Preparing for Christ This Advent

Pastor’s Column

1st Sunday of Advent

December 1, 2024

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that they catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Luke 21:34-26

This gospel reading urges us to be vigilant at all times! How can we possibly do that? Advent is all about watching and hopeful expectations. For many, this reading from the first Sunday of Advent describes exactly how life can be as families prepare for Christmas, filled with the anxieties of life and perhaps eating and drinking to excess. Jesus makes it clear that tribulations are always on the horizon as long as we live on earth. So, we are called to prepare, especially in these times of wars and rumors of wars. Instead, our lives can become so full of busy-ness and chasing after the next thing that there is no longer any room for the Lord. This is why God often makes use of the inevitable “tribulations” of life to wake us up as to what is truly important so we are not “caught by surprise”, as Jesus says he will!

Once I came into the kitchen over at the rectory and I thought I was going blind-everything just seemed so dark. Then I realized that a fluorescent bulb in the light fixture must have gone out. So when I opened the thing up to replace it, there were actually three bulbs out, not one. It had gotten darker and darker in that room and I had not even noticed until I was down to one bulb!

In much the same way, if we are not praying every day and nourishing our Spiritual lives with at least Sunday Mass, our relationship with Christ may grow dimmer and dimmer like my kitchen light. If we are shopping this Advent just for ourselves, we may not understand Christ’s self-giving at all. The coming of Christ, whether in Bethlehem or in a human heart does not actually require decorated trees and fancy holiday dinners. What the Lord does need is an invitation to your home. Please make sure he has been included in all the preparations you will be making for Christmas!

One way to do this is to make sure that our prayers before meals are real prayers for Christ to come and dine with us (as he does at Mass). When we are out and about with the busy-ness of the season, stop at certain moments to think of Christ, born in a cave with literally nothing, and how grateful we can be for so much. Prayer, gratitude, acceptance of what we cannot change, and a determination to give the Lord the gift of our own heart this Christmas, this is what he wishes from us and how we ought to prepare this Advent. And please pray for peace in the world-it is urgent.

Father Gary