Today we embark upon the season of Advent.
We use this time that has been set before us to rush around buying presents, filling out cards, decorating our homes with trees and lights. The music which plays from the radio is that of Christmas classics. This season has become time for parties and celebrations and yet Christmas has not yet arrived.
Advent is a period of preparation in order that we may be awoken from our slumber. As we rush about toiling with as if Christmas is already here it is no wonder why our Christmas celebration does not transcend the 25th of December because everyone has already tired themselves out. We cannot allow the ways of our culture to cause us to lose sight of this period of preparation.
Thus throughout Advent we are preparing to receive the greatest gift which we can receive into our life. That is the gift of the coming of the Messiah on Christmas morning. Through Advent we also prepare for the eventual second coming of the Messiah when the Lord will come again and will call us to the final judgement.
In the account of the Nativity we are told that Mary and Joseph could not find room within the inn. This means that Christ could not find room within the inn. This inn is the same as our heart which is so often closed to allowing such a relationship to begin to take place. You see it is us who have made no room within the inn of our heart for the Messiah to enter in and to dwell with us.
This is the purpose of the Advent season. We want to make room for the Lord to enter in and to dwell with us. Our Gospel instructs us: “be watchful, be alert.” This is so not because we travel towards the known date of Christmas, but because we travel towards the unknown date of the final judgement. We do not want to be caught off guard during this interaction, but we want to be found prepared.
Therefore, as you go about these three weeks which lie ahead do not allow your Christmas preparations to overshadow the fact that we are in a period of preparation. Find ways to orient yourself and your family towards this reality. Maybe through an Advent wreath lit at each meal ate together as a family, through the reading of a spiritual book which breaks open the reality of Christ’s birth unto us, through participation in the Sacrament of Confession, through time spent in the silence of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, or through some other way in which we prepare for the Lord’s coming.
May we truly be found “watchful” and “alert” during this Advent season in order that we may be found prepared for the Lord’s coming.
