Searching for Advent Hope in a World of Darkened Sun

Nichole M. Flores

Bondings 2.0’s annual Advent scripture reflections begin today.  This year, we feature reflections from four Hispanic LGBTQ+ and ally Catholic theologians and pastoral leaders.

Today’s reflection is by Nichole M. Flores, associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia where she is also the Director of the Catholic Studies Initiative and Co-Director of the Forum on Religion and Democracy. She is the author of The Aesthetics of Solidarity: Our Lady of Guadalupe and American Democracy.

The readings for the First Sunday of Advent, Cycle C, can be found by clicking here. 

This year, Advent brings with it a sense that we live in a violent and unforgiving end of age. We light candles in the darkness, praying that they will give us enough light to find our way in these bleak and uncertain times. 

Today’s gospel reading from Luke 21 paints a similarly bleak picture of the world facing Jesus’s disciples. Earlier in this gospel chapter, we get a sense of the troubling “signs of the times” that would announce that the end was drawing near: the destruction of the temple (v. 5-6), wars and insurrections (v. 9-11), the destruction of Jerusalem (v. 20-24). 

The distressing scenes of the earlier part of this chapter culminate in the apocalyptic vision featured in today’s Gospel reading. Strife and fear abide; even the sun, the moon, and the stars becomes signs of the troubling times: “People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (v. 26) 

This pronouncement strikes a dissonant chord with us in our own times, especially as we live in times of perpetual threat to life and dignity of LGBTQ+ people. Wars and rumors of wars against queer life trouble the minds and hearts of all who believe God’s promise of dignity, justice, and flourishing for all. The threats made against LGBTQ+ life and of those who are vulnerable justifiably seem cataclysmic in our times. Jesus’s apocalyptic pronouncement acknowledges his disciples’ fears: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.” (v. 25) 

But Jesus’s invocation of the sun and the moon and the stars offers us hints of the promise of liberation contained even in these troubling signs. Biblical scholars Richard A. Henshaw and Marvin Sweeny explain that dramatic apocalyptic image is interlaced in both Hebrew and Christian scripture: “The imagery is associated with the Hamsin (Arabic) or Sharav (Hebrew), the dry desert wind. . .that fills the sky with blowing dust and marks the transitions between the dry summer and rainy winter seasons in both ancient and modern Israel.” Indeed, the warm winds darken the sun and redden the moon in these times—it is terrifying. But blood, fire, and columns of smoke also recall the exodus, signs of God’s guidance through troubling times, into an unknown wilderness that nonetheless promises liberation. 

As we light the first candle for Advent, we know that we are not alone in our uncertainty and fear. But by reminding us of the signs of the sun, the moon, and the stars, Jesus guides us toward the promise of liberation that resides even in times such as these. Let that reminder guide us into this season’s anticipation of his birth.

—Nichole M. Flores, December 1, 2024