Advent orients us to the heart of the Nativity

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for December 2, 2012, the First Sunday of Advent | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Jer 33:14-16
• Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
• 1 Thes 3:12-4:2
• Lk 21:25-28, 34-36

“We preach not one advent only of Christ,” wrote St. Cyril
of Jerusalem in the fourth century, “but a second also, far more glorious than
the former. For the former gave a view of His patience; but the latter brings
with it the crown of a divine kingdom.”

The term “advent,” as we’ll see, is drawn from the New
Testament, but when St. Cyril (named a Doctor of the Church in 1883 by Pope Leo
XIII) was writing his famous catechetical lectures, the season of Advent was
just starting to emerge in fledgling form in Spain and Gaul. During the fifth
century, Christians in parts of western Europe began observing a period of
ascetical practices leading up to the feasts of Christmas and Epiphany. Advent
was observed in Rome beginning in the sixth century, and it was sometimes
called the “pre-Christian Lent,” a time of fasting, more frequent prayer, and
additional liturgies.

One of the prayers of the Roman missal from those early
centuries says, “Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the ways of Thy
only-begotten Son: that by His coming we may be able to serve him with purified
minds.” This echoes today’s reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the
Christians in Thessalonica, in which he exhorts them “to strengthen your
hearts, to be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord
Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.”

The Greek word used by St. Paul for “coming” is parousia, which means “presence” or “coming to a place.” The
Vulgate translation of the phrase “the coming of our Lord Jesus” (1 Thess 3:13)
is rendered “in adventu Domini.”
The word parousia appears
twenty-four times in the New Testament, almost always in reference to the
coming or presence of the Lord. It appears in Matthew 24 four times, the only
place the term appears in the Gospels; that chapter records the Olivet
Discourse, Jesus’ prophetic warnings about a coming time of trial, destruction,
and “the coming of the Son of man” (Matt 24:27). Today’s Gospel reading, from
Luke 21, is a parallel passage warning of distress, startling heavenly signs,
and “the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

What connection is there between the foment of earthly
tribulation and cosmic upheaval, and preparations to celebrate Christ’s birth?
If we consider the Christmas story cleared of sentimental wrappings, we see
events as dramatic, raw, bloody, and joyous as can be imagined: the birth of
Christ, the slaughter of the innocents, the praise of angels, the murderous
rage of Herod. Christmas is about birth, but also death; about rejoicing, but
also rejection. It is the story of God desired and God denied. It is the story
every man has to encounter because it is the story of God’s radical plan of
salvation, the entrance of divinity into the dusty ruts and twisting corridors
of human history. 

Advent orients us to the heart of the Nativity—not in a
merely metaphorical way, but through the reality of the liturgy, the Eucharist,
the sacramental life of the Church. It is a wake-up call, perhaps even an alarm
rousing us from “carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life.”
The birth of Christ caught many by surprise. Likewise, we can find ourselves
trapped in the darkness of dull living and missing Christ’s call to raise our
heads as salvation approaches.

“Advent calls believers to become aware of this truth and to
act accordingly,” said Pope Benedict XVI in a homily marking the beginning of
Advent in 2006. “It rings out as a salutary appeal in the days, weeks and
months that repeat: Awaken! Remember that God comes! Not yesterday, not
tomorrow, but today, now!” Jesus told his disciples to be vigilant, prepared,
and prayerful.

The same is true for his disciples today, so they might
escape the tribulations of spiritual darkness and stand purified and prepared
before the Son of Man, the son of Mary.

(This "Opening the Word" column appeared originally in the November 29, 2009, issue of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)