http://www.dailycatholic.org/1advhay.htm

The First Sunday of Advent, the very first day of the new Liturgical Year begins the one-year cycle anew picking up with the apocalyptic warning Christ echoed in the Last Sunday of Pentecost's Gospel and Epistle. With the world, especially America ignoring the Scriptures of "not rioting and drunknenness," "not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy" should we follow the PC police and policies or Christ? That is a no-brainer to those who take their Faith seriously. Unless we "put on Christ" in all we do, we had better be prepared to put on an asbestos suit for we're going to need it when "the powers of Heaven shall be moved" and many will realize it's too late. For those who have clothed themselves in the armor of Faith and grace, there will be nothing to fear for "the kingdom of God is at hand."


Epistle: Romans 13: 11-14

11 And that knowing the season; that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed.

    Commentary on Verse 11 Now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. Some will have the sense to be, that our salvation is now nearer, when the gospel is preached, and Christ offers us His graces, than when we believed the Messias was to come. Others expound it, that the more of our life is spent, we come nearer to the judgment of God, and to the salvation promised in Heaven. (Wi.)

12 The night is passed, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light.

    Commentary on Verse 12 The night is passed. That is, the night of sin and infidelity, in which you lived, before you began to serve Christ. (Wi.) – Saint Paul is here addressing himself to Gentile converts. Before your conversion, you were in the darkness of infidelity: this time is past; now is the day, when the gospel has dissipated the darkness of idolatry, ignorance, and sin. Let us lay aside the works of darkness, by flying from sin, which hates the light, and seeks always to conceal itself; and let us put on the armor of light, that shield of faith, the breast-plate of justice, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit. (Calmet)

13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy:

    Commentary on Verse 13 Let us walk honestly as in the day. As men are accustomed to do in the light, without being afraid that their works come to light. – Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering, not in beds and impurities, not in immodest disorders. (Wi.) – The night of the present life full of darkness, of ignorance, and of sin, is already far advanced; and the day of eternity approaches: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness. (V.)

14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences.

    Commentary on Verse 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. To put on, is a metaphor used in the Scripture; as when it is said, put on the new man, & c. And make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscenses. That is, do not take care, nor pamper and indulge your appetite in eating and drinking, so as to increase your disorderly inclinations, but keep them in due subjection. (Wi.) – The apostle does not forbid all care of the body, since he himself says in the epistle to the Ephesians 5, “No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it.” But he forbids that care of the flesh, by which the desires and concupiscences of the flesh are strengthened and encouraged. This those are guilty of, who are always indulging in delights and voluptuousness. (Estius) – Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, enter His sentiments, imitate His virtues, and indulge not the flesh in its inordinate desires.


Gospel: St. Luke 21: 25-33

25 At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves;

26 Men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of Heaven shall be moved;

    Commentary on Verse 26 The powers of Heaven, & c. Some explain this of the angels, who shall be terrified and tremble at the sight of so many calamities. Others understand it of the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, stars, & c. which shall in some sort, likewise, be confused in the general dissolution. The prophets often make use of such expressions, when speaking of the fall of monarchies, or the ruin of nations. The heavens shall be astonished and moved, & c. (Ezechiel 32: 7; Joel 3: 15) (Calmet)

27 And then they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with great power and majesty.

    Commentary on Verse 27 The Jєωs shall not see Him corporally, but at the last judgment. Then, says the Scripture, (Zacharias 12: 10) They shall see Him Whom they pierced with nails. But in the ruin of Jerusalem, all who will compare His predictions with the event, can evidently see that this was the day of His coming, so plainly marked in His words. Every body could see that this was evidently the hand of God that punished them. (Calmet)

28 But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand.

29 And He spoke to them in a similtude. See the fig tree, and all the trees:

30 When they now shoot forth their fruit, you know that summer is nigh;

31 So you also, when you shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand.

32 Amen, I say to you, this generation shall not pass away, till all things be fulfilled.

33 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2017.htm#article4

Whether command and the commanded act are one act, or distinct?

Objection 1. It would seem that the commanded act is not one with the command itself. For the acts of different powers are themselves distinct. But the commanded act belongs to one power, and the command to another; since one is the power that commands, and the other is the power that receives the command. Therefore the commanded act is not one with the command.

Objection 2. Further, whatever things can be separate from one another, are distinct: for nothing is severed from itself. But sometimes the commanded act is separate from the command: for sometimes the command is given, and the commanded act follows not. Therefore command is a distinct act from the act commanded.

Objection 3. Further, whatever things are related to one another as precedent and consequent, are distinct. But command naturally precedes the commanded act. Therefore they are distinct.

On the contrary, The Philosopher says (Topic. iii, 2) that "where one thing is by reason of another, there is but one." But there is no commanded act unless by reason of the command. Therefore they are one.

I answer that, Nothing prevents certain things being distinct in one respect, and one in another respect. Indeed, every multitude is one in some respect, as Dionysius says (Div. Nom. xiii). But a difference is to be observed in this, that some are simply many, and one in a particular aspect: while with others it is the reverse. Now "one" is predicated in the same way as "being." And substance is being simply, whereas accident or being "of reason" is a being only in a certain respect. Wherefore those things that are one in substance are one simply, though many in a certain respect. Thus, in the genus substance, the whole composed of its integral or essential parts, is one simply: because the whole is being and substance simply, and the parts are being and substances in the whole. But those things which are distinct in substance, and one according to an accident, are distinct simply, and one in a certain respect: thus many men are one people, and many stones are one heap; which is unity of composition or order. In like manner also many individuals that are one in genus or species are many simply, and one in a certain respect: since to be one in genus or species is to be one according to the consideration of the reason.

Now just as in the genus of natural things, a whole is composed of matter and form (e.g. man, who is one natural being, though he has many parts, is composed of soul and body); so, in human acts, the act of a lower power is in the position of matter in regard to the act of a higher power, in so far as the lower power acts in virtue of the higher power moving it: for thus also the act of the first mover is as the form in regard to the act of its instrument. Hence it is evident that command and the commanded act are one human act, just as a whole is one, yet in its parts, many.

Reply to Objection 1. If the distinct powers are not ordained to one another, their acts are diverse simply. But when one power is the mover of the other, then their acts are, in a way, one: since "the act of the mover and the act of the thing moved are one act" (Phys. iii, 3).

Reply to Objection 2. The fact that command and the commanded act can be separated from one another shows that they are different parts. Because the parts of a man can be separated from one another, and yet they form one whole.

Reply to Objection 3. In those things that are many in parts, but one as a whole, nothing hinders one part from preceding another. Thus the soul, in a way, precedes the body; and the heart, the other members.