Today is the first Sunday of Advent.
As we start the countdown to Christmas the Church reminds us that one day Jesus will return and we need to be prepared. This is very similar to what we hear during November as well. Advent focuses on the Second Coming and then, about a week before Christmas, it starts to shift toward that celebration of the first coming when God so loved the world. If you need a reminder of what Advent’s all about here’s a great little two minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC0FGQLBp7w
For us who live in the midst of the world there’s always a tension between the two focuses of Advent. While on paper there’s a distinction between Advent and Christmas that doesn’t happen until the afternoon of Christmas Eve but we all know that’s not how it works in our lives. We have to prepare for Christmas along the way. We have gifts to buy, parties to attend, decorations to put up, and lots of other things that have to happen during Advent. It’s not like we can wait until Christmas, or after, to begin those things. In the world we live in those things happen mostly in December, though some of them get earlier and earlier it seems.
I think the trick is to find a balance between these competing priorities. Put up the tree and buy the presents when you need to but make time to celebrate Advent well. That means thinking about our death. Except for those of us who happen to be alive when Jesus returns we all will experience death. Because we need to prepare for that reality spiritually we may find Advent a penitential season, similar to, but also different than, Lent.
Advent is really a season of waiting hopefully for that Second Coming. Our feeling should be primarily joyful knowing that we are God’s people and that He has a plan for us that overcomes death. While we’re waiting for Him we’re working on our own spiritual preparations even as we, to some extent, and the rest of the world, prepares for Christmas. Of course Christmas, if it is celebrated well in a spiritual sense, should be joyful as well. Not just happy in the sense that we enjoy getting and giving presents, though that’s OK, but joyful as we more fully experience God’s love and remember the reason Christ came in the first place.
Over the next few Sundays we’ll hear about John the Baptist and Mary, mother of our Lord. These readings speak to making preparations, making straight the way of the Lord, and saying yest to God. Those are all things we should be doing as well.
My hope for all of us is that we’ll find that balance and celebrate both Advent and Christmas well.
Typically there are reflections you can subscribe to or videos you can watch to help you participate more fully in Advent. That’s true this year as well as years in the past. Bishop Barron has his daily Gospel reflections. You can subscribe at https://www.wordonfire.org/reflections/advent/. Formed has a number of resources you can access after signing in at https://formed.org/. Dynamic Catholic has their Best Advent Ever series of reflections. You can subscribe to them at https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/advent.html. As I learn about others I’ll pass the information along. If you have one you particularly recommend please send it to me and I’ll pass it along.
One item I just learned about today (Wednesday) is a free online course about A Christmas Carol from Hillsdale College. I’ve taken a number of their courses and found the quality of instruction to be excellent. I’ve signed up for this new course and am looking forward to it. If you;re interested in it, or any other free online course from Hillsdale you can go to https://online.hillsdale.edu/ to register and get more information.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
I hope you have a great week and a Blessed Advent.
Peace, Bob
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