By Msgr. Joseph Prior • Posted December 2, 2024

(See the readings for the First Sunday of Advent)

David McCullough, the noted author and historian, had a plaque above his desk that read: “Look at your fish.” He explained the saying in an interview with The Paris Review. The phrase came from a noted Harvard scientist from the 19th century. When his new students arrived for their first day of class, he would pull an old smelly fish out of a jar and place it on a tin pan in front of the students and say, “Look at your fish.” Then he would leave.

The students were regularly puzzled. When he would come back and ask what they saw, the usual response was “not much.” Then he would leave again, and come back later. He would repeat this until someone could actually describe what they saw. It could take days. The students were encouraged to draw the fish but they could not use any tools for examining it.

As one story goes, a student finally had an insight. When asked what he saw, he replied “paired organs.” The professor got excited “of course, of course.” Then said to the class, “look at the fish.”  McCollough in recalling this story said, “Insight comes, more often than not from what’s been on the table all along, in front of everybody, rather than from discovering something new.”

Last week we finished one liturgical year and now we begin again. Our encounter is nothing new. Jesus has come and will come again. The season of Advent recalls these comings in reverse order. The beginning of the season concentrates on his return. As we get closer to Christmas the focus switches to remembering his first coming.

Yet all through the season we remember that he is here with us now. The invitation is to see something about God and his love that we may have not noticed before. The journey will take us deeper into the reality of God’s abiding love that is always present.

The Gospel for this Sunday has Jesus speaking about the end times when he will come back again. He will come in glory and power in his role as judge of the world. While disciples have to struggle in a world of values that conflict with the Kingdom, his victory, in the end, will be complete and the faithful will share in his triumph.

Jesus urges his disciples to faithfulness so that when he arrives as judge, they can, as he says: “stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.” The exhortation that follows is one of vigilance. He urges the disciples and us to, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.”

While there is certainly a future aspect to his teaching regarding his ultimate return, the emphasis is on the now, living in the present, being ready for his arrival.

The first reading speaks of the time of fulfillment when a shoot will sprout from the stump of Jesse. An heir to David will arise to take up his throne. Jesus is that heir, he is the King. The forward-looking prophecy points to the advent of Christ. He has come and will come again. He establishes justice through his passion, death and resurrection. His return will bring justice to its perfection.

The passage from Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians gives us the “how to” be vigilant as we await the Lord’s return. He urges us to love one another and everyone. In doing this we will be strengthened to be “blameless in holiness before our God and Father.” The holiness of life points to a dedication. Our lives are dedicated, set aside, for the Lord. Living in love of him and one another, in word and deed, manifests that holiness of life begun at baptism.

We have begun the new liturgical year as we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent. The message is nothing new; it has been around for over 2,000 years. This is the season to look at what’s been here all through our lives and to see things we have not seen before in the mystery of God’s inexhaustible love. It is a time of encounter — encountering the Lord of Life in the present as we keep vigil for his return.

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Msgr. Joseph Prior is pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish, Penndel, and a former professor of Sacred Scripture and rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.