ADVENT: A rehearsal for our meeting the Lord

When the Trapp Family Singers came to America it was just before Thanksgiving. Maria Augusta Trapp (Maria in the Sound of Music) noted in her writings that she loved the idea of a national holiday of Thanksgiving. Even in Catholic Austria they didn't have such a day. But then they didn't have Pilgrims either! She went on to write that as delighted as she was about Thanksgiving, she was equally taken aback at hearing Christmas carols a few days afterwards in the shops and on the radio. In Austria no one played carols until Midnight Mass, and then there was an intense burst of joy that ushered in a season that went on for almost two weeks.

Highlights

By Father Denis Wilde, OSA
11/29/2024 (4 months ago)

Published in Christmas / Advent

Keywords: Advent

Times have surely changed, even here. Now the stores are already decorated well before Thanksgiving. And we decry the commercialism of it all, even as we make up our lists for our loved ones and venture out to tackle the mad shoppers' world. So, roll up your sleeves, those of us who have not already ran the first few laps in the race, and get set to work your way through this year's shopping adventure. Colors, sounds, smells ... and fatigue. Though so much now can be easily "arm-chaired" on Amazon or elsewhere.

Now, I'm not for pronouncing a Ebenezer Scrooge "Bah Humbug!" on it all. We write the fatigue off as works of love. But before we get too far into it all, let us call a halt! If we do not control things, they will control us. That's plain and inevitable. Let us give ourselves the needed pause to plan out just what the product of this month of December should produce. As in anything, we get out of Christmas what we put into it. I am not talking about how much we pay for an item, but how much we pay for our peace and spiritual longing.

Consider this: Christmas is a time to remind us - even rehearse us - on how we will prepare for the final coming of Christ at our deaths.

We ourselves, you and I, are God's gift, which He fashions Himself. Is that to be opened on Christmas 2024 and soon discarded or forgotten, or not upgraded?

No, this liturgical season of Advent should clean us out in expectation for the Coming of the Lord - not just as a Baby, but in the reality of our destiny. Maranatha: The last words of the Bible - the most important ones in our response to the Lord so long expected. "Come, Lord Jesus." Yes, as we wait "in joyful hope for the Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ," as we say in the doxology to the Lord's prayer.

Is it possible there was no room in the inn in Bethlehem because people were too busy to recognize God's presence as precious? How do we make room for Him in our own lives? You and I know these days are a rat race, but to the extent that we endorse the rat race by our scurrying about from store to store, from special event to event, how much thought and apart-time for the Light amidst the darkness is spent in solitude, if not occasionally absorbed in night sky wonder?

Advent is not a time for clutter. It is a time for preparation. To be sure, we prepare but first and foremost for Christ, but we also prepare even material things. For as we anticipate the coming of the King, we need to gear ourselves up for giving rather than for the exchange of gifts. There are people who are homeless, hungry and lacking basics. We can learn about Christmas by attending to giving to the "least of Christ's brethren" this Christmas.

Advent is a time to make the house ready for the Lord - not by clutter, not by being too dangerously busy that we fail to gain the spiritual depth and richness the season offers us. The lovely, romanticized mixture of cold and warmth, of light amidst darkness that a few moments well experienced outdoors can remind us, may also spark our attention to realizing the eternal light of Christ amidst a world of commercial plastic passings.

And how do we prepare? Check out practically how much time it will take you to do your shopping, preparations, and attend Christmas parties and events. Pray to the Lord to stir you up to make a chunk of time from that total and mark it down as time for spiritual preparation. And I mean all of us - school children, teenagers, adults and seniors.

All of us need to offer "time to waste," if you wish to describe it, for the Coming Lord. Find out the richness of the events of Christmas. Read Matthew 1 and 2, Luke 1 and 2, and before all of that, the prophetic chapters in Isaiah the Prophet. It is exciting reading and most timely, because it tells us about God's marvels and His Work for each of us.

Savor how the divine embryo in Mary's womb influenced the baby (John the Baptist) in Elizabeth, by "leaping for joy." Reckon with the humble, strong manly leadership of Joseph silently obeying God's plan with determination and mega-trust despite Mary's pregnancy. An "unexpected pregnancy" at that! And the humility of God's presence found in an eating trough for animals.

Join with Isaiah in anticipating "A Child born to us, the everlasting Prince of Peace." The reason for the season. Begin it now!
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Fr. Denis Wilde, OSA, Ph.D., is the associate chaplain for Priests for Life. A concert pianist, he was formerly an associate professor of music at Villanova University.