How is your Advent
Going?
Advent is almost halfway over. Retailers will be quick to tell us how many
shopping days are left until Christmas (oops, I mean, “the holidays”). And it’s true, we probably have some shopping
and cooking and decorating to do. That’s
all fine. But as Catholics, we are
trying to focus more on preparing spiritually for the celebration of Christmas.
I’ll admit, sometimes I find it
hard. My wife and I try to do all our
shopping in November so that Advent isn’t cluttered with those concerns. We have special family prayers and other
activities with our kids, and I try to spend extra time in prayer and perhaps
fasting, but often I have a difficult time connecting what I am doing to
Christmas. They are fine spiritual
practices, but are they really a preparation for the great Feast?
My spiritual preparations for the
Triduum and Easter have a character very specific to what we celebrate, but at
Christmas I often have a more difficult time.
I am sure I am not alone. Well,
perhaps I am, but either way, I have been hoping to be a little more focused on
the nature of the holiday with my spiritual preparations this year.
What exactly are we celebrating at
Christmas? It is the coming of the Lord. What I have sometimes forgotten in previous
Advents is that the Church speaks of the three-fold coming of the Lord – in
history, in mystery, in majesty – and Advent should be a preparation for all
three.
In
History: This refers to the fact
that 2,000 years ago a Baby was born in Bethlehem and that Baby was God. Advent is a preparation of three to four
weeks, but it is helpful to remember that the Israelites had been preparing for
the birth of the Messiah for thousands of years. Humanity had been waiting since the time of
the fall.
We can lose a sense of that
anticipation, celebrating Christmas year after year, especially if we spend all
of Advent stressed out on the material preparations. It can be helpful to reconnect ourselves to
it, especially through the reading of Scripture this season. Many people have a Jesse Tree that helps with
this process, but even if we don’t, we can spend our time preparing with
ancient Israel through the Old Testament.
Start in the Book of Genesis, with the
fall, and the promise of a savior in chapter 3.
We can read about some of the people whose lives were a preparation for
Christ’s, like Joseph and Moses. There
are the messianic psalms and prophecies, such as Psalm 22, and Isaiah 52 and 53. It would be great to spend some time each
evening pondering one piece of Scripture, building the anticipation with the
Israelites.
Then, of course, there are the
Nativity stories reported in Matthew and Luke’s Gospels. Every time we read through them they can
inspire deeper meditation.
In
Mystery: Jesus promised in Matthew
28:20 that “I will be with you always, even to the consummation of the
world.” How has He kept that
promise? Certainly on Pentecost He sent
us the Holy Spirit, which has guided the Church this 2,000 years, and which we
receive at our Baptism. But also, Jesus
has stayed with us, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the holy Eucharist.
This Advent we should make time to
spend with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and deepen our love of this gift
and our appreciation that He comes to us so substantially and so intimately.
In
Majesty: The first week of Advent we
heard at Mass, as we had the few weeks prior, that Jesus will return in glory
at the end of time. He will come as a
king, riding the clouds, with angels; the dead will rise; and the just will
attain eternal life. He warns us again
and again to be ready, for He desires that none are lost. This Advent, are we preparing for the coming
of the Lord in majesty?
Like Lent, Advent should be a time of
reflection and penance. Most
importantly, we should make use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation during this
season.
