To allow Jesus to come into this world anew, through us; this is really the "reason for the season".

First Sunday of Advent. November 29th, 2009

Happy New Year! Today we begin a new liturgical year and the beginning of the Advent Season, a season in which we prepare to celebrate the great feast of Christmas. The Advent season is, of course, more than just material preparation, such as Christmas shopping and decorating the house; it is meant to be, more than anything else, a time for spiritual preparation. And as such, it is a penitential season, as the Church calls us to conversion, to live more fully the truth of the Gospel in all aspects of our lives.
This season of grace, is a time of expectation, joyfully awaiting the coming of Jesus Christ. The Church wants us to prepare to liturgically celebrate at Christmas, Jesus first coming at Bethlehem; And at the same time, it wants us to prepared for Jesus second and final coming at the end of time, when He will judge the living and the dead and grant according to our merit, heaven or hell. But these two coming of Jesus are intimately connected to a third coming for which the Church wants us to prepare; that is, His spiritual coming into our hearts and minds, fully into our souls. This spiritual coming of Jesus is the reason for his first coming, and by our allowing it, we are prepare fully for His second coming at the end of the world or the end of our lives whichever comes first.
Jesus has come already; He is here with us in the Holy Eucharist and in all the Sacraments of the Church, and He will come again in glory; but this Christmas, Jesus desires to come and to be born anew into our souls. We for our part must make room for Him and prepare the stable of our hearts to be worthy dwelling place for the newborn King. This Spiritual coming of Jesus is known as holiness, and unless we strive for holiness, for this rebirth of Jesus in us, not only will we fail to understand His first coming, we will never be ready for His second coming. Our Inn will be full so to speak and Jesus will not find a room in us.
To allow Jesus to come into this world anew, through us, this is the really the "reason for the season". To illustrate what I speak of, I remember hearing a story of a young sister in the sisters of charity, asking Mother Theresa of Calcutta, "Mother, when we go out and feed the poor, what should we see in their eyes?" I assume here, this sister was thinking of the expression, "we must see Jesus in the eyes of the poor." But Mother Theresa said, "It is not important who we see in the eyes of the poor, but who they see in our eyes?" In other words, do they see Jesus in us, do they see him alive and active in our souls through our personal holiness.
This is the essence of our Christian vocation, to allow Jesus to possess us fully so that we can take Him out into the world around us. All in order that the poorest of the poor (that is those who don't know Jesus' love), may know it, in and through us, by the witness of our lives, by all that we say and do. This of course means there is so much more than just giving material comfort to those who are in need such as the hungery, thirsty and materially poor; it means feeding those who are starving and so dying spiritually. We are to "feed" them through our personal holiness, which is really Jesus feeding them with His love through us. We are to love them with the Heart of Jesus.
This advent season reminds us that we are not just to be ready for Christmas or for Jesus second Coming for our own sakes, we are to ready ourselves, for the sake of the other; and to do so, by growing in holiness and sharing what we have--Jesus, with others; with the entire world in fact. If we are prepared in this way, the way of holiness, of Jesus alive in our souls, then we will not be anxious about the future and what it might bring, we will not be fearful about our death and meeting Jesus, we will instead actually long for His coming with Joyful expectation. Dare I say, we will be excited. We won't be able to wait, to see face to face that dear friend that we already know intimately because we process Him fully in our hearts, and are united to Him in love--Jesus our love.
Let us this Advent be watchful and ready by making our faith and our relationship with Christ and with His Church the most important aspect of our lives. Let us prepare the stable of our hearts more fully for Jesus by making a good Sacramental confession during this time of Advent. We can do this by doing a intense examination of conscience with the help of the Holy Spirit, asking Him as well to help us make a firm purpose of amendment in order to change our lives for the better. Sin is the one thing that keeps us from Jesus' love and so makes us fearful.
Let us not be content with good enough, for it is the Lord that we are dealing with. And with the grace of the Sacraments we receive, let us make the most out of each and every day of this advent and of the advent of our life, working faithfully at the tasks God has given us no matter how small and seemingly insignificant. Praying always, placing our minds on God though out our day, doing everything we do in the state of sanctifying grace and for love of Him and love of neighbor.
Stay awake, be watchful, Look up, Raise your heads, keep your eyes always fixed on the cross and on Jesus love for us, realizing that this life was never meant to be easy or comfortable, but the place where we learn to deny self and live for Love of God alone and love of neighbor for love of God and so grow in holiness…
During this time of preparation for Christmas and for the coming of the Lord, we can easily become distracted with our “to do lists.” It is always a temptation to yield to our imagination and dwell on all of these matters. However, when we are tempted, grace is always available to help us overcome them. Our temptation is to spiritually fall asleep. We must always strive to stay awake. This heads up attitude begins right here and now at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, especially in this Advent season. We must stay awake during Mass not merely physically awake but mentally and especially spiritually alert to prepare ourselves for His coming. Look up and keep your eyes on the altar. Join in the prayers and responses. Lend you voices to the singing. Try to get the meaning of what you say and what you sing. Mean every word of it, pray from the heart. St Thomas says that to stay fervent and alert during the celebration of Mass is one of the most difficult things to do and it is only accomplished through the grace of Christ. Thank
fully, Our Lord promises this grace to help us pay attention and alert during Mass, but we must ask for and cooperate with His grace by working hard, fighting distractions with all our strength.
Lift up your heads.” Look at the Sacred Host. Look at the chalice of His Precious Blood. Right now we are traveling toward Christ. In a few minutes we will meet Him in the Christmas at this Mass when He is born on the altar during the Consecration. In a few weeks we will greet Him in the Christmas of Bethlehem. If we stay awake, if we prepare well, we will recognize His coming at this Holy Mass in the Holy Eucharist. In fact, only if we recognize Him in the Holy Eucharist through faith, can we remain faithful to His Grace, allowing Him to be reborn in our souls.
Let us prepare for all three comings of Christ. Keep you head up, stay awake, prepare well, watch the altar, Jesus is indeed coming again at this Holy Mass!!! Let us turn with trust to Mary, Mother of the New Advent. Holiness, which is the birth of Jesus in the soul, always occurs in the same way Jesus was born into this world in the first place, by the yes, the fiat, of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. She will help us to prepare well for Jesus coming at this Holy Mass by helping us to offer ourselves in a sacrifice of love on this altar, allowing the Holy Spirit to re-birth Jesus in us. Then we can take Jesus out into our world in order to prepare it, prepare souls, for His Second Coming in Glory in order to join in with us, the eternal Christmas of Heaven.