During this time of year, I thought it might be fitting to share an Advent reflection. Last year, Peter Cermak shared a reflection on the season of giving which I recommend revisiting.
The church specifically calls Advent a time of preparation. What comes with this special distinction? I think there is a temptation to coast through this liturgical season amid busy planning and excitement for the holidays. The season can feel less burdensome than its spring counterpart, Lent, because it is a joyful season, however, we are still asked to prepare ourselves for Christ’s incarnation just as we prepare for the Passion and Resurrection in Lent. I’ll focus my reflection on Advent as a time of preparation, and how Mary and Joseph provide a beautiful example for us to emulate.
Advent calls for us to quiet our hearts and minds in preparation. A reflection from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops notes that Advent is a time of, “preparing, quieting, and disciplining our hearts for the full joy of Christmas.”1 The Church helps guide our time of preparation through specific liturgies, as well as traditions such as the Advent wreath and Advent calendar.
A passage from Luke provides specific guidance on how to prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. 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.”2 One specific part of this passage stands out to me in particular - “the anxieties of daily life.” Potentially now more than ever it is easy to be overwhelmed by the daily happenings and anxieties. I know that I am prone to these distractions. I brought up the platform “ChatGPT” with my wife recently, which to me is all the buzz. My wife did not know what “ChatGPT” even was. Although surprised, I also thought it wonderful to be unaware of something that is drummed over my head in every article and post I read. How many things like this fill our minds, and do we make an effort to let go of these distractions during this season? We should devote ourselves to quieting our minds so as to make room for Christ.
Our preparation for Christ’s coming is duel in nature. We are preparing for Christmas, the remembrance and celebration of Christ’s incarnation through the Nativity, Christ’s First Coming. We are also preparing ourselves for the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time. The Catechism states, “When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming.”3 Preparation for the second coming is essential since we do not know ‘the day or the hour.’ The Catechism states emphatically, “Since the Ascension, Christ's coming in glory has been imminent, even though ‘it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.’ This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are "delayed.”4
Thankfully, Christ offers us a beautiful example of how to prepare ourselves for His coming, in both senses. These models are Mary and Joseph who were the first to prepare for Christ’s first coming. There was no panic, no anxiety, no doubt in God’s plan for them when they heard the message of the Angel Gabriel, just a simple “fiat” and then quiet preparation for the infant Jesus. They also show that their preparation was tied to their obedience – a pure adherence to the Divine will as they understood it – amid unknowns. We too should be obedient in our preparation, even with the distractions during this time of year, and even more so when Christ’s second coming is an unknown. Now, when faced with those difficulties, Mary and Joseph present themselves as sure guides. Can we follow their example: quietly prepare for Jesus’ coming, discipline the heart and mind, and shed the distractions and anxieties of life.
By quieting our hearts, we prepare a space for Christ to enter. When reflecting on this quiet preparation, I thought of a carol about listening. The carol is the story of a message passed from one Nativity participant to the next - the night wind to the little lamb, the little lamb to the shepherd boy, the shepherd boy to the mighty king – “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Only deliberate Advent preparation can enable us to hear and to share the message to the people everywhere: “The Child, the Child sleeping in the night, He will bring us goodness and light.”
So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas
(By “eightieth” meaning whichever is last)
The accumulated memories of annual emotion
May be concentrated into a great joy
Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion
When fear came upon every soul:
Because the beginning shall remind us of the end
And the first coming of the second coming.
an excerpt from “The Cultivation of Christmas Trees” by T.S. Eliot
Luke 21:34-36
CCC 524
CCC 673