Advent

“Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” Hebrews 9: 28

 The season of Advent marks the beginning of the Church's liturgical year. The four Sundays of Advent are observed in most church traditions and are seen as a preparation for Christmas. All Christmas-related activities begin in churches during this time. For Christians, this signals the shopping, giving, decorating and cooking that comes with the season.

But is Advent just a preparation for Christmas? If the Church wanted to focus on the preparation for the celebration of the first coming of our Lord, it could have called it the Christmas season. But we have a separate Christmas season, from Christmas Day to Epiphany. If this is so, how should we think of Advent?

Recently, as I was going through the lectionary readings for Advent, I realised that the season is not only a preparation for Christmas, but there is more to it.

It is also a preparation for the second coming of Christ!

Advent' comes from the Latin word 'adventus' meaning 'to come'. Church tradition kept it vague to mean the first and second coming of Christ. As we prepare for Christmas, we are called to think about the second coming of Christ.

The images we have of the second coming of Christ are quite different from the image of Christmas. How can we think of the glorious return of the Judge when we want to celebrate the helpless baby born in a manger? It is quite the opposite, but Advent encourages us to do so.

There are many parallels and we should meditate on them. How were the promises of the coming Messiah fulfilled in the first coming and how will the prophecies of the second coming be fulfilled? How the people of Jesus' day were caught unaware of His first coming, though they were eagerly awaiting Him, and how we should be alert for His second coming? How the Kingdom of God inaugurated by Jesus will be completed at His second coming? etc.

An American Catholic Bishop, Bishop Robert Baker says this “Let Advent be Advent and Christmas be Christmas. They are two different seasons. Advent is a time of preparation, of expectancy, of anticipation. The Christmas season is a time of the realization of that hope and a continuation of that hope… Make Advent special! Delay the celebration of Christmas until Christmas day! We need to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Messiah, who came in the past, but comes again each day.”