by Chase Hawkins
Today, we enter into a new Church year. With the celebration of Christ the King this past Sunday, we ended the Church year and now enter into a new year with the beginning of the season of Advent. Oftentimes we overlook the season of Advent since it lies between Thanksgiving and Christmas. As soon as Thanksgiving ends (actually even earlier than that) we see Christmas decorations and hear Christmas music all around us. But we can’t forget the season of Advent – these four weeks of preparation before Christmas. But what does this preparation actually mean for us?
As one of the most glossed over seasons of the liturgical year, Advent either loses its meaning for many or becomes simply a mysterious season in which we light candles on a wreath and wait. And what is it that we are waiting for? Well, we are waiting for the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas.
The word “advent” comes from the Latin word adventus meaning “to come to”. In Advent, we wait for Jesus to come to us. We wait for Jesus’ birth. We wait for His Incarnation. But why do we need an entire liturgical season just to wait for Jesus to be born? When we search for this answer, we find that Advent is a lot more than just a time of waiting and preparing for Jesus to be born into the world.
Jesus was already born into the world. In Advent, we prepare ourselves for two things: (1) for Jesus to be born in our hearts again and (2) for Jesus’ second coming. In a homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent in 2014, Fr. James Brooks of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said, “By preparing for Jesus’ first coming, we prepare for His second coming.” Advent isn’t just about waiting for Christ’s birth. It’s also about waiting for Christ’s second coming. On top of this, Advent isn’t only about preparing ourselves for Christ’s birth and second coming, it is also about preparing others for Christ’s birth and second coming.
Preparing Ourselves
Advent makes it slightly easier to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ first coming because we know that Jesus was already born into the world. But we don’t know when Jesus’ second coming will take place. It’s difficult to grasp this. It’s difficult to prepare our hearts for something that we don’t even know when will happen.
The only way we can be ready for Jesus to return is by listening to what He tells us. Specifically in today’s Gospel, He says:
“’Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man’” (Luke 34-36).
Preparing Others
In Advent, we are not only called to prepare our own hearts for Christ’s birth and second coming, but we must also help to prepare the hearts of others. One of the Gospel passages that is used by the Church in rotation as the Gospel reading for the 1st Sunday of Advent is from Mark. Jesus tells his disciples:
“’But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or 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!’” (Mark 13: 32-37).
St. Francis of Assisi, ora pro nobis.
St. Margaret Clitherow, ora pro nobis.
Papa Francisco, tibi oramus.
Dominus Vobiscum!
The Lord Be With You!
Chawkins.
As a resource this Advent season, subscribe to Steubenville Fuel’s Project Advent. Project Advent is from the people who make Steubenville Youth Conferences happen. All you have to do is subscribe to a weekly email that can help you to grow in your faith this Advent season. Here is the link: http://steubenvillefuel.com/project-advent/.
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” by Casting Crowns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roy3Ft6Fvbk