I always think that
it’s lovely that we celebrate Christmas in the middle of winter when the
weather is often the most miserable (unless you are in Florida where I am at
the moment!). Outside it is usually dark, cold and wet. Then we
begin to light candles and put up colored lights and decorations to remind us
of the coming of our King. It is a time of great hope and hopefully also
a time that will bring joy. ‘Advent’—which simply means ‘coming’—is meant
to be a time of preparing for two things. We are preparing for the coming
of Jesus at Christmas, and we are also remembering that Christ will come again
at the end of time. Each Sunday in the Creed we say that, ‘He will come
again to judge the living and the dead.’ We don’t know when that will be,
but we believe that it will happen. The Lord asks us to ‘stay awake’ and
not to forget him, because none of us know when we will die, but the important
thing is that we do not forget the Lord, who loves us and who created us. And
so each Christmas we remember that Jesus came among us, for us,
to help us, to teach us about God, about the world to come, and above all to
die for us so that we can join in the happiness of God when we die ourselves.
The best way
that we can prepare ourselves is in the heart, by trying to give time to God
and being open to what He wants to say to us. The Lord is constantly
speaking to us but often we are not listening because we are too busy or
distracted. People sometimes ask me if God speaks to me. Yes God speaks to
me all the time, but not through visions or voices. It's usually through other
people or through the Scriptures. It has taken me quite a while to learn how to
listen so that I might hear what God is saying to me. Advent is a good time to
try and listen again and hear what the Lord has to say to us. That is why
the readings are about getting ready for the one who is coming, and not being
so distracted by the world around us that we forget him.
One thing that is
characteristic of the Gospels is that they are full of hope. The message
of God to us—the Good News—is always one of hope and it is certainly something
we need in a world where we are constantly hearing of so many terrible things
happening around us. However, we don't hear of all the wonderful things
that are constantly happening around us. The many acts of kindness that
people continually do for each other, looking out for each other especially
when we are struggling. This is the Spirit at work in us and this is what
makes the world bearable, in spite of the awful things that happen.
So for the time of
Advent let us ask the Lord to help us hear him again, by being quiet every so
often, by stopping what we are doing for a moment and maybe just saying, ‘Come
Lord Jesus.’
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