First Sunday of Advent

First Sunday of Advent
December 2, 2006

I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land. (Jeremiah 33:14-16). May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all… “ (1 Thessalonians 3:12) “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory”. (Luke 21:25-28).

This Sunday begins our preparation for the three comings of Christ: to the church and the world in the present moment, mystically into our hearts and minds, and at the end of time. This is a season of hope and patient expectation. We get a glimpse of all three in this Sunday's readings.

The prophet is longing for the restoration of the Israelites from captivity. We have always regarded this reference to "a just shoot" of David as pointing us to the coming of Christ, to lead us out of captivity to our human inclination toward sin and depravity. We do not have to wait for this to happen, it occurred once and for all in the person of Jesus. In this sense our "waiting" in Advent is symbolic: preparing to celebrate the present, remember the past and anticipate the future.

St. Paul is exhorting early believers who were confident that Christ's return was literally going to occur "before this generation passes away". He focuses our attention on the qualities of mutual love and courage necessary for us who still wait. So, how do we allow ourselves to be prepared personally for the divine presence which is already within us? This is the Holy Spirit's doing, not our own. Perhaps by praying to be made into the empty vessel into which He may come. This will place us at odds with the culture of Christmas which encourages us to be filled up with things, as if these presents and the present are all we have.
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Jesus speaks of the third coming of the Son of Man in glory. We are being reminded again of the "last things" which are to come, first with its many trials and tribulations and then with the culmination of all our hopes and dreams. And we are brought back to the first coming of Christ in history which we will celebrate soon, the beginning of new hope for humankind

With our minds and hearts focused on this great mystery, being surrounded by God's presence on all sides in time and space, how could we be content with merely celebrating a cultural Christmas? Rather than wasting our time criticizing it, perhaps we could instead commit ourselves to paying more attention to the spiritual richness of the season. How is the divine presence in my life, in the life of those close to me, and on this beloved earth of ours evident at this very moment? What can we do to advance this divine presence and in so doing hasten the coming of the kingdom?