Beginning the Liturgical Year with "The End" in Mind (1st Sunday in Advent)

One of the best ways that we can prepare for the coming of the Word Made Flesh (Jesus Christ) is by pondering the Word of God as presented in Sacred Scripture, and so we turn our attention to the readings for December 1st, the First Sunday of Advent. 

In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah tells of a day in the future when great throngs of people will stream toward the “mountain of the Lord” referring not only to the city of Jerusalem, but that heavenly Jerusalem that is the Church. Arriving at the mountain of the Lord will bring a great peace in which weapons of war will become farming implements - swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Perhaps today we might say “Tanks into tractors and guns into lawn trimmers”. 

If Isaiah depicts this adventure to the heavenly Jerusalem, then the Psalm, 122, is the hymn of the throngs as they march along their way to the “House of the Lord”; it is the fight song of people on an epic journey that will end with rejoicing and prosperity and peace.

We hear St. Paul give us instruction in his epistle to the Romans, preparing us for this great adventure. He tells us to conduct ourselves properly, to put on Christ and the armor of light, so that we might vanquish the darkness of sin and death. 

Finally the readings culminate with the Gospel theme: “The end is near!” Jesus is foretelling His own triumphant return - a return that we profess in the Creed each Sunday: “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”  He tells us about the coming of the “Son of Man” - an ancient Jewish phrase referring to the Messiah. In warning us of the reality of The End Christ is reminding us of the inescapable fact that it comes for all of us, and with it comes judgment. There is little comfort to be found in any discussion of the Last Things (Death, Judgment, Heaven, & Hell).  If this message is an unsettling jolt to those whose minds have turned already toward the Christmas themes of Peace on Earth and goodwill toward men, how much more so is it disturbing to those whose minds have turned only as far as Black Friday deals and Christmas wish-lists? 

Why does the Lord jolt us so? And to what end does the Church choose this message to begin the season of Advent? Christ plainly says that His purpose is to help inspire and motivate us - to help save us.  Seeing how easily we are lulled into a spiritual slumber he admonishes us to “Stay awake.” Knowing how readily we can put off our spiritual health, He calls us to “Be prepared.” In his rule, St. Benedict wrote that his monks should “keep death daily before their eyes.” This is not a macabre and somber dwelling upon death, but a reminder that “time flies, life is short.” Christ is calling us truly seize the day, to live deliberately in the fullest sense, to choose the narrow path that leads to salvation. It is not a one-time choice, but rather one that, with God’s help, we must make daily. Let us “encourage each other daily while it is still today.” 

Advent: A Time to Wait, Ponder, & Prepare

A few weeks ago we all experienced a little “hiccup” in time when we turned our clocks back, “gained” an extra hour of sleep, and with it a brighter morning commute. In the Spring we will experience a similar hiccup when the clocks are moved forward, that precious hour is lost, and we will be headed to school in darkness yet again. Indiana did not adopt Daylight Saving Time until 2006, becoming the 48th state to do so. This leaves Alaska as the lone hold out; What the clock reads makes little difference in the “Land of the Midnight Sun”.

Culturally, American society has experienced its own recent hiccup of sorts, and like Alaska, the Church continues to hold out. For most Americans Thanksgiving marks the “official” start of the Christmas season. The signs of it are everywhere: neighborhood Christmas lights help stave off the late autumn darkness, stores of all sorts are decked in Christmas decor, and at least one local radio station is playing Christmas music around the clock. The Church does not follow this broad and well-traveled path. As the culture shouts “Merry Christmas!” (or rather, “Happy Holidays!”) the Church whispers in reply, “Not yet… not yet.” The Church’s delay of Christmas exuberance is not born out of stubbornness, much less is it a sign of any sort of Scrooge-like hum-buggery. Rather, it is a recognition that some things are worth waiting for, even if, as the late Tom Petty lyrically lamented, “the waiting is the hardest part.” 

As parents we have learned that the zeal and eagerness of youth can be disastrous if not tempered by the virtue of Prudence. We don’t want our children to rush into things without properly thinking them through and preparing for them: Driving, dating, college and career choices, living arrangements, and marriage are all things that we want our children to discern and deliberate about before jumping into them. We know that thinking through these choices helps them appreciate their complexity and their consequences. That is where Prudence comes in: The ancient Greeks described Prudence as the “charioteer” of the other virtues, holding them in check lest the chariot go careening off, out of control. Prudence is at the heart of the often heard and oft-repeated classic parental question, “If all of your friends jumped off a bridge would you jump too?” So like a wise mother, the Church sees the culture rushing headlong into Christmas while Thanksgiving leftovers remain in the fridge, and she says, “Wait. Ponder. Prepare.” The Church gives us the season of Advent for this very reason, and Advent is the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year. It calls us to start the year in anticipation. Wait. Ponder. Prepare.