So today it is either the First, or Third, or even Fourth Sunday of Advent depending on what Rite one is following .(If that confused you, feel free to catch up at this link: When Does Advent Really Start?) The readings today (check here: 1 Advent) all point to the closeness of the day when the LORD God will bring all human strife to an end and the one whose Kingship we celebrated last week will have undisputed rule over the cosmos. The warning given, however, is that the year/month/week/day/hour/minute/second is not known to anyone except God the Father Himself, so it behooves us not to let our vigilance wane or our watchfulness get sloppy.
It sounds quite exhausting when one thinks about it, right?
The sad fact of the matter, to which Isaiah hints with the Word of the Lord dismantling weaponry, to which St. Paul blatantly points out, is that Evil never sleeps. Being the absence of Good, the antithesis of Life, and the concept embodying chaos and nothingness, it really does not need to sleep. What it does need is for Good to switch off in order for its effects to be felt. Evil does not really exist, but it is evident in the effects of not doing what is good. A lack of watchfulness, of care, of attention allows it, or rather its effects, to flourish. This is why the Scriptures encourage us always to stay awake and aware, ever mindful of God and cognizant of the effects of our action and inaction. Indeed, we do not know when God will come and make good on His promises, but if we are not mindful of the Good, then we are letting in the Evil. Not exactly how we want to be found at the last moment. So let us be watchful, be vigilant, and ready for whenever God should usher in His Kingdom. At the very least the place will be better around us NOW instead of putting it off until THEN.