Veni Veni Emmanuel - ASAP!!!!!

The title isn't ment to be irreverant, it is a prayer. Sort of a modern "maranatha". & to remind us that Jesus could return any minute.

The more I thought of the story on the Wal-Mart stampede yesterday, the more I realized we need to get back to remembering what Advent is about. For Catholics of some rites, Eastern & Western, Advent has already begun. For us Latin rite Catholics as well as many other Christian Churches, today is the begining of Advent. (& the start of a new Church year.)

The purpose of the season is twofold. The 1st is to remind us of the time of waiting by the"Chosen People" who were the descendants of Abraham for the arrival of the Messiah.

The 2nd is for us to prepare for Christ's 2nd Coming at the end of time. & that is the message found in today's reading from the Gospel of Mark: "Take heed, watch; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Watch therefore -- for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning -- lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch." (Mark 13:33-37)

& while we should prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus we need to remember why He came. That fact is found in a rarely heard Christmas Carol, I Wonder As I Wander. (We 3 Kings also alludes to this in its lyrics. & when we sing the full lyrics to What Child is This? you find the same message.) The 1 line says it all "How Jesus the Savior was born for to die." We are celebrating much more than the birth of a child, even if this Child is actually the Son of God. We are celbrating the arrival of the 1 person who could pay the penalty for our sins.

That is why the main liturgical color for Advent is purple (like Lent), to remind us of that penetential aspect of the season. & while that aspect has never been emphasised as strong as it is during Lent, it is still a major part of the season. It is an opportunity for us to detatch ourselves more fully from the sin of the world & thus be better prepared for the return of Jesus.

So bake the cookies, hang up the holly, wrap the presents & all the other things that are part of the preperation for the holiday. But remember what it is that we are preparing for.

MARANATHA, COME LORD JESUS!!!!!