ADVENT

by Kathryn Marcellino, OCDS

Yesterday was the beginning of Advent - Advent (from the Latin word adventus or "coming") is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth (nativity) of Jesus at Christmas. It is also the beginning of the Western liturgical year. This year in the United States it also marks the beginning of the use of the new English translation of the Mass. Some of the new translation is really the same as many of us heard as children many years ago and is a more accurate translation of the Bible verses from which the prayers originated and refer to.

During this time the faithful are admonished
• to prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love,
• thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and
• thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world. (Catholic Encyclopedia 1917)

The theme of readings at Mass during Advent is often to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ while commemorating the First Coming of Christ at Christmas.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about "The Preparations" for Christmas:

522 The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant". He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.

523 St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. "Prophet of the Most High", John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last. He inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and rejoices in being "the friend of the bridegroom", whom he points out as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". Going before Jesus "in the spirit and power of Elijah", John bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom.

524 When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: "He must increase, but I must decrease."

Advent is a time to prepare for the celebration of Christ's birth and also a time to seek a greater coming of Jesus into our own personal lives, minds, hearts, and souls. Some ways to do this are being faithful to daily prayer, spiritual reading, doing works of charity and penance, and going to confession (the sacrament of reconciliation).

One tradition for Advent is the use an Advent wreath. The wreath is made of fresh plant material with three candles that are purple (symbolizing penance) and one pink candle for the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, which symbolizes joy and marking the half way point of Advent. The light of the candle represents Christ, the Light of the World, who conquers the darkness of evil and shows us the way of righteousness.

Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent, the lighting of a candle can be accompanied by a Bible reading and/or prayers which are often said in a family setting. An additional candle is lit each week so that by the last Sunday before Christmas, all four candles are lit. This is one way for families to remember the true meaning of Christmas and is a reminder that Christmas is a holy time of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Children especially seem to like the lighting of candles; praying together and using an Advent wreath are some ways to remember the real meaning of Christmas. Even though our lives are busy, times like Advent remind us to keep our priorities straight, i.e. putting God first and other things second.

A prayer for the first Sunday of Advent: "Father in heaven, our hearts desire the warmth of your love and our minds are searching for the light of your Word. Increase our longing for Christ our Saviour and give us the strength to grow in love, that the dawn of his coming may find us rejoicing in his presence and welcoming the light of his truth. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."

ESCHATOLOGY: THE LAST THINGS

Catholic Christians believe that all men and women will experience the end of this human life. The Word of God teaches us that each person will be judged immediately after death.

Catholics believe that the souls of the saved who are in need of further purification before facing God will be purged in purgatory.

Heaven awaits those souls found to be in the state of grace or perfection.

Hell or eternal damnation awaits those souls who die without repentance for their sins.

At the end of the world, Jesus will come again in power and glory--the Parousia.

At this time the bodies of all the dead will be resurrected.

Those still living will be taken up into the air to meet Jesus. General judgment of all people will then be made.

The blessed will possess heaven for all eternity; the damned will suffer hell for all eternity.

Catholic Christians are so aware of the Biblical theme of the last things of this life that they devote four weeks every year to a special time--Advent--a season for the faithful to listen again to the Word of God on the end of this life and the Second Coming of Jesus in glory and judgment.

All professed Christians look to the Bible for their acceptance and understanding of the end of human life and what follows human death. The study of last things is called eschatology from the Greek word eschatos, meaning "the last or extreme."

The stages of escatology include individual human death, particular judgment, the choices of heaven, purgatory or hell, the end of the world, the living being "taken up," the resurrection of the body, the Second Coming of Christ, general judgment, and the New Creation.

Christians accept that the first of the "last things" of human life is physical death. Natural death is the separation of the immortal soul from the physical body. Divine Revelation tells us the origin of human death--the sin of Adam and Eve. The punishment for the original sin is found in Genesis.

Gen 3:19
By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dirt, and to dirt you shall return.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

In Matthew 12:28, Jesus tells the Pharisees that the Kingdom of God has come upon them. In Mark 12:34, He also tells the scribe that he is not far from the Kingdom of God. In Matthew 16:19, Jesus gives Peter the keys to the Kingdom, and then establishes His Church on Peter the Rock.

Jesus says that whatever this Church binds on earth shall be bound in heaven, where Jesus reigns now. So what does all of this tell us? It tells us that the Kingdom of God was established on earth by Jesus Christ in the year 33 AD, in the form of His Church, led by Peter.

In Ephesians 5:23, The Bible says that Jesus is the Head of His Body, the Church. So here we have a divinely created Church led by Peter and His successors on earth, with Jesus Christ as its Head, that is actually the Kingdom of God. Notice that Jesus didn’t tell Peter to wait 2000 years to begin the Kingdom!

So why is this important?

Because there are a lot of non-Catholic Christians today who say that Jesus will establish His Kingdom when He returns at the Second Coming, and then start reigning for a thousand years. But is that right? The Bible says that when Jesus returns, it will be accompanied by trumpet blasts, and the dead will rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

There are several problems with that being the point where Jesus establishes His Kingdom. The Bible says in Luke 17:20-21 that the establishment of the Kingdom will not be accompanied by signs, which would presumably preclude angelic trumpet blasts and dead people coming back to life.

Instead, Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is in the midst of us, now. And Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 that all authority in heaven and on earth has already been given to Him. Isn’t it an insult for us to say that that statement isn’t a reference to His Kingdom having already being established ? And where is the Kingdom of God on earth?

It would be in the Tabernacle at each and every Catholic Church, where Jesus Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity, in the Eucharist! He’s waiting for you to come see Him and talk to Him, right now! And the really good news is that everyone who is in the state of grace is a prince or princess of this Kingdom, right now!