The time to awaken: Is 2, Rom 13, and the vigilance of the first Sunday of Advent year A

Hora est iam nos de somno surgere.
Rom 13,11

The first Sunday of Advent in Year A opens the new liturgical year with three texts that converge on the urgency of vigilance. Is 2:1-5 proclaims that in the last days, the mountain of the Lord will be established on top of all mountains, all nations will flock to it, and God will arbitrate among the peoples: swords shall be forged into plowshares. Rom 13:11-14 announces that the time has already come for us to rise from sleep: the night has passed, the day is near, it is time to cast off the works of darkness and clothe ourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ. Mt 24:37-44 recalls Noah’s days and exhorts to vigilance: the Son of Man will come like a thief in the night, and we do not know the day or hour.

I. The first reading: Is 2:1-5

Isaiah sees in the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple established on top of all mountains and raised above all hills (Is 2:2). All nations will flock to it, all peoples will come in pilgrimage. And they will say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob. There he will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths” (v.3). From Zion shall go forth the law, and from Jerusalem shall come the word of the Lord. He will judge between nations and decide for many peoples: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks” (v.4). No nation shall raise sword against nation, nor shall they learn war no more. And the final invitation: “House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord” (v.5). Isaiah does not describe a present reality but a future that already demands a present response. The mountain image is eschatological: the universe’s center of gravity will shift to the mountain of the Lord, and nations currently at war will pilgrimage to learn peace. Advent begins with this broad vision: the coming we await is not merely a private devotion event but the transformation of history.

II. The second reading: Rom 13:11-14

Paul addresses the Romans with urgency: “Know what time it is; it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep” (Rom 13:11a). The reason: “For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (v.11b). Time is growing shorter: “The night is almost over, and the day is near” (v.12a). The practical response is double: “Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (v.12b). Concrete behavior: walk decently, not in drunkeness or debauchery, not in quarrels or jealousy (v.13). And the foundation: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (v.14a). The metaphor of clothing is baptismal: the Christian who “puts on Christ” becomes what he clothes himself in. Paul articulates the Advent paradox: salvation has not yet fully arrived, but the appropriate behavior is that of one who has already arrived at daybreak. The Christian lives on the threshold, halfway between night passing and day coming.

III. The gospel: Mt 24:37-44

## Jesus and the Image of Noah’s Flood

Jesus employs the narrative of the days of Noah to describe the coming of the Son of Man. Before the flood, they ate, drank, married, and had children, unaware until Noah entered the ark and it was too late (Mt 24:38-39). The indifference of Noah’s contemporaries was not malice but distraction, an inability to recognize the moment. Two will be in the field; one will be taken, the other left (v.40). Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, the other left (v.41). The distinction is subtle and invisible; they are both in the same field, doing the same work. What distinguishes them is their inner vigilance. “Therefore, keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (v.42). The image of the thief: if the homeowner knew the exact hour the thief would come, he would be alert (v.43). “So too, you must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect it” (v.44). Matthew places the Advent under the sign of unpredictability: it is not anxiety that prepares for the encounter but constant vigilance, which is the disposition of one who is always ready.

## Mary and Vigilance in Advent

The vigilance demanded by Matthew (Mt 24) and formulated by Romans as “getting up from sleep” (Rom 13) finds its most perfect icon in Mary. The Announcement is the moment when the Son of Man arrives at an hour no one expected: not the priests, scribes, or Pharisees, but a young woman from Nazareth, who was awake. Isaiah describes the mountain of the Lord where all nations gather; in the tradition of the Fathers, Mary is the living Zion, the mountain inhabited by the Lord who came to the world not in a temple but in a womb. The Advent liturgy sings of her as the one who welcomed the Word before anyone else, as the beginning of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (Is 2:14-20). Romans urges, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 13:12). Mary clothed Christ in humanity; she wove him in her flesh, and more literally, “put on Christ” by carrying him for nine months. Advent is the preparation for Christmas that she experienced from within. Every believer awaiting the Lord’s coming learns from Mary what active vigilance is: not anxiety that fades at the slightest sign of delay, but serene availability, saying “let it be” before understanding everything.