels, is also the shortest. It recounts the bare bones essentials about Jesus' life and death, but not the story of Jesus' birth. No annunciation, no angels, no oxen, no shepherds, no manger, no Bethlehem. Chapter one brings us right into the desert with John the Baptist and the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. So, one reason we don't hear stories leading up to the birth of Jesus this week is that Mark just doesn't have any.

The other reason is that the first Sunday of Advent never does start the story of Jesus' birth. Rather, it introduces his return. Even during lectionary years A and C, which feature Matthew and Luke, both of whom tell the Christmas story in wonderfully romantic detail, we still spend the first Sunday of Advent thinking ahead -- way beyond Christmas, and on to the second coming of Christ. Advent does not merely tidy up the manger; it prepares for Christ's coming in our own day.

Mark's telling of Jesus' parable (13:33-37) sent a message to his contemporary community. The early disciples assumed Jesus would return quickly. So they needed to remember this saying of Jesus: "Stay awake! Don't get lax! Keep the faith! Don't be discouraged!" The master of the house who has gone on a journey is no ordinary master: It's Jesus, going now on his journey to eternity with the Father. He promises to return, but nobody knows when. Not even Jesus.

When Jesus encourages his disciples to stay awake, he details for them four different times the master (Jesus) may return: in the evening, at midnight, at cock-crow, or in the morning. These represent the four watches of the Roman night. They also correspond to four moments of the Passion that is to follow: The Last Supper, the general time Jesus predicts Peter's denial, the crowing of the cock to announce the denial, and the handing over of Jesus to Pilate. The powers of darkness raged during the four watches of the night; the servants of the master did not stay awake. The whole theme of "staying awake," is a hallmark of Jesus' visit to Gethsemani, where he prays while his closest friends fall asleep.

Next Sunday's Gospel invites us into a deep reflection on the importance of staying alert to the Christian way of life. As Christmas approaches, is this a time when we celebrate the real meaning of life, or find it obscured by the holiday hassle?

As members of the Christian community, how do we keep our faith alive? Do we take time for education, prayer, spiritual conversation? Are we shaking off sleep and staying attentive to the Gospel -- especially at Mass?

Do we find our Christian faith at the mercy of society? Are we the leaders we thought we'd be -- as parents, educators, spouses, new Christians? Or are we so shrouded with the darkness of this world's temptations that we sleep to the Christmas message?

So many wars throughout the world today spring from religious motives. Have the combatants fallen asleep to their faith? Have we?

Advent sounds an alarm for us. Those who stay awake will avoid the shallow celebrations of Christmas that focus too much on gift-giving and too little on self-giving, too much on materialism and not enough on the spiritual life. Mark 13 reminds us there's much more to Christmas than the manger. It inaugurates the Christian way of life we strive to follow whenever the master may suddenly return.

[This article first appeared in The Catholic Key, November 21, 1993. p. 15.]