{"id":191,"date":"2013-12-01T12:25:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-01T12:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html"},"modified":"2016-03-25T18:21:14","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T23:21:14","slug":"first-sunday-of-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html","title":{"rendered":"First Sunday of Advent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

The Archbishop of Milwaukee came to give a conference at my seminary while I was a student. \u00a0We were all anticipating his visit. \u00a0He had been the rector of the seminary years before and was well known for his great ability to communicate the faith to others. \u00a0Many of you know who he is, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, now the Archbishop of New York.<\/p>\n

I had read a book by him on the priesthood and couldn\u2019t wait to hear his talk. \u00a0I arrived early to the auditorium and sat towards the back, as I always did. \u00a0The archbishop was introduced by the rector, he began to speak and the next thing I knew I was waking up to a round of applause. \u00a0The conference was over. \u00a0I had missed it. \u00a0I was so upset. \u00a0I leaned over to my friend sitting next to me and said, \u201chey, why didn\u2019t you wake me up!\u201d \u00a0He just shrugged. \u00a0Though I somehow wanted to blame him for my sleeping, I knew deep down it was my fault.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. \u00a0For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.\u201d<\/p>\n

We begin Advent with this exhortation from Saint Paul and my bad example of living out his call. \u00a0Advent is a time to awake from sleep; otherwise we will miss what is most important.<\/p>\n

As people of faith, we know the good we must do and the bad we must avoid, yet we get sleepy and easily fall sleep into the sins Saint Paul lists and so many others: drunkenness, promiscuity, lust, rivalry and jealousy. \u00a0How could the list go on!<\/p>\n

Advent is a time to stay awake, it is a time to be vigilant and not fall asleep into sin.<\/p>\n

Advent is a time to throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.<\/p>\n

Jesus teaches us that the Son of Man will come at a time when people are in the middle of eating and drinking. \u00a0They will be falling asleep and not being attentive.<\/p>\n

A few years ago I saw a 16th century painting by Ignacio de Ries in the cathedral of Segovia, Spain.<\/p>\n

On the canopy of a tree sits a large group of men and women around a table that is overflowing with food. \u00a0Some of the women are standing in a provocative way. \u00a0Below the canopy two figures stand, one on each side of the trunk. \u00a0On the left is death represented by a skeleton with a sickle and on the right is Jesus holding a hammer, ready to strike a bell. \u00a0The bottom of the trunk has been cut with an axe so the tree is about to topple over, and a devil has tied a rope to the top of the tree to pull those sitting over the tree to the side of death, away from Christ.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Time is almost up and these men and women have fallen asleep, missing Jesus\u2019 call to conversion. \u00a0The bell will ring and they will quickly fall away from Jesus.<\/p>\n

Words on the canvas read: Mira que te as de morir, mira que no sabes cuando. \u00a0Mira que te mira Dios, mira que te esta mirando.<\/p>\n

Roughly translated and having lost much of the beauty of the words: Watch out for you are to die, watch out for you don\u2019t know when. \u00a0Watch out for God is watching, watch out for He is watching you.<\/p>\n

This painting, titled The Allegory of the Tree of Life, is a perfect Advent meditation.<\/p>\n

In what ways am I like those on the canopy of the tree? \u00a0Perhaps like them I feel a bit too comfortable or complacent? \u00a0These men and women, in the midst of their partying, were fast asleep in regards to what matters most. \u00a0The bell is about to ring and they are not ready!<\/p>\n

In what areas of my life am I asleep, unaware of the presence and power of Jesus to awaken me from my sleep? \u00a0Where do I need healing the most? \u00a0Where must I seek mercy?<\/p>\n

In Advent we anticipate the coming of Jesus Christ at the end of time so we may not be caught by surprise asleep in sin. \u00a0Some closing words from Saint John Chrysostom:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time is short. \u2026 The day of resurrection and of judgment is fast approaching \u2026 If you have done everything that was asked of you and are prepared for it, then you have nothing to fear, but if you have not, then look out! \u00a0The nearer the King is, the more [you] ought to be ready to receive Him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Picture Above: Me sleeping at the Garden of Olives, Jerusalem like the apostles.<\/i><\/p>\n

Pictures are mine, all rights reserved<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Archbishop of Milwaukee came to give a conference at my seminary while I was a student. \u00a0We were all anticipating his visit. \u00a0He had been the rector of the seminary years before and was well known for his great ability to communicate the faith to others. \u00a0Many of you know who he is, Archbishop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFirst Sunday of Advent<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Archbishop of Milwaukee came to give a conference at my seminary while I was a student. \u00a0We were all anticipating his visit. \u00a0He had been the rector\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Sunday of Advent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Archbishop of Milwaukee came to give a conference at my seminary while I was a student. \u00a0We were all anticipating his visit. \u00a0He had been the rector\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Labyrinthine Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-01T12:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-25T23:21:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/files\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-1oyWVrBmwMY\/UprPK2HfqCI\/AAAAAAAAC80\/cIU2KXh9PeM\/s320\/sleeping.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html\",\"name\":\"First Sunday of Advent\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-01T12:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-25T23:21:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\"},\"description\":\"The Archbishop of Milwaukee came to give a conference at my seminary while I was a student. \u00a0We were all anticipating his visit. \u00a0He had been the rector\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"First Sunday of Advent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/\",\"name\":\"Labyrinthine Mind\",\"description\":\"Seeking God in the labyrinth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\",\"name\":\"Father Pablo Migone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Father Pablo Migone\"},\"description\":\"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"First Sunday of Advent","description":"The Archbishop of Milwaukee came to give a conference at my seminary while I was a student. \u00a0We were all anticipating his visit. \u00a0He had been the rector","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"First Sunday of Advent","og_description":"The Archbishop of Milwaukee came to give a conference at my seminary while I was a student. \u00a0We were all anticipating his visit. \u00a0He had been the rector","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html","og_site_name":"Labyrinthine Mind","article_published_time":"2013-12-01T12:25:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-25T23:21:14+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/files\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-1oyWVrBmwMY\/UprPK2HfqCI\/AAAAAAAAC80\/cIU2KXh9PeM\/s320\/sleeping.jpg"}],"author":"Father Pablo Migone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Father Pablo Migone","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html","name":"First Sunday of Advent","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-12-01T12:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-25T23:21:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b"},"description":"The Archbishop of Milwaukee came to give a conference at my seminary while I was a student. \u00a0We were all anticipating his visit. \u00a0He had been the rector","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/12\/first-sunday-of-advent.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"First Sunday of Advent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/","name":"Labyrinthine Mind","description":"Seeking God in the labyrinth","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b","name":"Father Pablo Migone","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Father Pablo Migone"},"description":"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2533"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}