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| Illustration by
Phil Younk |
"I can’t wait!” Have you ever said that as you were getting ready for a special celebration, vacation, or visitor?
This Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, is the beginning of the church’s new liturgical year. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Day. It is a time of waiting, hoping, and preparation to celebrate Jesus’ birthday on Christmas. But it is really much more than just that.
As we listen to the readings and the Gospels during Advent we won’t be hearing much about the baby Jesus. That’s because we don’t know too much about Jesus as he was growing up.
But Advent isn’t only about the coming of a baby. It’s also a reminder that Jesus comes to us every day. How? When we go to Mass, when we receive holy Communion, when we pray, when we are loving, kind, forgiving and share with others, when we see the beauty of nature in the changing seasons, when others help us, Jesus comes into our lives and the world around us.
Advent also reminds us our earthly world will not last forever. At the end of time, Jesus will come once more to bring people home to heaven with him. He tells us not to be afraid and to be ready at all times because only God the Father knows when Jesus’ second coming will take place. Remember two weeks ago we talked about Jesus’ coming at the end of time and the signs that would appear before he comes? In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells us again about those signs.
Advent, then, reminds us of three comings of Jesus (past, present, and future):
— Jesus came to earth and was born in Bethlehem,
— Jesus comes into our lives each day as we live the way Jesus taught us – loving God and neighbor,
— Jesus will come again in glory at the end of time.
Here are some ways to use the waiting time of Advent to get ready for Jesus’ coming:
— Read about Jesus in the Bible.
— Do someone else’s chores every day for a week plus your own.
— Pray the rosary for peace, thinking about the events in Jesus’ life.
— Give some canned goods to your church’s food pantry for the poor.
— Do the chores you don’t like to do without complaining.
— Get your heart ready for Jesus with the sacrament of reconciliation by going to confession.
Be watchful, looking for Jesus in others and the world around us. Be prayerful, good, forgiving, and loving. Jesus is coming!
(Couture is a catechist at St. Aloysius Parish, West Allis.)
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