Wake Up: The First Sunday in Advent 2025

                                                                   Wake Up:

The First Sunday in Advent 2025 

November 30, 2025

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Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:37-44

 

In this First Sunday in Advent, we are asked to wait expectantly and to notice the deeper events that are happening beneath the surface. We are cautioned to read the signs of the times and prepare ourselves for the Lord’s presence. In the Letter to the Romans, we get a more urgent request from Saint Paul when he said, “You know the time: It is the hour for you to awake from sleep.” Paul was immanently expecting the return of Jesus and the arrival of the Day of Salvation. We, however, live in different times because we know already that we are saved. We are no longer children. The urgency to wake up remains. 

 

The Church and our society are changing quickly and we must adapt to the changing times. The person who adjusts well is one who learns how to manage change. Those who resist and try to hold onto what they know of the past struggle mightily. Sometimes people cannot comprehend why certain changes are taking place so they did in and refuse to accept reality, and they want the simpler life of times past. The vigilant person is the one who gets in front of the changes and helps guide others forward.

 

To wake up, we must get more active in our faith life and take responsibility for our own theological education. We can begin by seeking out those who can teach us how to pray, that is, how to develop a relationship with Jesus. The Church tells people they ought to pray and they do not actually teach people how to pray, other than falling back upon devotions. Those are worthy devotionals, but the type of prayer that most people need is conversational prayer with Christ. We want to get to know personally how Christ is relating to us and assuring us he is always present to us. Dialogue is not a one-time exchange of words. Dialogue is sustaining an ongoing maturing conversation about feelings, words, and movements. Dialogue means sharing who one is with Christ, who will also share who he is with us. It is a dynamic give-and-take as we come to understand one another better. Many people yearn for this relationship and are not taught how to engage thoughtfully.  

 

We also must ask the hard questions. It is important for us not to accept pious answers that do not satisfy. Our faith is confusing and we have to understand how to read Scripture, especially when events do not line up well. Even if a priest or a teacher gives a weak answer, know that a better answer exists for your question. We sometimes think that priests have all the answers. Continue to test the strength and accuracy of the assertion. Priests have differing interpretations. Test it against scripture and your maturing prayer. There is much to learn about our faith and it takes time and dedicated study.

 

Finally, lay out a plan of action for your life with God. Consider how you want to develop your moral and religious life and figure out how you will form your conscience better. Write down your list of questions that you want answered. Put down on paper the books on Scripture you want to understand better or part of church history that you want to understand. Let us know what you need to understand better. Write down how you want your prayer to develop and work out a plan with your spiritual director for your own growth. We are to wake up and be responsible for our own development.

 

We are at the beginning of a new Church year and we have a new opportunity to rise up and use all our resources to enhance our relationship with God. As we take these few steps forward, we find that we are helping others move closer to God. Our salvation is assured. Now, we must help others who seek God and let them know they have a home.

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

Monday: (Isaiah 4) On that day, the branch of the Lord will be luster and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor for the survivors of Israel.

 

Tuesday: (Isaiah 11) On that day, a shoot shall sprout from Jesse’s stump, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.

 

Wednesday: (Romans 9) If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

 

Thursday: (Isaiah 26) On that day, they will sing this song: A strong city we have to protect us. Open up the gates to let in a nation that is just, one that keeps faith.   

 

Friday (Isaiah 29) Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard into a forest. Out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The deaf shall hear.  

  

Saturday (Isaiah 30) O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem, no more will you weep.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Matthew 8) When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and said, “My servant is lying at home, paralyzed, suffering dreadfully. Come and cure him.”

 

Tuesday: (Luke 10) I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you had hidden these things from the learned and the wise, you have revealed them to the childlike.

 

Wednesday (Matthew 4) Jesus saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew, casting a net into the Sea of Galilee. He said to them, “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.”

 

Thursday (Matthew 7) Jesus said to his disciples: Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father.

 

Friday (Luke 21) Consider the fig tree. When their buds burst open, you see summer is near. Learn to read the signs of the times. All these things will pass away, but my words remain.

 

Saturday (Matthew 9) Jesus taught in all the towns and villages proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom. The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.

 

Saints of the Week

 

November 30: Andrew, apostle (first century) was a disciple of John the Baptist and the brother of Simon Peter. Both were fishermen from Bethsaida. He became one of the first disciples of Jesus. Little is known of Andrew's preaching after the resurrection. Tradition places him in Greece while Scotland has incredible devotion to the apostle.  

 

December 1: Edmund Campion, S.J., (1540- 1581), Robert Southwell, S.J., (1561-1595) martyrs, were English natives and Jesuit priests at a time when Catholics were persecuted in the country. Both men acknowledge Queen Elizabeth as monarch, but they refused to renounce their Catholic faith. They are among the 40 martyrs of England and Wales. Campion was killed in 1581 and Southwell’s death was 1595.

 

December 3: Francis Xavier, S.J., priest (1506-1552) was a founding members of the Jesuit order who was sent to the East Indies and Japan as a missionary. His preaching converted hundreds of thousands of converts to the faith. He died before reaching China. Xavier was a classmate of Peter Faber and Ignatius of Loyola at the University of Paris.

 

December 6: Nicholas, bishop (d. 350), lived in southwest Turkey and was imprisoned during the Diocletian persecution. He attended the Council of Nicaea in 324. Since there are many stories of his good deeds, generous charity, and remarkable pastoral care, his character became the foundation for the image of Santa Claus.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• November 30, 1642: The birth of Br Andrea Pozzo at Trent, who was called to Rome in 1681 to paint the flat ceiling of the church of San Ignacio so that it would look as though there were a dome above. There had been a plan for a dome but there was not money to build it. His work is still on view. 
• December 1, 1581: At Tyburn in London, Edmund Campion and Alexander Briant were martyred. 
• December 2, 1552: On the island of Sancian off the coast of China, Francis Xavier died. 
• December 3, 1563: At the Council of Trent, the Institute of the Society was approved. 
• December 4, 1870: The Roman College, appropriated by the Piedmontese government, was reopened as a Lyceum. The monogram of the Society over the main entrance was effaced. 
• December 5, 1584: By his bull Omnipotentis Dei, Pope Gregory XIII gave the title of Primaria to Our Lady's Sodality established in the Roman College in 1564, and empowered it to aggregate other similar sodalities. 
• December 6, 1618: In Naples, the Jesuits were blamed for proposing to the Viceroy that a solemn feast should be held in honor of the Immaculate Conception and that priests should make a public pledge defend the doctrine. This was regarded as a novelty not to be encouraged.