Advent – A Time to Prepare

As we now enter into this Advent season, the beginning of a new liturgical year, we have a wonderful opportunity to turn over a new leaf in our spiritual and religious life.  During this past year within our Future Direction program we have all been charged to accomplish five themes for ourselves and our parishes.  Advent allows us to take up these goals anew.

One aspect of this program for the Church is for each of us, both individually and together as parish communities, to take seriously “increased spirituality.”  This Advent season, as a season to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ, is one in which we can daily put spiritual practices into our life that will allow us to grow closer to Jesus and therefore to be prepared for His coming.

St. Paul speaks to this reality in his letter to the Romans that we read on the first Sunday of this Advent season.  St. Paul tells the inhabitants of the city of Rome and us as well: “You know the time in which we are living.  It is now the hour for you to wake from sleep, for our salvation is closer than when we first accepted the faith.  The night is far spent; the day draws near.  Let us cast off deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let us live honorably as in daylight.” (Romans 13:11-13a)

We certainly do know the times in which we are living.  For all people, especially those who faithfully follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, there is difficulty and oftentimes ridicule.  These are difficult times when much of the surrounding culture has turned away from Christian life and Christian faith.  And yet, as followers of Jesus, we also know where we stand.  It is for this reason that we know that when the culture moves away from our Lord, it wanders off from the source of light and goodness.  We, especially during this Advent season, know that the source of light, of holiness and of goodness, is being aligned with Jesus.  And in order for us to do this we must train ourselves in spiritual practices.

Penitential seasons, like this Advent, allow us the time to accomplish this work within our lives.  It certainly begins with the celebration of Holy Mass throughout this Advent season.  If you have been lax in your Mass attendance, Advent is an excellent time to recommit yourselves to faithfully coming to worship God, participate in the Sacrament of Penance, and receive our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ present in Holy Communion.  During these moments of prayer and worship we can begin to ask Almighty God to get us ready. 

Ready for what you ask?  I suppose we can begin with being ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus at His Nativity, but it is so much more as well.  Since Advent is the season of expectant waiting, within it we are really getting ourselves ready for a number of things.  Yes, it begins with the celebration of the Lord’s birth at His Nativity, but we are also aware that Christ has promised another coming, and this one will be to judge the world. 

In the Gospel for the first Sunday of Advent we read: “The coming of the Son of Man will repeat what happened in Noah’s time.  In the days before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and being married, right up to the day Noah entered the ark.  They were totally unconcerned until the flood came and destroyed them.” (Matthew 24:37-39)  The word that always stands out here is “unconcerned.”  The season of Advent helps us to not be unconcerned and instead concern ourselves with spiritual preparation.

There are certainly too many people whose approach to their religious and spiritual life is summed up in the word, “unconcerned.”  So we must ask ourselves, what exactly are we to be concerned about.  It is here that we seek to increase our spiritual lives.  It begins with examining our daily living and how we are conforming our own lives to the life of Jesus.  We have been encouraged to pray the “Prayer before Holy Mass” each and every time we come to Church on Sunday.  A portion of this prayer implores God, “may the Sacraments I will receive, the prayers I will say and the hymns I will sing bring me closer to Jesus and help me to be more like Him in all that I say and do.” (PNCC Prayer Book)  But of course it is not enough just to say these words.  We must reflect upon them in our hearts, seek to make correction through the Sacrament of Penance and Penitential Devotions and then truly amend our lives. 

The Church gives us this Advent season, as a penitential period, to begin to become concerned about how we are presently living our lives and then through reflection and Penitential practices to make real changes.  The goal is again said within the prayer, “bring us closer to Jesus.”

We must strive to grow closer to Jesus, especially within these times of preparation, because we must acknowledge the reality that our Lord Jesus Christ is coming.  Our faith tells us that He is coming in the commemoration of His Nativity; it tells us that He will one day come to judge the living and the dead as we confess within the Nicene Creed.  But He also comes to us each and every time we gather for worship, each and every time we hear His word, each and every time we receive Him in Holy Communion, each and every time we serve others in His name.  Jesus is certainly coming to us in so very many ways.  So the question is do we see this, and more importantly are we concerned about making these encounters a daily reality of our lives. 

I certainly realize that in these weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday we will all have much preparing to do for the secular celebration.  But I encourage you to concern yourselves with the spiritual preparations as well.  Don’t just spend time cleaning and straightening your home for the guests that will visit; clean and straighten your life in the Sacrament of Penance for the most important guest, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Don’t just spend time buying gifts to present to the ones you love, also spend time giving the gifts of your time, love and devotion to the One Who truly loves you in heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Don’t just spend time and effort on the delicious meals that you will share this season, but come to share our Lord’s banquet that is offered to us within the Holy Sacrifice of Mass.

All of these secular things are certainly important as we gather as family, friends and parishes in the coming weeks, but don’t allow that to make you unconcerned about the spiritual aspects of your life and preparation in these weeks ahead. 

I’ve often found that during these weeks leading up to the Nativity of our Lord, many people will ask the question, “Are you ready for Christmas?”  I think that as we concern ourselves with the important aspects of preparation in this Advent time maybe the better question would be, “Are you ready for Christ Jesus?”

As we prepare in this Advent season of hope and expectation, let’s be ready to meet Jesus, at His Nativity, and the judgment and each moment that He comes to us.  “Are you ready for Christ Jesus?”  Let this Advent season allow us to begin to answer “yes.”