The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus which means coming. During Advent we wait patiently for the coming of Jesus. According to the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar, Advent has a two-fold character. It is a season to prepare for Christmas when Christ’s first coming to us is remembered. It is also a season when that first remembrance directs our minds and hearts to remember Christ’s second coming at the end of time. Thus Advent is a season of devout and joyful expectation.
Mary is the model of Advent waiting for us because she joyfully, prayerfully, and patiently waited for the birth of Jesus whom she carried in her womb close to her heart.
According to paragraph 102 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, through all the words of sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, Jesus. Christ is the Father’s one utterance in whom He expresses Himself completely. In sacred scripture, Jesus Christ is the unique Word of God.
Conceived in her heart
Like many young devout Jewish women, Mary longed to give birth to Jesus and offer Him to a world that needed a redeemer. Mary carried Jesus in her prayers, in her hopes, and in her love. Fr. Kevin O’Shea, a Marian expert, said that Mary was so in love with Jesus that she conceived Him in her heart before she conceived Him in her womb.
When the angel invited Mary to be the mother of Jesus, the Word of God, she replied, “Let it be done to me as you say.” Mary agreed to become the mother of Jesus because she was fully open to doing God’s will. In this way Mary, the patroness of Advent, teaches us the importance of listening to God and seeking to do God’s will!
For believers, the birth of Jesus is the center of human history. Mary gave birth to Jesus, so that He could redeem us from our sins, teach us how to love as He loved, and offer us the gift of Eternal life. After Jesus rose and returned to Heaven, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help us to love as He loved and to enable us to call Jesus “Lord.”
Active listening
Like Mary during Advent we are called to receive Jesus, the Word of God, in our heart. One of the best ways to receive Jesus is through participating in Mass, listening attentively to the homily, and receiving Communion. Surely the Blessed Mother received Christ in communion and participated in Mass with the apostles and St John into whose care Christ entrusted her. Inspired by Mary, the patroness of Advent, a worthwhile Advent resolution might be to open ourselves more fully to God’s word in the Mass and the homily. For Scripture tells us that faith comes through hearing.
Contrary to popular belief, active listening to Sunday homilies does not require much time. But it does require faith, concentration, and Advent patience. According to Fr. John Burke, an expert on preaching, if the preacher preaches a 10-minute homily 48 Sundays a year, the listener would only hear eight hours of Eucharistic preaching in one year. If the homilist extends the homily to 15 minutes, the listener will be exposed to a little more than 12 hours per year. If the homilist preaches a six-minute homily, as I once did, then listening to Sunday homilies would require less than five hours per year. Isn’t this amazing?
Father Burke suggests that we compare the amount of time that we consume listening to homilies with the amount of time that we spend watching sports or other activities. Again the results may be surprising. If we invite Jesus, the Word of God, more fully into our lives, He will help us to grow in His image. We believe that Jesus can take our Advent hopes, joys, and sorrows and use them to help us to fashion a crib in our heart to receive Him at Christmas.
‘Prepare a way!’
Like John the Baptist and Isaiah, we can use Advent in other ways to prepare the way for Christ’s Coming. Confession, devotions, prayer, spiritual reading, visiting shut-ins, and other good works also help us to prepare for the coming of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will show us other ways if we ask.
Advent listening in faith helps us to let God guide us in our journey through the sometimes-dark days of December to the Light of Christmas hope. It helps us to prepare a crib in the inn of our heart so that we can joyfully receive Jesus, the Word made flesh, at Christmas and then to give Him away.
May you have a blessed Advent of hope that helps you to celebrate one of your best Christmases ever.
Fr. Donald Lange is pastor emeritus of the Diocese of Madison.