It is not Christmas yet: it is time to wait and prepare. This is what the Church, as the prophets did, reminds us every year as we start the new liturgical cycle with the season of Advent. Despite this, outside of the liturgical celebrations, it is becoming more and more difficult for families nowadays to open their hearts and minds to this time of preparation and waiting for the birth of Christ. We have become so dispersed and caught up in modern consumerism, secular activities, and finding the “ultimate happiness” that we miss all of the signs and messages from God to us. By doing this, we fail to remember and ignore that Advent is a time of conversion or a mini Lent. It is also what Jesús Castellano wrote in his book El año litúrgico Memorial de Cristo y mistagogía de la Iglesia (The Liturgical Year Memorial of Christ and Mystagogy of the Church): “The missionary Church expresses spiritually and in real-time the waiting, the hoping and the praying for a definitive Advent and universal salvation.” We are also shown and reminded by the Church that God is true to his promises through the message of the prophets, symbols, rituals, liturgical colors (purple and pink), and music. If we have a heart that loves God above “all things” and is humble, then these true signs should help us in our journey to enter the mystery of Jesus and Mary and to develop a liturgical spirituality. But, we must be willing to put in the effort and surrender our earthly wants to be in communion with the visible and invisible Church.
Last week I shared the article “Liturgy, popular piety and Gregorian chant during Advent”, this one is an extension of the previous one. I shared the Church’s Advent devotions that are closely related to the liturgy. However, at this moment, I would like to stress the importance of realizing that there are people in the world who are still waiting for the Messiah; Advent is the time of conversion and to actively announce the coming of the Savior to all. This is why Advent should not go unnoticed and we should put into practice what we are taught.
To lead us on the right path, the Catechism of the Catholic Church provides us with instruction and teaches us this: “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 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. […] Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us” (#522, #526). For God to be formed in us, we must be willing to make spiritual and corporal sacrifices as Mary and Joseph, the prophets, and the people of God did. We must prepare the way too because some prophecies have not been fulfilled; they will become true with the second coming of Christ. For this reason, it is essential that during Advent we notice its double character: as we prepare for Jesus’ first coming, we also prepare and offer sacrifices for his second coming.
Let us exercise our hope and ask the Lord to lead us to do what is right, for us to be a pilgrim Church, to renew in us the ardent desire to see and notice his signs during Advent to be prepared for Christmas. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).