All around us the retail world is already celebrating Christmas. Whether we walk through the stores, listen to the radio, or turn on the television, we are being bombarded with Christmas images, and innocuous Christmas songs that range from Frosty the Snowman to chestnuts roasting on some mythical fire. Even when we try to Christianize this season, with such platitudes as “Jesus is the reason for the Season,” that is not necessarily accurate either. Why? Because it is the Season of Advent , not the Season of Christmas. We are people awaiting with great anticipation the coming of the Christ, not of the past, but the Christ of the future, the second coming of Jesus. It is this joyful anticipation of Jesus’ second coming that sustains us during the dark times in our lives. It is the knowledge that when Jesus comes again, he will bring to all humankind the peace, the joy, and the love absent in our present world. At his second coming, Jesus will bring to our Earth the fulfillment of God’s reign.
During Advent, we draw parallels between the era of past anticipation with that of our present era of anticipation. Like Israel of old, we long for Jesus to enter into the darkness of our humanity, to bring wholeness to our broken world, to heal the divisions that exist within ourselves and outside of ourselves. Pregnant with this hope, we do not just sit around waiting for the second coming to happen. As a very pregnant Mary brought the presence of Christ within her womb to her cousin, Elizabeth, so, we, too, need to bring the presence of Christ within ourselves to others. This is why when we express the mystery of our faith at Mass we sing, “We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection, until you come again.” At every Eucharistic liturgy we remember that we are a people of anticipation. However, ours is not a passive and static anticipation. The Body and Blood of Jesus which we receive at Mass, compels us to go forth and bring the presence of Christ to others until that time when he, himself, will come again in glory.
May the Season of Advent be more than just the mere decorating of our homes with lights and garland, and the making of special treats reserved for this specific time of year. May our Advent be a time when we prepare ourselves for the Second Christmas, when Jesus returns in glory.
