Happy New Year!!!! Prepare Ye the Way of The Lord!

Today is the 1st Sunday in Advent. For Catholics of the Western Rites [Latin (Roman), Mozarabic (Toledan), Ambrosian (Milanese), & Gallican] it marks the start of the Church year. Thus the wish for a "Happy New Year".

So, what is Advent? Why does the Church year have this season? The simple answer is to prepare for Christmas.

Now this doesn't mean prepare like it has come to mean in the world, putting up decorations, buying tons of presents etc. These can be a part of the season when kept in proper perspective, but they are not they focus of Advent.

Before I go any further I would like to say what Advent is not. Simply it is not a mini-Lent. Yes, there are some similarities in practices, but there is a different focus. They are both times of preperation, but for different events.

The word advent comes from the Latin ad-venio, to come to. As we look at how Catholics live out Advent that definition gives us the clue we need to lead us to understand the meaning of & purpose for Advent.

What are we preparing for? The immediate event is obviously Christmas, but that sells Advent short. According to the entry for Advent in the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia found on New Advent's website during Advent the Church calls the faithful to "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."

So, it starts with preparing to celebrate the 1st Coming of Christ. That is why the Church presents us with the readings from the Old Testament, esp Isaiah. So that we can understand what the Jews, the Chosen People were looking for, to see how Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies for a promised Messiah. Advent is a time for us to grow in our faith that Jesus is the promised Redeemer & to grow in our living out that faith.

Part of the purpose that God had for His Messiah was the salvation of all mankind from the effects of original sin as well as every other sin each person has committed since then. That is why the Gospel readings focus in on John the Baptist. He was the forrunner sent to announce Jesus' arrival on the scene. John called Jesus the Lamb of God sent to take away the sins of the world. A Jew at that time would understand the connection to the lamb sacrificed as a sin offering in the temple. This is the same sacrifice we partake in at every Mass. It will take too long to go into all the details here, but part of the sacrifical offering was a communion meal. That is why we receive the Body & Blood of Christ under the appearance of bread & wine.

This leads us to the 3rd part mentioned in the above purpose, to prepare for the 2nd Coming of Christ. Again, the readings during Advent also make reference to Jesus' return. The Old Testament talked about 2 roles for the Messiah, 1 was the above mentioned reason. the 2nd was to set up God's Kingdom & rule forever. Our time here on Earth is short. Someday we will stand before God in judgement. & if if you or I are not ready then God will have no choice but to condemn us to eternal damnation. But, if Jesus is Lord & by the power of the Holy Spirit we allow God to transform us, then we will be ready. Salvation is a free gift, but the works we do are the way God wants us to cooperate in letting God transform us. (As James tells us, faith without works is dead.)

So Advent is a time for us to come to Jesus, who 1st had to come to us through His Incarnation as Redeemer & who is going to come to Earth again as judge, King & Lord who will reign forever.

Because part of our preperation to celebrate the once & future coming of the Messiah is penetential the Church has the priest & deacon wear violet vestments for most of the season (the primary exception is Gaudete Sunday) to help remind us of the penetential aspect. But there is also a positive aspect to Advent, the psoitive side of preperation. Just as someone who might prepare their house for Christmas does so by more than simple getting ride of dirt & putting away some items for the season, so to our preperation is more than getting rid of sin.

In the case of a Christian this is done by looking at what he or she can do to grow closer to Jesus. Do I need to find more time to spend in prayer? Should I begin to set aside time for Eucharistic adoration, more Scripture reading, visiting the sick, etc? There are good orthodox devotionals out there with writings by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Fr. Raniero Cantalamesa etc that can also be used. An family Advent wreath with special devotions is another great practice. The housecleaning here would be to look at what I need to quit doing to make the time, the positive, add what God is calling you to do. This is the same as putting up the holiday decorations. Some special Advent devotions are for the season only & like the lights, etc, but those devotions are also the tools to enable us to discern what needs to be added long range.

The time is short, Jesus will return some day, we know not when. Each of us needs to be ready for that day in which we will stand before Jesus. Advent is a tool that God, in His infinite mercy, have given us through His Church to be ready. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what needs to be removed, what needs to be strengthened & what needs to be added. He will show you. Then let Him empower you to do it. If you do, then I guarentee you that no matter your circumstances that this will be your best Christmas ever.