Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is nearly over; daylight is on its way. Let us then throw off the works of darkness, and ready ourselves for the light. (Romans 13:11-12; Second Reading for the 1st Sunday of Advent)
Every year, our church gives us a wonderful gift several weeks before Christmas: Advent (the word means “it is coming” or “the promise is near”). It is a time of preparation for us: a time to get ready, to prepare the way, to make a space. It is a time to prepare ourselves for the coming of the light - the birth of Yeshua ben Joseph, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ.
Advent is also a time of listening, of watching, and of waiting. We look to the changing seasons to let us know that time keeps moving forward. We listen to the readings at our Sunday celebrations and we know that the time is almost near. We wait in expectation for the central time in human history, when God broke through into creation in a very tangible, touchable, sacramental way.
And it is a joyful expectation, a time to get ready for one of our great Christian holy days of celebration. We wait in joy - awesome, wonderful joy - as parents wait for the birth of a child, as flowers wait for the coming of the dawn, as children wait for dessert after a meal – we wait and we wonder in deep down, soul and body filling joy.
But above all, and especially in our times of war and unrest, we wait in hope for the coming of our brother and our savior, the Prince of Peace. We wait for a time when everyone - lion and lamb, American and Iraqi, Catholic and Protestant, wealthy and poor, cool and uncool, parent and teenager, teacher and student - will sit together at a common table and share a meal together. We wait for the coming of our Lord, who is Hope incarnate, and who gives us the hope that tomorrow will always be better then today.
One of the ways our church helps us to prepare is with the traditional symbol of the advent wreath. The wreath is filled with symbols and meaning: the circle of evergreen boughs reminds us that God is everlasting, with no beginning and no end, and with a love for us that never dies. The four candles symbolize almost 4,000 years of waiting for our Messiah to be born, and the light from the candles symbolizes the light of Christ, burning brightly in the darkness. The purple candles remind us that, like Lent, Advent is a time of preparation and waiting. The third candle (the pink one) symbolizes that our time of waiting is almost over, and that the celebration is about to begin. The middle white candle, which traditionally is put there on Christmas Eve and lit on Christmas day, symbolizes the birth of a vulnerable, trusting, loving little boy who changed the course of history.
Our church also encourages us to spend more time in prayer during Advent. We can make some time to pray alone - just after rising or before going to bed are two excellent times for us to pause and spend even a few unrushed moments with our God. Before mealtimes, we can take a minute to silently (if alone), or vocally give thanks to God for the blessing of a nourishing meal. Making time for a leisurely trip to Mass on Saturday evening or Sunday morning would be a prayerful change of pace for many of us. Reading even small portions of Scripture would be prayerful. And spending time together as a family in prayer would be an excellent way to prepare for Christmas, as would celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation together.
In whatever ways you decide to celebrate, my prayers are with you and your family as we prepare together for the arrival of our greatest gift ever – the gift of light and love that burned so brightly in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, and that continues to be born in our hearts and in our lives each Christmas.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
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