There are occasions in our lives when we seek advice and direction.

 

For example, if we are diagnosed with a serious health problem, we speak to our doctors. We consult specialists. We surf the internet to get a better understanding of our problem, and to research recommended treatments. We talk with people who have successfully overcome the disease with which we are dealing.

 

We also seek advice and guidance if we are confronted with a serious situation at home, at work, or at school. We speak to trusted relatives and friends and ask for their advice. We try to learn from the personal experience of those who have faced a similar issue. We make an appointment to see a counselor or consult with a psychologist.

 

Wise people realize their need for advice and guidance if they are to meet the challenges of life. This is also true when it comes to our spiritual lives.

 

We have an example of a person seeking such advice in Saint Augustine, one of the great saints of the fourth century. Augustine was a man searching desperately for answers to life’s questions. His less than moral life and his attachment to various philosophies and sects of his day had not provided him with the answers and advice that he sought.

 

Augustine recounts the day he was in his garden and heard a childlike voice say, “Pick it up and read it.” At first, he assumed the words were related to a game or song. But then, he thought that phrase might be directing him to the guidance and advice he was seeking.

 

So, Augustine picked up a Bible and read the first words that caught his eyes: “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.” These words, which were from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, are found in this Sunday’s Second Reading (Romans 13:11-14).

 

Augustine took that advice to heart and followed it. He turned away from sin. He was baptized and began to walk a path that led to his becoming a bishop and one of the greatest philosophers and theologians in the history of the Church. He truly put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

This Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent, we begin a new church year. During the next 12 months, we will once again listen as the life-changing message found in the scriptures is proclaimed. We will listen to divinely inspired advice as we make our way through the seasons of the liturgical year of 2026.

 

Like St. Augustine, we need to listen and to follow the guidance and direction that the Lord will be giving us in our readings. As Jesus reminds us in Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 24:37-44), the day will come when the time for following that divinely inspired advice and guidance will come to an end: “For at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." 

 

Wise people seek out and listen to good advice. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” This is perfect advice for this First Sunday Advent and for all the days of this new liturgical year.

 

© 2025 Rev. Thomas Iwanowski