Advent is the season Catholics and some other Christian traditions set aside to prepare for the coming of our Lord. There are two comings for which we prepare, and a third, as well.

The first coming, of course, is when Jesus came as a baby, born of the Virgin Mary. The Second Person of the Holy Trinity, eternal God and Lord, chose to become incarnate in the womb of a young woman, to be born into this world as one of us, like us in all things except sin, to save us from the chains of slavery to sin. In His life lived in perfect obedience to the will of the Father, He overcame the disobedience of Adam. Adam’s disobedience introduced sin and death into our world. Jesus’ life of perfect obedience even unto death conquered sin and death. In following Jesus, we become co-heirs with Him to the kingdom of God. There is cause for rejoicing here!

The second coming of Christ will be at the end of time, where He returns to collect those who have remained faithful to Him, who have striven to live the life of gospel joy. At the first coming, Christ came a a baby, weak and dependent on Mary His Mother and His foster Father, Joseph. At His Second Coming, Christ will come as a warrior king, destroying God’s enemies and initiating the New Jerusalem, where His light will illuminate the lives of those who now share in the divine nature. At the Second Coming, Christ will judge the nations, separating the sheep and the goats, the saved and the damned. On what basis will He judge? On how we treated Him in what St. Teresa of Calcutta called “the destressing disguise of the poor.”

This is the third coming of Christ for which we need to be prepared, when Christ comes to us as the hungry, thirsty, naked, ill, imprisoned, and all who suffer the debilitating effects of sin and death on this world. When we stand before Him, He will say to the righteous, “I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me drink, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, imprisoned and you visited me.” The righteous, not recognizing their own righteousness, will ask, “When did we do this?” Our Lord and Judge will answer, “Whenever you did it for these, the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me. Come into my kingdom, prepared for you from the beginning of the world.” But He will say to the unrighteous, “Depart from me, for when I was hungry you gave me no food; thirsty, you gave me no drink; naked, you did not clothe me; ill, you did not care for me; imprisoned, you did not visit me.” The unrighteous, thinking themselves righteous, will ask, “When, Lord, did we see you such and not attend to your needs?” Jesus will reply, “Whenever you failed to do it for the least of my brothers and sisters, you failed to do it for me. Now go out of my sight!” The righteous will progress to the kingdom of God, while the unrighteous will be condemned to everlasting fire.

It is the faith of the Church that hell is real, and it is not empty. But it is also the faith of the Church that our Lord is eager to forgive. He strengthens us through HIs Word proclaimed from the ambo. He nourishes us with the sacrament of His own Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. He forgives our sins through the sacrment of Reconciliation. The sacramental life of the Church is where we receive the grace necessary to build lives centered on Christ and remain faithful to the end.

Advent is a gift given by the Church to reset our spiritual lives, where we can exploit the sacraments given to the Church by Christ and administered by the Church in the name of Christ. When our spiritual lives are less than we would like them to be, Advent gives us the opportunity to strengthen them by going to Confession and even daily Mass as we are able. The prayers of the Church, especially the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours (or Divine Office) set moments of each day aside for God, for praising Him through the psalms and petitioning His benevolance.

Advent also initiates the new liturgical year. Again, as before in years untold, Advent gives us a time to reset our lives, to be cleansed from our sins and strengthened by the sacraments and prayers to once again move forward in our commitment to live the life of Christ and of gospel joy. When others see us living lives of gospel joy, they will naturally wonder what is wrong with us. They may even inquire of us what makes us so happy in this dismal temporal order, what helps us keep our cool when plans go awry, what provides the skip in our step and the energy that supplies the people of God. And when they ask, we get to tell them about Jesus!

A Blessed Advent to all!

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.