Advent: Get Ready! He's Coming!

Sale! 50% Off! Clearly the world and the Church have different ideas about what the season of Advent is about.  Both proclaim: Get Ready!  So a good question would be, “Get ready for what?”  The world’s preparation for Christmas is, of course, the buying frenzy that precedes it.  Its savior is “the perfect gift” and its sacrament is the swiping of plastic at the checkout register.  The pull of the secular holiday even draws the faithful into its vortex.  So, again, for what are we preparing and how should we do it?

As Catholics, we know for what and for whom we prepare: the arrival of Jesus - God himself who enters silently and secretly into human history to redeem both humanity and history, giving them their fullest meaning.  The secular deity offers an immediate but superficial salvation in the form of the latest fashion, entertainment, or technology; this god would define us according to our desires and possessions.  The true God invites us to become most fully who we were created to be through union with him.  This gift is never on sale; it is totally free, but demands our entire being.

God teaches us how to prepare through the Advent liturgies.  The loss of the Gloria and liturgical violet remind us of the darkness under which humanity labors.  We have been part of that darkness, so we do penance.  We participate in the secular insanity, so we must reorient ourselves to God through quiet, reflective prayer and listening to his prophetic words.  Jeremiah declares God “will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel… I will raise up for David a just shoot.”  God has not forgotten his people lost in darkness.  Baruch encourages, “Up, Jerusalem!... look to the east…God is leading Israel in joy… with his mercy and justice.”  Dawn begins to break along with hope of restoration.  In the third week, the color rose anticipates the sweetness of the coming of our deliverer, as Zephaniah says, “Sing joyfully, O Israel... The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior.”  Finally, Micah announces the coming ruler of Israel whose “greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace.” Here we find more than we could ever hope for: the God of Israel offers his salvation to the whole world - in him all humanity can find brotherhood and peace.  Spend time with these prophets whose words teach us Advent’s true meaning.

This arrival has already happened in history, but it is not yet complete: Jesus comes to his people over and over again, and he continues to bring us his peace: in prayer, in the Scriptures, in those in need, in the sacrament of Reconciliation and in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. Every year he calls us to ponder and enter evermore deeply into this mystery.  He will come again at the end of history to judge all men and to present all things as an offering to the Father.  Now, that’s an arrival for which we should get ready!

Ed: This article was originally written for our diocesan RCIA newsletter.