What does Advent mean, and why is the season so significant?
Adventus Domini is a Latin phrase meaning the “coming of the Lord.”
Advent is a time of preparation, a time of holy desire and longing for
the promised Messiah.
It is, however, a tragic mistake to view the Advent season as a sort
of sentimental preview of Christmas. Far too often, those trite attitudes
have led to the appalling expulsion of Christ from Christmas, when all
that remains is tinsel and trees and the hollow loneliness of Christmas
without Christ. How can it “seem like Christmas” when a
secularized society has shut out the Light of the World?
The Advent season brims with joyful hope as the liturgies remind us
of the two comings of Christ.
From the first Sunday of Advent to Dec. 16, the Church stresses the
second coming of Christ, when He will come in justice to judge “the
living and the dead.”
The November liturgies prepared us for the last judgment, when Jesus
will complete His work of redemption. On the last day, He will raise
every human person from the dead, reuniting every person with their
bodies.
As our Lord warned us, the time for mercy will have passed. Jesus said:
“Be vigilant at all times, and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the
Son of Man.” Faithfulness to our baptismal promises, affords us
the sure hope of being among “those who have survived the great
period of trial and have washed their robes, making them white in the
Blood of the Lamb” (Apocalypse 7:14).
From Dec. 17 to Christmas Eve the stress shifts to our Lord’s
first coming. Jesus, true God and true Man, comes not in justice but
in mercy and forgiveness. By His death on the cross of Calvary, Jesus
Christ saved us from sin, Satan, and eternal death.
At Bethlehem, Mary, His Virgin Mother, kneels in peaceful adoration
of the Child in the crib. Joseph, the husband of Mary and the guardian
of our Redeemer, worships his foster Son in humble prayer and wonder.
The glorious sound of singing angels permeates the still serenity of
the stable: Gloria in Excelsis Deo! Even the animals are still, as they
sense the profound Presence.
My dear friends, never permit the Advent and Christmas season to become
a festival of pagan parties and shallow sentimentalities.
Prepare for both comings of Christ by making frequent confessions and
fervent holy Communions. Be ever mindful that Jesus comes to us every
day of the year in the holy sacrifice of the Mass and in the Blessed
Sacrament. He comes not to condemn us but to save.
This Advent, as we wait and watch for His coming, let us sing out with
the Universal Church: “Lord, show us your love and grant us your
salvation.”
Have a blessed Christmas.
Father Richard Rego, a native of Philadelphia, is pastor of Immaculate
Conception Catholic Church in Ajo, Ariz., and has been a frequent guest
on EWTN.