Why is Advent
so easy to ignore, when it is such a delight to explore?
This year we
have the longest Advent possible – a full four weeks, as Christmas arrives
seven days after the Fourth Sunday in Advent.
Every Scripture reading, every prayer available in the Advent liturgy,
we will use. The candles of our Advent
wreath will burn down to nubs. Great, you might say. More time!
But ask your kids: is more time until Christmas really a GOOD
thing? It simply means longer to wait,
and that can be hard on a kid!
Thus is
Advent a four-week exploration of the real suspense in our lives. There is so much to do, and we do so much
with every day our lives. But none of
what we do, accomplishes what we crave, what we need, what will last – what
will, as the saying goes, really make a
difference. For that we need someone else.
The real work
of Advent is not making Christmas
happen, but directing our attention to what is going to happen. Christ is coming; He will bring peace, and He
will send packing the unjust, the unrighteous, and the uninterested.
Wake up! is the first thing that is required
of us; wake up from our slumber both literal and metaphorical. While hardly a great accomplishment, it is
something required daily of everyone.
The next
thing we must do is repent, says John
the Baptist: change. We need to discard
every aspect of our lives that obstructs Christ’s coming, those aspects often
called sin. How to do that? What should be on our lists? It turns out, He who comes will bring an
answer for that, too.
All about us,
we are bombarded by reminders and even assertions of what we need to have a
wonderful Christmas, the kind of Christmas we used to know, the kind of
Christmas we want our children to enjoy, the kind of Christmas that we will
always remember. Because of this
fixation, everybody has lists: things to do, things to buy, things to arrange,
things to achieve, list upon list. The
roads are jammed with people trying to get things that are on their lists.
But isn’t it
funny that the one element we need to have any Christmas at all cannot be
obtained by anything we do, get, or arrange?
The Christ Who comes, comes when He pleases, because He pleases. And until He come, we have no Christmas, no
lasting joy.
Waiting
longer can be a burden for one who is convinced of the goodness of what he
awaits. Waiting longer can be a blessing
for one who uncertain of the coming, or the goodness: waiting to take our
hardest final exam, for example, or for that worrisome diagnosis. We welcome more time when we think we have
more work to do. We groan when more
time, a longer wait, comes between us and what we need.
Advent is a
microcosm of our own lives, our relationship with God, and our hope for
goodness and glory. More time is a blessing
when we are focused on what we can do, what we need to do. More time is a burden when it comes between
us and what we know only God can do. Which
is it for you? A quick examination of
our attitude toward Advent can reveal much about our relationship with the Redeemer.
O come, O come: it is the song of Advent we all know so
well. If we listen, we will hear also
the song of our lives.
Monsignor
Smith
