Reflection

Advent

The feast of Christmas came before Advent was established.  The origins of the feast of Christmas are associated with Pope Leo the Great (440-461).  He used the symbolism of the shortest day and the expansion of daylight from that day on.  He actually complained that some Christians bowed to the sun as they came into Mass!

The first mention of Advent that we have can be dated at 480, but it was not until the late 500’s that we find references to the weeks of Advent along the lines that we have them today.

Advent, as we celebrate it today, has two parts to it.  It is based on the four Sundays which precede Christmas and within that time, there is a first part which goes up till 16 December.  The emphasis on this time is on the Old Testament texts which are pointing to ‘the One who is to come’, and New Testament texts which show that Jesus is the fulfillment of these expectations.  In this time there tends to be an emphasis on the coming of the Messiah which refers both to his coming in history and to his final coming.  

From 17 December we have the second part of Advent which concentrates on the coming of the Lord among us in his earthly life.  So, in these nine days, we have all the passages of the gospels which concern that coming.  So, we hear about the events which lead up to Jesus’ coming; the birth of John the Baptist, the annunciation of Jesus’ birth to Joseph (Matthew’s gospel) and the annunciation of his birth to Mary and her the visitation to Elizabeth (Luke’s gospel).  Old Testament passages in which these events are foreshadowed accompany those gospel passages.

Advent is a beautiful season in which we are alerted to and invited to reflect on the coming of the Lord in whatever way he comes: his coming in history which we celebrate in his birth, the promised and mysterious coming in which he will be fully revealed and on the ways in which he comes into our lives in the present.

Advent is a time for ‘watching and waiting’.  We watch for the unexpected comings of the Lord into our lives.  We must never forget that the way he came 2,000 years ago took everyone by surprise!  They were not expecting him to be as he was!  They had to discover him and his ways which were not what they expected.

Advent is also a time of waiting.  We keep praying during Advent that he will keep coming.  It is not so much that we are praying for the coming of some event in the far future but rather we are praying that he will keep coming among us and eventually complete that coming.

We need to be alert to his word’s capacity to come inside us.  We need to be present and open to his Eucharistic coming in every Mass: we pray “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’.  We need to be alert to people and events in our lives in which he can come to us, make his presence felt.  Our constant Advent prayer is Come, Lord Jesus.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin