advent

SUNDAY 14 DECEMBER: THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVEnt: GAUDETE SUNDAY.

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St. John the Baptist, Matia Preti c.1665, de Young and Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, USA.

Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John…. “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”   Matthew 11:7, 11.

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First, a word about today’s special designation. “Gaudete” is the Latin word for “Rejoice”, and it is in the imperative: we must rejoice! There is even a song  which was recorded in the 1970s in Latin which became very popular. Incredible as it might seem, it comes from the Middle Ages and is based on that same word: Gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus ex Maria Virgine, gaudete! (Rejoice, rejoice, Christ is born of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!). There is much more here. Even the priest at Mass today has the option of wearing rose vestments to emphasize the joyful feeling, that Christmas is near! This is today’s opening antiphon at Mass (which is usually not said if there is an opening hymn):

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! Indeed, the Lord is near”. 

So clearly the theme here is to be excited at the approach of Christmas, that moment when the Savior of the World entered into that world as a helpless babe, utterly dependent on those around him. And yet, looking at today’s gospel, this was the one who would enable wonders to be performed that the world had never seen before, and have the good news proclaimed. In a nutshell, this was Jesus’ vocation laid out before him, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 35:5–6, today’s first reading: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf cleared. Then will the lame leap like a stag, and the mute tongue will sing”. Jesus sent this message to John the Baptist who was, at that time, in prison for criticizing King Herod, but had heard that it seemed these prophecies were being fulfilled there and then. And John had been preaching that this would be the sign that the Messiah had arrived. Indeed he had. So John, in the eyes of us Christians, was the last prophet of the Old Testament, announcing the arrival of the Messiah, the Anointed One (Χριστός – Christos – in Greek) when he actually had arrived. That explains why Jesus said that John, of all those born of women, none was greater than John the Baptist. But as he could not benefit from becoming Christian (he was executed shortly after), “the least in the kingdom of heaven (that is, Christian) is greater than he” as he was not present at the Descent of God’s Holy Spirit at Pentecost, inaugurating the age of Christianity. We are  therefore more fortunate than John! We are God’s adopted children, taught by the Son of God and guided by God’s Holy Spirit and powered by God’s love of us: what could possibly be better than that? Hence our joy today. But, as ever, we have to be just a little patient. Just as our ancestors were waiting for the Messiah, we await the Second Coming, but we wait in the presence of the Lord. We do not walk into that night alone; we have a guide who is strong, one whose foot is sure, who can lead us directly into heaven if we follow him. In the meantime, however, we have an intermediate goal – commemorating the arrival of that child in swaddling clothes, warmed by a beloved mother. It is almost time…. And here is a sample of one glorious Christmas Hymn composed by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych.

The Nativity, Ghirlandaio c.1492, Vatican Museums, Vatican City State.

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SUNDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2025: THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.

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Pilgrim Traveler, Matthew 24, “Stay Awake!”

(Jesus said to his disciples) Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.     Matthew 24:42.

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The presence of the Advent wreath up at the altar today and the lighting of one candle of the four tells us immediately that Christmas is around the corner, and that we have four weeks or so to prepare for it. The tradition of the Advent wreath started with our Lutheran brothers and sisters in northern Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Pastor Johann Hinrich Wichern had the inspiration when working with poor children in Hamberg. He must have become so fed up by the children constantly asking “Is it Christmas yet?” (the 19th century version of “Are we there yet?”) that he created this:

Recollections, Advent and Johann Hinrich Wichern, November 2017.

Not quite what we see today. The original wreath, with a base in an old cartwheel, shows all the days of Advent leading up to Christmas, with white candles indicating the Sundays. Quite elaborate compared to the present-day version! It’s a sort of 3D version of the Advent calendar!

This Sunday begins a new church year and with it our hopes and prayers for a year of peace and justice, of happiness and rejoicing, of goodwill among all people. Isn’t that what Christmas is supposed to be? Isn’t that what the angels themselves sang to the shepherds in the fields abiding? But as ever, we mustn’t get too carried away, with today’s gospel telling us to stay awake in a season when excess and collapse are more likely to be found than quiet reflection and attention. But we do have this season of Advent when we can do exactly that! Now is the time when we can reflect on the wonder of this season, when the almighty majesty of the Eternal Godhead took frail flesh and was born not into fame and glory but into a stable sheltering ox and ass! What a wonder, what an example; what a lesson. That we commemorate such a humble event 2000 years later is itself a wonder. It was, I believe, the culmination of God’s plan for us the human race and with whom, Genesis tells, God was “very pleased”. How so?

The greatest gift we have is free will. Unlike the beasts of the field, locked into the basics of getting through the day, we have choices. For whatever reason, we might forgo having a meal for some reason greater than responding to hunger. We might go and climb Mount Everest simply because “it is there”. We can create artwork to strengthen the beauty around us. Animals seem to have no idea or ability to do such. Only we can. But (as always) this greatest gift began to be used for the wrong purpose. We can cause grief, hatred, evil simply because we can. That was why, I believe, God entered human life. Ancient Canaan, the land promised to Abraham by God, practiced child sacrifice at that time. Even worse, the Canaanites thought they were doing the right thing. If they needed something tremendous, such as relief from famine, or the threat of invasion, such big requests of the gods (Moloch in particular), demanded a big price (which reflects normal human experience). But in this case it was child sacrifice. And I believe it was this that caused our God to intervene in human history. Abram/Abraham heard a tiny voice, believed it to be holy and obeyed it (Genesis 12). In that way, God found a believer, sent him into the heartland of this abomination, and so began the history of God’s people, beginning with the elimination of that terrible practice  (which took a long time). For about 2000 years God slowly revealed the divine nature: God was found to be  loyal, powerful, forgiving, a listener, merciful, a lover of freedom and open to relationship. With that finally established, God’s Son arrived and displayed those identical qualities in his lifework. Being fully human, Jesus showed us how to be fully human, acting and behaving in the way God has always wanted us to behave. And everything Jesus did in his ministry we can too, given the gifts which God has provided for all of us, without exception. And Christmas marked the arrival of this man who showed us the true meaning of being human utterly and completely. We can all be like him, he using his gifts, we using ours. 

And so how about an Advent resolution? To be as truly and completely human as Jesus was. So we can never excuse ourselves with the plaintive “I was only human” to explain a fault. No – had I been truly human I would never have done/said/thought the thing I should not have. It is to betray our humanity if we excuse ourselves in that way. To be completely human is to get as close to the Lord as we can, the One who made us human, and to ask guidance or forgiveness when we have failed, that is, become less than human. In this way we will be in great shape when the Great Day arrives, when Pastor Wichern gave a sigh of relief, and we sing Adeste Fidelis!

St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Navan, County Meath, Republic of Ireland.

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SUNDAY 15 DECEMBER: THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT: GAUDETE SUNDAY.

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Pope Francis Celebrates Gaudete Sunday with the Filipino Community in St. Peter’s in 2019.

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Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Letter to the Philippians 4:6-7.

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“Gaudete” means Rejoice in Latin. Look at today’s readings. The first, from the prophet Zephaniah, begins, “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” The second, from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, begins, “Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again:  rejoice!” And in the gospel, John the Baptist “Preached good news to the people”. Why all this rejoicing? Because we are roughly at the half-way mark to Christmas, the ultimate good news, when God became one like us, when we were considered to be good enough to have God come dwell with us and be one with us. Even the celebrant at Mass may wear rose-colored vestments, one of only two Sundays that is permitted (the other is Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. That Latin word also means “rejoice” but to express it externally; gaudete means to rejoice internally). Even the third candle on the Advent wreath is usually rose colored! It all signifies a lightening in the somber atmosphere of Advent and we should all reflect the joy and conviction that the incredible is about to happen, as it does each year, that God – God! – wanted to be one like us in all things but sin.

So what does that all mean? Do we jump up in the air and dance around like Scrooge in the classic 1951 version of Christmas Carol when he realizes his true identity – vocation even – of being fully human with all its implications. Well, maybe, if we fully realize and accept that we are all considered to be good enough and worthy enough to have God come live among us out of pure love. That would certainly invite us all to be truly happy and even excited to be a child of God! What more could one ask? Well, patience to wait for the real day, and the time left to prepare for it in the best possible way. Joy does not have to expressed in outward, extravagant ways, though at Christmas time it is almost required! But we are just half way there. For us, the joy expressed in today’s name and readings should perhaps be the joy of preparing for the arrival of the Christ Child. There is a special joy in such activity. Imagine a most welcome Christmas visit of a beloved relative from afar; all must be ready. The house must be clean, the crystal immaculate, the china sparking – everything. Apply that each to ourself, our soul, our innermost self. Getting rid of the nonsense – the stuff which clogs things up for no good reason – and clean the inner crystal and gold, the inner soul, the real me. The thought that I – you – we are doing all that brings with it a joy which is palpable. It is the “I can’t wait” moment we felt as a child, especially when allied to the major effort to bring ourselves into a state of grace ready for the arrival of the author of all joy. What a welcoming person each of us will be. It is a golden opportunity once more to restart anew. Under the loving eye of the Father, let us ask the Holy Spirit of God to infuse us with the energy, the strength, the excitement to be completely ready for The Day.

The Blessed Trinity with Saints, Durante Alberti 1581, The Venerable English College, Rome, Italy.

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SUNDAY 1 DECEMBER 2024: THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.

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Be Vigilant at All Times and Pray, The Lay Institute of Divine Mercy, California, USA. 

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“Be vigilant at all times and pray….”    Luke 21:36.

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You know of course that our Christian scriptures were originally written in Greek, not Latin. So today, as we welcome the first Sunday of Advent, note that the word advent comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”. This Latin word is a translation of the original Greek word “parousia”, παρουσία, which more often than not in the New Testament means the second coming of the Lord at the end of time. Perhaps this should be the word used in today’s gospel as it is so focussed on that specific moment when Jesus will return in all his glory. But it certainly trains our sights on the whole intent of Advent – the arrival of the Lord. We would normally mean this as a preparation for Christmas Day, but today’s readings remind us that there is a much greater meaning here. We should never forget that we are all on a much greater journey, one which will conclude with each of us standing before the Lord of Light, either when we are called from this life, or on the Last Day, should we be witness to that. 

So there are, it seems, three possible arrivals in mind here. First, of course, is the 25th December (or January 7 for our Orthodox and some of our Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters), the commemoration of the arrival of Jesus in our midst, poor, laying in a food trough for animals and visited by the shepherds, the poorest of the poor in that society. It is hard to imagine a more challenging start to anyone’s life! Then there is the certainty of each of us being called to judgment when we leave this world. We should be prepared for that moment. As today’s gospel says, “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”. Good advice for the Christmas season. Although this refers to the Second Coming, it can easily be applied to the last moments each one of us has on earth: are we ready, even if at Christmastide? But we should not forget that the reading’s intent is to remind us of the promise of the end of time, the parousia, the return of the Lord in majesty and power, to judge us all. Well, I know which one of those I am most comfortable with! The presents are being readied, the decorations are about to be put up, the special foods purchased, and on and on. As the song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” 

But these days everyone complains that the whole season is commercialized beyond imagination. Consider, for example, the humble Advent calendar on sale in many places. Some are “luxury” editions, with expensive gifts behind every day-gate. And that is just in anticipation of the day! Can’t help thinking that a donation to a favorite charity would be money better spent. Shouldn’t that be an automatic part of the season for all of us? I do remember that, as a child, Advent seemed endless, a long, long time waiting for Christmas to come. Perhaps there’s a lesson there too. It gives us time to prepare what’s in our mind and heart and set up the decorations to welcome the Lord into our very soul, the innermost me – you – us. The baby Lord should find there something better than a shabby dwelling in a cattle shelter, adequate to the need, but not suitable for the arrival of the King of the Universe, as last Sunday’s celebration says. Something beyond spring cleaning is called for here. So be it – let the preparation begin!

Christmas enacted in St. Patrick’s Church, North Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.

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