FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
November 30, 2025
REFLECTION ON TODAY'S READING
First Sunday of Advent
The Lord’s Day marks the beginning of a season of waiting and preparation for His coming.. That is why today He tells you: “Therefore, be prepared, for the Son of Man will come when you least expect him” (Mt 24:42).
Wait for the Lord, and nourish this waiting during the season of Advent. Open your heart so that He may dwell in it with your limitations, poverty, and difficulties.
With this prayer of offering, pray for those who are tempted by suicidal thoughts, that this Advent may be for them an announcement of His coming that saves forever.
Under the directive from the Diocese of Honolulu
St. Joseph Church has set up an egiving program to allow parishioners and guests an easier way to give. It will also allow the donors to: 1. Give from anywhere using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. 2. No need to find a check or stop by the ATM. 3. Use your Checking/Savings Account or your Debit/Credit Card. 4. Schedule gifts to occur automatically. Click on the give now link or on your phone using my parish app. “All must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 16:17
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Saint Joseph Church Makawao - Bulletin
The Gospel Reading, Matthew 24:37-44
Jesus tells his disciples that the coming of the Son of Man will catch many people unprepared. Jesus tells his disciples that they are to always be ready for the day of the Lord.
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, which is also the first Sunday of a new liturgical year for the Church. The Advent season includes the four Sundays that precede Christmas. It is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. In this season, we recall two central elements of our faith: the final coming of the Lord in glory and the incarnation of the Lord in the birth of Jesus. Key themes of the Advent season are watchful waiting, preparation, and justice.
In this new liturgical year, the Gospel of Matthew will be the primary Gospel proclaimed (Lectionary Cycle A). In today's Gospel, we hear Jesus speak about the need for wakefulness, for watchful waiting, for the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew's Gospel is dated by most scholars after 70 A.D. Most believe that Matthew wrote for a primarily Jewish community, but one that was no longer centered on the Temple in Jerusalem. These were Jewish Christians trying to come to terms with their relationship to Judaism in a new situation: Judaism after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. There may have been Christians who believed that the events of the world around them gave evidence of the imminent return of the Lord in glory.
The passage from Matthew we read today is rather straightforward. No one knows the precise time of the coming of the Lord in glory, so watchful waiting and vigilance are required. The passage speaks to the uselessness of looking for signs; there will be none. As a thief sneaks in during the night, so will the Lord's coming in glory be.
The question for us as members of the Christian community, then, is how do we prepare for this? Today's passage speaks more about the manner of waiting, rather than the details of the preparation. Jesus compares the vigilance required of Christians to the vigilance of a homeowner who knows the plans of the thief. If one knows that the thief's action is imminent, one remains watchful. As Christians, we know that our Lord is coming even if we cannot know the precise timing. Jesus calls us to be watchful and vigilant, like the homeowner. If we become lax in our Christian living, we may be caught unprepared.
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(https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/liturgical-year/sunday-connection )
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A STEWARDSHIP MOMENT
On this first Sunday of Advent Jesus urges his disciples to stay awake and prepare themselves for the Lord’s coming. Good stewards prepare themselves and await Christ’s judgment in joyous expectation. This attitude requires genuine spiritual maturity, of course; the kind that is cultivated by prayer, participation in the sacraments, loving attention to family and one’s communion of faith, and love for one’s neighbor. Are we prepared for the Lord’s second coming? Are we ready to receive Christ? Are we ready to look joyously for Christ’s judgment?
—— (https://catholicstewardship.com/)
EUCHARISTIC ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
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