(First Sunday of Advent (A): This homily was given on
November 30, 2025 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani. Read Romans 13:11-14; Matthew
24:37-44.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: First Sunday of Advent 2025]
What is “it”?
See if you can figure out what “it” is. (It really shouldn’t be too difficult.)
- We all have it.
- We all live in it.
- We all use it—but we also misuse it.
- We sometimes take it for granted.
- We work in it.
- We play in it.
- We never seem to have enough of it.
- We can’t stop it or move it along more quickly, even
if we’d like to.
- We all waste at least some of it.
- And at the end of our lives, we will have unequal
amounts of it. You may end up with
more of it than I end up with; I may end up with more of it than you end
up with (there’s no guarantee one way or the other).
So—what is “it”?
It, of course, is “time”.
On that note, the message of today’s second reading and gospel can be summed up in this one line: When our lives on this earth are finished and we enter eternity, all that will matter is what we have done—or not done—with our time.
Jesus, in this gospel, talks about the end of time—the end of the physical world as we know it. (And incidentally, what he says here about the end of the world also applies to the moment of our physical death, if we don’t happen to survive until the Lord’s second coming).
Now what Jesus indicates here, sad to say, is that many people will not be ready for the end when it finally does occur. And notice what he says about the men and women who are not prepared. He compares them to the people of Noah’s time who were not prepared for the Great Flood. He says, “They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” Notice that Jesus does NOT say, “They were fornicating and committing adultery and murdering their brothers and sisters—and doing other incredibly horrible, evil things.”
All he says is that they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage—none of which is an intrinsically evil activity!
So what was Jesus’ point?
His point was that they were going about their ordinary daily business with little or no regard for the condition of their immortal souls! In other words, they were misusing the time that God had given them on this earth; they were wasting their precious gift of time by not working on their relationship with God. Oh sure, they were doing some very important and necessary things, but they were also ignoring what was most important in life—consequently they were not ready for the flood when it arrived.
This first Sunday of the season of Advent is a day for us to reflect in a serious way on our use of time. St. Paul tells us in First Thessalonians that we are tri-dimensional as human beings: we are body, soul and spirit. That means—in addition to helping others and fulfilling our daily duties—we should be using our time to care for each of those dimensions of our human personhood: our bodies, our souls (which here can signify our intellectual and emotional life), and our spirits.
So here are a few questions to reflect on during the upcoming week:
What am I doing (or not doing) to maintain good physical health? What am I doing (or not doing) to maintain good emotional and intellectual health—especially as that relates to my Catholic faith? For example, when was the last time I read a book or an article—or watched a television program on EWTN—that helped me to learn more about my Catholic religion? On that note, I heard that there’s a book on the Mass, written by some local guy that’s now available on Amazon. I just thought I’d mention that.
And what am I doing to stay in good spiritual health—besides going to Mass once a week? Am I giving at least as much time to God in prayer each day as I give to text messaging my friends? (A very good question for our teenagers, especially—though not exclusively!) Am I giving at least as much time to God each day in prayer and Scripture reading as I give to surfing the internet, or playing video games, or doing my other acts of recreation?
And what am I going to do with my time this Advent? Is this season only going to be about shopping and wrapping gifts and getting together with friends, or am I also going to take some concrete steps during these next 4 weeks to grow closer to God—the God who sent his Son into this world on Christmas Day to save me from my sins?
And what about the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Will I take some serious time during the next few weeks to examine my conscience thoroughly, and then will I make the time to get to Confession? Hear again the words of St. Paul in today’s second reading:
“Brothers and sisters: you know the time [notice the reference to ‘time’]; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”
I am sure that Jesus Christ is speaking directly to some people in this church right now through the words of that text—especially those among us who have been away from the sacrament of Reconciliation for many years.
Back in the 4th century, a man named Augustine read those words I just shared with you and they literally changed his life. After living a lifestyle for many years that Hugh Hefner would definitely have approved of, Augustine made the most important decision he would ever make: the decision to take the time to repent of his sins and make room in his heart for God.
And so today we call him Saint Augustine, Doctor of the Church.
Finally he put his time to good use.
May we all learn to do the same thing—not only during this season of Advent, but every day of the year.
Dear Lord, give us the grace that we need each day to use our time well, to use our time wisely, so that whenever the end comes for us, we will be ready—ready for a life with you, not in time, but in eternity. Amen.
