From the bulletin for the First Sunday of Advent (Dec 01, 2024)
First Sunday of Advent
“People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory… Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man” (Lk 21:26-27, 34-46).
Nothing says “Merry Christmas” quite like the first Sunday of Advent. Of course, that is not at all what the Liturgy is interested in saying to us at this juncture. While the world trades out turkeys for lawn reindeer, Catholics ponder the end of the world.
It’s good to contemplate the infant Christ asleep in the manger. It is right to surround our celebration of the arrival of our Savior with feasting and the giving of gifts. It is well that each year we exercise our hearts in longing for the Messiah with all those generations that came before Christ, who never got to see His face. But it is more urgent, says the Sacred Liturgy, more necessary, perhaps, that we ready ourselves for His next coming, for His final Advent: either the personal one that ends our earthly life, or the One that brings this whole age to a close.
Imagine an angel appeared to you and gave you this choice: would you like Christ to come for you today, in one year, or in five?
Perhaps there are some in the community who would respond by asking how soon He could be there today. I have a hunch that most would prefer at least a little more time. But time for what? To enjoy this life a little more before we have to say goodbye to it? To check off a few more items on the bucket list? Lay up a little more for your family? Settle your affairs? Finish that degree?
The saintly Curé of Ars always longed for the space of a year or two of solitude at the end of his life to prepare his soul for death, judging himself to still be very much in need of repentance and prayer. God never gave him that luxury, probably because he was doing far better sanctifying himself and others as a parish priest. When asked by his less pious playmates what he would do if he knew he was going to die that day, St. Dominic Savio responded that he would continue to play with them just as he was, since it was God’s will for him at that moment. Ask yourself: am I living in such a way as to be ready for the Lord to come take me at any moment? Would there be any moment in the past 24 hours in which I would have been ashamed for Him to show up?
“Life for me is Christ,” says St. Paul, and therefore “death is gain” (Phil 1:21). If Jesus Christ is truly our pearl beyond price and buried treasure in which our heart is hidden, we will long for His coming, and wish to hasten it if such would delight more His Heart. On the other hand, if I would prefer to see Him tomorrow rather than today, what reason should I have for thinking that tomorrow I won’t still regret His arrival?
The best preparation for Christ’s coming is to start to long for it today. Even to long that He might come today. To repent of all that might give us cause for shame on that Last Day (whenever it arrive), and to recognize that whatever precious things our hearts may wish to hold onto here below, they are a loss for us compared to “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,” (Phil 3:8).
As we enter into this busy but holy season, I encourage all to drink in the spirit of these first weeks of Advent and prepare as if Christ were indeed going to come on the 25th: not in sacrament or in memory, but “on the clouds and with power and great glory” to take us home. Might dampen the “carousing and drunkenness” that might otherwise creep into your holiday parties. But will certainly lead to a Merry Christmas, when the time finally comes.
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