By Jeffrey A. Beer Jr. –
Last week we celebrated both Thanksgiving and the start of the liturgical season of Advent. Did you know that Advent marks the start of a new year in the church? The word advent actually means a new coming or arrival. We all know that the season of Advent is a period of waiting and preparing for Christ to come into the world. Primarily we talk about the infant savior Jesus Christ being born because “God so loved the world that he became man.” We also spend these four weeks of Advent thinking about the second coming of Christ which will happen at the end of time. But I would like to spend a minute considering neither the coming of Christ which happened on the first Christmas nor the one which will happen at the end of time, but rather the arrival which can happen this Advent.
Advent is considered a season of preparation and of waiting. But what are we preparing for? What are we waiting for? Advent is about getting ready for light to enter darkness; for God to enter the world. But this Advent, as every other, is an opportunity for Christ to become a bigger part of our lives and cast His light into the darkest areas of our hearts. Advent is a season of change. The eleventh chapter of Isaiah describes a day when changes will take place throughout the entire earth. The prophet writes, “Then the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play on the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s laid.” What event could trigger enemies to become friends and predators to become peaceful? The arrival of a person who has the spirit of the Lord with Him would change the world forever. Isaiah lived and described Christ nearly 700 years before Jesus was born. But his prophesy about the repercussions of Christ entering the world are as true today as they were 2700 years ago.
Advent is an opportunity for us to allow Christ into areas of our lives we have never let Him into before. And his arrival should change things. His arrival should make us different. It should turn our enemies into our friends, our addictions into freedoms, and our anxieties into peace. Advent is a season of preparation and of waiting. So take a moment now to consider: What aspects of your life are in conflict with your relationship with God? What parts of your relationships, goals, or time have you set aside from God? Having identified areas of darkness, ask yourself, “Am I willing to make God a part of this situation? Am I willing for there to be change in my life? Am I ready for Christ to become a bigger part of my life?” Finally, pick something you can do this Advent to invite Christ into your life in a new way, and allow Him to illuminate the darkness. As Pope John Paul II once said, “The mystery of the Holy Night, which historically happened two thousand years ago, must be lived as a spiritual event in the ‘today’ of the Liturgy. The Word who found a dwelling in Mary’s womb comes to knock on the heart of every person with singular intensity this Christmas.”