In Advent, how is there a gospel reading when Jesus isn’t born?
We always have a Gospel. There is no such thing as Mass without reading the Gospel. We could also ask, “How can we receive the Eucharist during Advent when Jesus (in this liturgical season) is not yet born?” It doesn’t work that way. When Jesus came, He became the center of all history. We make sense of the past, present, and future in light of Christ and His words and actions.
Yet, I see what you are saying that what we are remembering during Advent is the time waiting for Jesus to be born. I think the best way to answer this question is perhaps to just look at and summarize the Gospels for each of the Sundays of Advent this year to see the bigger picture. (By the way, we are now in year B in the Lectionary and we emphasize the Gospel of Mark.)
1st Sunday of Advent (Mk 13:33-37) – Jesus says, “Be watchful!”
2nd Sunday of Advent (Mk 1:1-8) – John the Baptist prepares the way of the Lord.
3rd Sunday of Advent (Jn 1:6-8, 19-28) – John the Baptist says, “There is one among you whom you do not recognize.”
4th Sunday of Advent (Lk 1:26-38) – The angel Gabriel tells Mary, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son.”
So, only one of the Gospels has Jesus directly in it: today, the first Sunday of Advent. The message is what is important. Jesus tells us what kind of attitude to have in Advent—watchful and ready. The rest of the Gospels of Advent build on this theme and also lay out some of the story before Christ’s emergence.
Something to point out also is that Advent is not simply remembering how the world waited for Jesus to be born. The word “Advent” is from Latin and means “coming.” Advent is a reminder to us today that Jesus will come again at the end of time. We need to be ready. Further, we need to be ready for Christ’s coming today, especially in the Eucharist! As Jesus said in the Gospel today, “May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.”
-Fr. Greg
If you would like submit a question, please write it out and place it in the “Ask a Priest” box in the vestibule or email me at frgreg@kc.rr.com.
