Thoughts on the new liturgical year

 This Sunday we begin again a new liturgical year. And each new liturgical year starts with the season of Advent, which is joyfully waiting for the advent, the coming, of our Lord, remembering both his birth and his final triumph at his Second Coming at the end of time. There are two temptations during this season. The first is consumerism. Seeing this as a time of shopping and gifts and parties first, and only distantly about preparing to celebrate Christ’s incarnation. We ought to strive to be faithful witnesses in our families and in the marketplace that the most important thing about this time of year is not material things we accumulate but the gift of God to humanity in Christ.

But a second temptation is to overly domesticate the Advent and Christmas seasons, to make them into cozy and sentimental celebrations of welcoming a guest, Jesus, into our homes. The true meaning of Advent is much more dynamic and challenging than that. Stop for a moment and ask: If Jesus were to walk into my home this very day, what would he find? Would he find us, his servants, dutifully and joyfully giving themselves to faith and love? Or would he find a lack of fervor and possibly turmoil and strife?

So Jesus is saying to us today that we must be alert and awake for his coming. This is because Jesus is no mere cozy guest but rather the new King of Kings, the one to whom all allegiance is finally owed. Of course, this will mean opposition from currently ruling kings. Those other individuals, economic systems, political ideologies, personal pleasures, will often rebel against this new king, which then leads to the cross. We are called in Advent to look within ourselves and root out any opposition to our Lord that may have crept into our lives.

In the Collect prayer for this Sunday, we ask “Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God, the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming.” So let us run to Christ this Advent with the gifts that truly last: faith, hope, and charity.

Fr. Frank Reale, S.J.