Sunday, November 29, 2026 — First Sunday of Advent
Watch!
Mark 13:33-37
Readings of the day: Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7; Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:33-37.
The Gospel
Jesus says: Be watchful, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man who leaves home on a journey, puts his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to watch. Watch, then, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, in the evening, at midnight, at cockcrow or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: Watch!
Reflection
Advent begins with a single word: Watch. We do not know the hour, and that is why the whole of life is the hour. The master of the house may come in the evening of old age, at midnight, at cockcrow, or in the morning of childhood, as Theophylact teaches; every age must look out for the end. “Not only those of us who rule over Churches, but all are required to watch the doors of their hearts,” says St. Gregory, “lest the evil suggestions of the devil enter into them.” And St. Augustine reminds us that the day of the Lord comes to each of us when our own day comes to depart from this life. Advent is not only the wait for Christmas; it is the training of a heart that is ready whenever the Master comes.
From the Fathers
“Not only, however, those of us who rule over Churches, but all are required to watch the doors of their hearts, lest the evil suggestions of the devil enter into them, and lest our Lord find us sleeping.”
— St. Gregory the Great, Homily 9 on the Gospels, in the Catena Aurea on Mark 13:33–37
“For that day comes to each man when his day comes for departing from this life such as he is to be, when judged in that day, and for this reason every Christian ought to watch, lest the Advent of the Lord find him unprepared.”
— St. Augustine, Letter 199, in the Catena Aurea on Mark 13:33–37
Saint of the day
Saint Saturninus of Toulouse (d. c. 257), Bishop and Martyr. Sent from Rome by Pope Fabian as one of the “Apostles to the Gauls,” he became the first bishop of Toulouse. Refusing to sacrifice to the idols, he was tied by the feet to a bull and dragged through the town until he died. His feast is kept on November 29 in the Roman Martyrology; the Sunday liturgy takes precedence today.
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Sources: the day’s readings follow the Sunday lectionary, Cycle B (USCCB, Lectionary 2). The Gospel text is not reproduced here; read it at the link above. Patristic quotes: Catena Aurea on Mark 13:33–37, compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by John Henry Newman (1841, public domain).