The world sleeps, but God is already on his way towards us
Therefore you too be ready because, at an hour you do not imagine, the Son of man is coming Matthew 24,44
The season of Advent, which begins today, is the time of the coming – the word itself means “someone or something that is about to come” – and reminds us of the value of waiting and hope. But what is on the horizon of our existence? Where is the story going? What will become of the world and of us when our story marked by precise limits of time and space comes to an end? These are questions that we often prefer to evadeso as not to disturb the fragile quiet of the present. There is no shortage of prophets of doom, who announce futures full of fears and catastrophes. What seems to be missing instead it is a collective consciousness of the futurean interior breath capable of looking beyond today, expanding the horizon of hope.
Even we Christians, sometimes, seem to have lost the expectation, as if faith no longer had anything to desire. Yet, authentic faith lives on a promised future: a future that is neither uncertain nor dark, but which has a name and a face: Jesus Christ, the Lord who comes. Advent invites us to rekindle the wait, to remember that history is not a journey towards nowhere, but towards a meeting. He has already come in our flesh, he comes today in the signs of his presence – in the Word, in the Eucharist, in the poor, in the life that is reborn – and he will come in glory, when everything will be accomplished and God will be all in all.
The Gospel passage (Matthew 24,37-44) contains a short exhortative passage to make people reflect on the need to stay awake and recognize the presence of the Lord. It recalls the episode of Noah and the flood, together with the image of the nocturnal thief: two scenes that evoke a sudden, unexpected event, capable of catch the man off guard. Noah’s contemporaries and the distracted landlord are united by the same carefreeness: they live immersed in their occupations, but without thought, without looking at the future, without attention to the profound meaning of life. So busy with a thousand daily tasks, they don’t notice anything: the flood arrives and overwhelms them. When they open their eyes it’s too late. Like that owner who takes precautions only after thieves have burgled his house. «We should have thought about it first», we would say. And this is precisely the heart of Jesus’ exhortation, which Matthew repeats to his community and also to us today: «So keep watchbecause you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42).
Watching means living with faith and hope. It is believing that God does not abandon us, but accompanies us and guards us in every circumstance, even in the most difficult trials. Those who are awake know that, like Noah in the flood, it’s safe inside the ark of God’s trust and love. Furthermore, keeping watch does not mean thinking only of oneself, but knowing how to look at those who live next to us. Many live peacefully without worrying about God, and this questions us: why disturb calm consciences? To speak or to remain silent? There is no need to argue or convince. Only those who have experienced the goodness of God can testify with sincerity. Anyone who has known the joy of the Gospel knows that there is a deeper peace of every success or pleasure. We are asked to radiate this joy, showing that the God who judges is first and foremost the God who loves, the Good Shepherd who walks beside us.
With him by our side, there is nothing to fear: neither death, nor pain, nor the future.
