We are about to begin the shortest possible Advent. Starting Sunday, we will begin a New Year, and this year we only have 22 days before Christmas because the 4th Sunday of Advent is Christmas Eve. Since we won’t have much time once it begins, I think it’s important to know what Advent is and how we should be spending our time now.
Advent, like Lent, is a time of preparation. The Church, in her infinite wisdom, knows that we need seasons, times for feasting and times for fasting. While not penitential like Lent, we are called to reconciliation and devout preparation during Advent. Be patient, the feasting will come, as we’ve discussed before Christmas is a season, so hold off on the celebrations as much as you can in this secular world. Saying “no” to some of the hustle of the season will give God the opportunity to show you His plan for you at this time.
During Advent, we are to prepare for the coming of Christ Jesus, most obviously in the retelling and reliving of the Nativity when the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem 2,023 years ago. There are so many things we can say about this moment and the joyous celebration of Christmas but it isn’t going to be our focus today. I do encourage you to pick up a great book to dive deeper into the Holy Family or the Nativity this Advent. I will be reading the books below and Hallow has some great offerings again this year!
The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander
and
Joy to the World by Scott Hahn
We are called to prepare for more than Jesus’s first coming as a baby in swaddling clothes. As Christians, we should also spend Advent preparing for the second coming of Christ. We know that our time here on Earth will come to an end for all of us; the month of November was our reminder of this truth. We will come face to face with our Lord at some point, human mortality is after all still 100%. Not even the Son knows the time or place but we do know it’s coming. In a video several years ago, Father Mike Schmitz posed this question, how would you spend Advent if you knew December 25 would be the day you met Jesus because you knew you were going to “wake up dead” on December 25? Wow! That’s a new perspective.
Take a moment to ponder that. What if this Advent you prepared for Christ’s second coming, not His first? How would you spend Advent if you knew you were preparing to meet Jesus face to face at the end of your life on earth instead of the baby in the manger? What would be important to you in these short 22 days? Would you spend more time in prayer? Is there forgiveness you need to seek or offer? Would 22 days be enough time? Or would it feel like an eternity?
We are called to spend Advent waiting actively, but Jesus is actually closer to us than 22 days. God is always waiting for us with something to offer, particularly at the Mass. Tradition teaches us that there is a third coming of Jesus and it actually happens every single day. Jesus Christ comes to us and offers His body and blood to us everyday during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He comes to us in the Eucharist. We will discuss more on the connection between Christmas and the Eucharist in coming weeks. For now just remember that He is always available to us, both in the Eucharist and in prayer, while we prepare to meet Him in eternity.