With the opening liturgy of Advent, a new liturgical season begins. In hearing the Gospel from the Feast of Christ the King (last Sunday) and hearing the Gospel for today, you have probably noticed it to be the same Gospel only written by a different evangelist. So why begin Advent by looking at the “End of the World”? Is not Advent about remembering the incarnation of Christ in the person of Jesus at Christmas?
The answer is yes and no.
THE SEASONS OF ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS
The Seasons of Advent and Christmas are about the incarnation of Jesus, however, with a different and distinct emphasis. Advent is really about our preparing for the End Times, when Jesus comes again and all of life is subsumed into the wholeness of God. As Christians we look in eager anticipation for this cosmic event when all of Creation is made right. However, as we look to this coming of Jesus in all cosmic glory, we remember the humble beginning of Christ in Jesus at his birth in the stable of Bethlehem, when the Christ, through whom all life was created, lived in solidarity among the poorest of the poor of Creation.
For the many years I directed liturgy and music, I was looking for hymns that expressed the true theology of Advent. Let’s face it, it is easy to liturgically over dose on the O Antiphons, as found in the chant, measured or not measured, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” For those who have been sentenced to sing this chant ad nauseum all four weeks of Advent, you almost wish to experience the end of the world. (Note: the O Antiphons are found liturgically in the Liturgy of the Hours, Evening Prayer, beginning on December 17th … not before December 17th).
There are many Advent hymns, “People Look East”, “O Come Divine Messiah”, and so forth, that are really focused not on the second coming of the Christ, but on the first coming of Christ in the person of Jesus.
As I reflected on the readings for this first Sunday of Advent, the liturgical musician in me sought out what might be a good Advent Hymn to express what this liturgical season is all about. The answer might surprise some people. It is the wonderful gathering hymn, composed by Marty Haugen many years ago, entitile, “Gather Us In.”
GATHER US IN
Now Catholic traditionalists, will probably cross themselves three times, and give me the evil eye for even suggesting this. Catholic traditionalists hate this hymn. They base their loud objections because the name “God” is not explicitly sung anywhere in the hymn, even though the word “God” though not in the third person, is really expressed in the second person (think of the word “you” as expressed to the person of God).
What traditionalists and restorationists ignore is that the hymn is about the “REAL PRESENCE OF JESUS” gathered together in the assembly of the baptized. We, who are the baptized, ARE also the real presence of the Christ, as the apostle Paul said over and over and over and over again in his letters. Whenever Paul used the word Christ, he was referring to the real presence of Christ in the Christian community.
What I would like to focus on is the fourth verse of the hymn. These is the hymn text that Marty Haugen wrote in the fourth verse.
“Not in the dark of buildings confining,
not is some heaven light years away.
But here in this place, new light is streaming,
Now is the Kingdom, Now is the day!
“Gather us in, and hold us together.
Gather us in and make us your own.
Gather us in all peoples together,
Fire of love in our flesh and our bone.”
If we truly believe that those baptized into Christ ARE the real presence of Christ in the world, our lives will be lived in making the reality of God’s Reign, already present, visible to all people around us. We are called to be already living in Reign of God already here, already present. If we truly believe that the Reign of God is fully present right now in our present time, we will live lives that are holy, lives that are not self-centered, lives that are not selfish, lives that are lived in service to others, lives of peace and justice, lives that recognize that ALL life is Sacred and reflect the real presence of God.
That is how Advent is meant to be lived. That is how we best anticipate and bring forth the living Christ to all people as we remember the birth of the Christ in the person of Jesus at Christmas.
