Since tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent, today is the last day of the liturgical year. It is fitting that today's readings should present for our meditation some of the main themes and even more minor themes of our faith. While the Gospel dwells on Jesus' more sombre teaching about the end times, the reading from the Apocalypse talks of the more positive and beautiful aspects of the New Jerusalem, and so the Psalm invites us to sing joyfully to the Lord and to acclaim the Rock of our salvation. Advent with its many themes of hope begins our liturgical induction into the joy of our faith, the Resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Where there is no joy, there is no real hope.

God present in Jesus is the Rock of our salvation. The image of the Rock throughout the Old Testament is a symbol of the certainty and the reliability of God's power to save us from death, and so is a symbol and an affirmation of the Resurrection, our salvation. The Psalm verses we read conclude with the image of God as shepherd, preparing for Jesus' doctrine that he is the Good Shepherd.