A new liturgical year began last Sunday. Some changes could be seen at the Church: the purple color, the Advent wreath, in some cases, a banner announcing what John the Baptist had proclaimed in the desert like a thunder: “make the road straight for God” or “Jesus is coming”. These are very appealing signs that help God’s people enter a new season with good faith disposition and great passion for what God has done for the mankind. Are you grateful for this unique God’s blessing?
Last Sunday, at midday, in the beginning of the liturgical year, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his apartment to pray the Angelus with faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square as usual. What he read touched me profoundly.
I found very interesting and profound the Pope’s meditation, specially because lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the dual nature of the period of Advent. We all hear and read about Jesus’ first coming in great humility in Bethlehem, The Son of God laid down in a manger. What about the other aspect, His glorious return? Yes, Jesus will come 'to judge the living and
the dead". So, in both senses, there’s an "expectation" that is crucial to experience the Advent message. We expect Jesus like people has expected the Son of God as the promised Messiah, and we also have "expectation" regarding his second coming, no longer as a fragile child, but as a mighty LORD.
Did you ever think how this perspective can chance the way we can live Advent? Being aware of theses two sides of Advent we can easily take a look on the way we live out our faith. Maybe we can start acting more as adults looking forward not to the Christmas external aspects, but rather to understand the spiritual meaning of the Son of man becoming Human with all its consequences (but sin) and wonder how this same Jesus will come in glory as the LORD of the Universe. Yes, this is an important side of Advent. It’s our future anticipated by Jesus now, so we can increase our hope and faith deeds. I find this very powerful and exciting.
Please, as a companion in this faith journey, allow me to share with you some aspects of the Pope’s message about Advent.
1. Expectation…“Expectation is a profoundly human aspect in which the faith becomes, so to say, a single thing with our flesh and our heart.
"Expectation is present in many situations, from the smallest and most insignificant to the most important". These include "a couple expecting a child; awaiting a relative
or friend who comes to visit us from far way; ... the expectation of the result of some decisive examination; (…) We could say that man is alive so long as he expects, so long as hope remains alive his heart”.
2. Preparation for Christmas“W what do I expect?”. This same question can be posed at the level of the family, the community, the nation. What do we expect together? What unites our aspirations, what brings us together?" In this context, Benedict XVI recalled how "in Israel in the period prior to Jesus' birth there was a very strong expectation of the Messiah,...who would free the people from all moral and political slavery and establish the Kingdom of God.
3. JESUS: born the Virgin Mary, the woman of Advent"But no-one could have imagined that the Messiah would be born of a humble
girl like Mary, who had been promised in marriage to the good Joseph.
Neither could she have imagined it; yet in her heart the expectation of the
Saviour was so great, her faith and hope so ardent, that in her He could
find a worthy mother. ... There is a mysterious correspondence between the
expectation of God and that of Mary, the creature 'full of grace'.
4. Invitation “Let us learn from her, the woman of Advent, to live daily life with a new spirit, with
feelings of profound expectation which only the coming of God can satisfy". (…)
May the future of the world become the civilization of love and of life".
(Pope Benedict XVI).
Edited by Pe. José Álvaro Borja (PZB)
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