During a homily for the First Sunday of Advent, a bishop reflected on the importance of being attentive to both personal and communal renewal. He recounted his experience returning to a parish in Oakland after ten years, only to find the rectory in disrepair. The bishop described how the pastor had become so accustomed to his surroundings that he no longer noticed the deteriorating conditions.

He compared this situation to how individuals and communities can become unaware of spiritual or moral decline. "Sometimes we can be the same way in our own lives or in the lives of our communities. We are like the people of the time of Moses, who were 'eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,' without noticing how badly life had deteriorated. Then, of course, came the flood, which was the wake-up call, but by then it was too late," he said.

The bishop emphasized that Advent serves as a wake-up call for self-examination and attentiveness. "This season of Advent is meant to be a wake-up call for all of us, urging us to be alert and attentive to the signs around us," he stated.

He also addressed evangelization as a key mission for parish communities: "Evangelization is to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ OUT to others, so that they can come to know him and love him, who loves them so much." He noted that while programs and welcoming environments are important, they do not replace direct outreach.

The bishop urged parishioners not only to focus on regular religious practices but also on renewing their relationship with Jesus Christ: "Our faith is not primarily about programs, hierarchies, and doctrines – though these are very important – but about the person of Jesus, who is God and man, who is our Savior, and who lives among us now."

He encouraged greater awareness toward those absent from church life: "If all nations and peoples are indeed to stream to the mountain of the Lord... we need to be awake and attentive to who is NOT with us. Are the youth with us? The homeless? Immigrants who are struggling... People who do not necessarily agree with us?"

Concluding his homily, he called on everyone present during Advent "to climb up the mountain of the Lord" for renewed perspective: "Jesus has already come, and we are grateful. But he is yet to come again, and we are to be the ones who prepare his way..."