The season of Advent is one of my favorite of the Catholic Church’s liturgical year. As the seasons of the Church’s calendar follow salvation history, Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year and the Feast of Christ the King, marks the close. Maranatha – come Lord Jesus – is the refrain both at the beginning and the end of our liturgical year. When I was younger, I used to approach the concept that Jesus will come again, as our Catholic faith asserts, with some fear and anxiety. These days, while I still have much room to grow in terms of faith, maranatha is a consistent part of my prayer life. Now, I look forward to the coming of the Lord with faith and hope, and I hope you do too.
Advent comes from the word adventus, which means an arrival or a coming. The season of Advent encompasses both a look back to the coming of Christ as Incarnate Lord two thousand years ago and a look forward to the second coming of Christ, where Jesus will come as King of the world and Just Judge of all. At its heart, Advent is a time of spiritual renewal – a time to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord. This, then, is the third coming of Advent, that Jesus wants to come into our lives, and into our hearts – to make a home within us, within our world, and within the yearning of our faith. In this way, Advent is a critical time, a time of anticipation, where we hope that God will find our hearts wide open to the coming of Jesus in a way that transforms us and the communities in which we live. This was the disposition of Mary, the Mother of God, when the Angel Gabriel came to her with with an amazing message. In response, Elizabeth says in today’s Gospel – “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
A number of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak to the women and men who are in our adult Christian initiation program, now known as OCIA. We have a terrific group this year as we did last year. We also have a great group of sponsors and others who are accompanying our brothers and sisters on their journey to full communion in the Catholic Church. I took up the topic of Who is Jesus? In one respect this seems like a daunting topic, but in another it seems like the most basic and important dimension of our Christian faith. I approached this topic through the various titles under which we praise and pray to Jesus. I also emphasized the importance of developing a personal relationship with Christ – a reality which is predominantly nurtured through prayer. This is my hope for all of us, as we close the season of Advent and approach Christmas – that we would respond positively to the perennial invitation of Jesus to deepen our faith and friendship with him – the one who provides us with everything our hearts desire.
Lastly, this year we approach the season of Christmas with the great Jubilee Year on the horizon. Every 25 years the Catholic Church celebrates the goodness and mercy of God by inviting Catholics to be renewed in their faith through the abundant grace of God. The theme for the coming Jubilee Year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” The theological meaning of the words pilgrim and hope enjoy deep meaning within the Catholic tradition. Please know that more about the Jubilee Year and its theme will be explored in our new series on hope, which kicked off earlier this month at The Basilica. Please check the bulletin and website for the information on the opening of the Jubilee year at Basilica with a special Mass celebrated Mass by Archbishop Hebda.
As Christmas approaches, I invite you to open wide your hearts to the gift of Jesus – our Incarnate Lord, and to also to approach the coming Jubilee Year with hope and expectant faith. I have no doubt that, through open hearts, God will do great things in us, our community of faith at The Basilica, and throughout the broader Catholic Church. We are a people of faith, we are a people of hope, come Lord Jesus and renew the world that you have made – to the glory of God.