“Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.” Matthew 24:42
Here we are once again on the first Sunday of Advent, once again just weeks away from the celebration of the great solemnity of Christmas. Here we are once again entering into a period of preparation for the graces to be received as we contemplate what it means to have a God who is willing to come be on our level, to be Emmanuel and be with us. We are no longer in ordinary time, and it’s clear in today’s readings that something extraordinary is on the horizon.
But it’s also a bit strange, it seems on the surface, listening to Jesus in today’s Gospel reading talk and warn about the end of days just as we begin Advent, just as we begin to focus on those ancient events leading up to his miraculous and extraordinary birth in a manger in Bethlehem. What are we doing here — looking back to the cataclysm of Noah’s great destructive flood and forward to the day judgement?
It all seems so out of place in light of our modern celebration and understanding of Advent and Christmas, which has reduced Advent and Christmas in so many ways into a very different kind of “holiday season” that has become, for so many, nothing more than a race to Christmas day. And today the starting pistol has been fired. And, in fact, there is so much joy to be found in the celebration of Christmas morning as it has come to be defined by western culture and traditions. There is joy in Santa and gift-giving and gathering friends and family for magnificent or simple meals.
But there is more. Today we are asked to ponder a sleigh-load of big ideas at the same time: Jesus was born. Jesus lived and was crucified and rose from the dead. Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. This is not just the beginning of a holiday season. This is the beginning of a great and ongoing story that has the power to change us forever.
Advent is not just a time of preparing for the celebration of Christmas. Advent is a time for preparing ourselves for a new way of living and loving.
“Come Lord Jesus. Come.”
It’s good to hear from you again, Steve! As usual, you “hit the nail on the head”. Thanks for always giving us something more to think about – such good stuff!
Thanks, Judy. Have a blessed advent.
Yes! So good to be hearing from you again, Steve! Advent! A gift we’re given! An opportunity to spend precious “time” with the One who waits on us. Advent! An opportunity we have been given to consider it all again, just maybe though, for most of us, from a vantage point that the days have changed a bit. A vantage point that requires some re-rooting perhaps, or that fills us with a renewed sense of awe. Thanks for this most valuable reminder that we need to “ponder!” All of us. God’s blessings always, Steve.
Thanks, Kathleen…I’m going to try and get a bit more regular in posting again. Retirement hasn’t made it any easier, as it turns out!