First Sunday of Advent Yr A 2025

Title

Church, State, and Eschatology

Outline

I was listening to a podcast on the secular order and the Church

While, when the secular order is not dominated by a faith, it is sometimes in a relationship of separation from the Church, as in the USA, it is and has been often in a conflictual relationship to the Church, as in France in modern times, and can desire to eliminate it. Whatever the present relationship, the Church is called to live now in the future domination of our Lord and Savior.

The first centuries of the Church found it living Isaiah’s vision

The state around them was involved in war, indeed much war, but the Church lived without swords or spears or training for war, anticipating the time when the world would also do likewise and come streaming to the Lord’s new Temple in a new Jerusalem, which we know is Christ himself. So Hegessipus says soldiers can be accepted as baptismal candidates so long as they do not kill, but those “wearing the purple” cannot be accepted until they leave office. This changed about the time of Ambrose and Augustine with the “barbarian” invasions, but even then Christians could only fight just wars and these were defensive. Priests and religious must still observe the earlier standard.

Jesus tells us that the coming of the Son of Man will be unexpected and violent

He pictures normal life going on with no one suspecting the eschatological event. Two of each sex will be doing normal jobs and one will be killed (taken as in the OT) and the other left. Whether this is killed by the judgment of the divine coming or killed by hostile forces as in the Roman conquest of Jerusalem is not said, but it will be unexpected. Therefore, we can never let down our guard: “stay awake!” Our Lord may come at any moment.

Paul tells us what this staying awake looks like

We do not know the time of Jesus’ coming, but we know the hour that lasts from the resurrection until that time: it is “the hour now for you to awake from sleep.” What does it mean to do this? “Let us then throw off the works of darkness [and] put on the armor of light.” Throw off vices (Paul lists 6) and “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” That is, make the Lord Jesus Christ you model.

That is an appropriate start to Advent

No one except Mary and Joseph were expecting Jesus’ coming (and they did not know the day or the hour). Only some shepherds and some magi were awake at night and so experienced the announcement. Most slept and went about normal life not knowing anything had happened.

So the world, even many in the Church, is by and large asleep to Jesus now. Others are trying to calculate the day and hour and so are equally asleep. But if we are awake to the reality of Jesus as Lord and are actively engaged in “putting him on,” i.e. increasing in his virtue and in oneness with him, we are dressed and ready.

Amen, so be it, “Come, Lord Jesus.”