Environmental Stewardship Commission
(MEESC)

Episcopal Church in Minnesota

Coat of Arms of Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota

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Lectionary Reflection

Year A, Advent 1
Standard (Episcopal) Lectionary
Revised Common Lectionary
Gospel

Matthew 24: 37-44 (Standard)
Matthew 24: 36-44 (RCL)

[RCL Start] But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

[Standard Lectionary Start] For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. [Both End]

NRSV Copyright

Reflection on Matthew 24: 37-44
by the Rev. Dcn Helen Hanten

Each of the lessons for this first Sunday in Advent talks of expectations for the future, and in each case it is while people are doing ordinary things – things like eating, drinking, marrying, working in the fields or grinding grain. These people are not described as doing anything wrong or bad, but are not living with awareness that the day of the Lord could come at any time. History just might be interrupted with some special event. How like this is our sometime disregard for the things we do that harm the environment in our ordinary life events. Will a sudden awakening happen when we have gone too far in polluting the land or water or atmosphere?

Printable version

Copyright Statement

To Reflections on other RCL Readings for Year A, Advent 1:

Reflections available at the active links	Standard (Episcopal) Lectionary	Revised Common Lectionary
Old Testament (Hebrew Scripture) Reading:	Isaiah 2:1-5	Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm	Psalm 122	Psalm 122
New Testament Lesson	Romans 13: 8-14	Romans 13: 11-14
Gospel (this page)	Matthew 24: 37-44	Matthew 24: 36-44

The Rev Helen Hanten was a deacon at and an active member of St. Andrew's by the Lake Episcopal Church, Duluth, MN, when she originally wrote this reflection in 1998. Helen and we welcome your comments. Please address your comments or additional reflections to The Rev Helen Hanten or any MEESC member, or mail them to:

MEESC
c/o C. Morello
4451 Lakeside Drive
Eveleth, MN 55743-4400 USA

The MEESC assumes that all correspondence received is for publication on this web site. If your comments are not for publication, please so note on your correspondence. The MEESC reserves the right to decide which items are included on the website.

This page last updated 2011-11-17.

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Environmental Stewardship Commission (MEESC)