Advent is a wonderful, joyful time of the year in the midst of a busy time in our lives. Advent is not only the beginning of our Church’s liturgical year, but it is also a season of preparation for the coming of our Lord at Christmas. It is a season of new beginnings. I am excited about celebrating Advent this year with all of you at St Jude.
But, in the messiness of our lives, in the complicated reality of our lives, perhaps many of us feel that we are not in a good place to start our Advent journey. Perhaps in the midst of the struggles and the ups and downs of our busy lives, we might believe that we to need a big change in order to start our Advent journey. Perhaps we feel that we need to distance ourselves for our own reality in order to start our Advent journey. But, in reality, the opposite is true. God came to Mary to announce the coming of Christ in the world in the midst of her complicated reality. Jesus came into the world in the midst of the messy reality of Ancient Israel. Advent is all about letting God come to us and enter our lives in a special way. We are called to invite God into our reality. We are called to open to the mysteries of our faith during the Advent season.
The prophet Isaiah states: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined.” Even in the midst of the darkness, God’s light will shine upon us. Even in the midst of the darkness and struggles of our lives, God accompanies us on our Advent journey as we prepare for the coming of the birth of baby Jesus.
This does not mean we are to be passive and complacent during Advent. Quite the contrary: we are called to be proactive and to be fully engaged on our Advent journey. It begins by opening our eyes and our hearts to God, to be humble and self-aware, to be honest as to where we are on our journey. God does not want us to put up a false facade to him. He wants us to be honest and real, to meet him as we are.
We invite you to engage in the Scripture readings of the Advent season. So often, Advent is filled with holiday gatherings and events at school, at work, and with our families and friends. We seem to have a lot of commitments this time of the year that pull us in many different directions. But, God is calling is to be present to him in a special way this time of the year.
Blessings to all of you on your Advent journey. We look forward to journeying together during this holy season.
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