Advent is a special season in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church.  The spiritual foundation laid by the Catholic Church over 2000 years ago is what all other Churches are following up till this present moment.  Every year everyone looks forward to Christmas, to the cooler weather, the time with family, and the opportunity to decorate their homes for the holidays.

I love looking through bins filled with forgotten treasures and reminiscing about past Christmas. Every year, I look forward to pulling out my Advent calendar. When I was little, I saw it as an opportunity to get little cash from family friends on each of the 24 days leading up to Christmas.  But now that I’m older, my appreciation for the calendar has grown along with my understanding of its meaning.  Advent means “the Coming of Christ.”  For Christians, the four weeks leading up to Dec. 25 are an opportunity to recognize the significance of Jesus’ birth and prepare our hearts and minds for His arrival.  In Luke 2:10-11, an angel declares to the shepherds, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you: He is the Messiah, the Lord.” Out of God’s great love for you and me, He sent His Son to the earth as a gift for us. Jesus came, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and then overcame death. Because of Jesus, we have life, hope, joy, and peace. For Mary and Joseph, there were no rooms at the inn. They had to seek out a place for Jesus to be born. Advent is an opportunity to recognize Jesus’ birth and prepare our hearts and minds for His arrival.

The holidays are here. There are parties to plan, gatherings to attend, and presents to buy, all in addition to normal responsibilities. Slowing down and creating time to spend alone with God takes effort. If we want to have time to reflect on all God has done over the last year and prepare for all He wants to do in the future, we have to make it a priority.

When the shepherds heard of Jesus’ arrival, they stopped tending their flocks and hurried to visit Him. As soon as they had seen Him, they began praising God and departed to spread the Goodnews that Israel’s long-awaited Saviour was here. This Christmas, I want to follow their example by celebrating the gift of Jesus with others. As we gather with friends and family that we haven’t seen in a while, let’s share with them how the birth of Jesus over 2,000 years ago is still impacting our lives today.

Advent is a time to confront darkness.  Advent is countercultural; while the world is moving headlong toward Christmas, Christians are called to stop and peer steadfastly into the darkness.  This is not because believers are morbidly focussed on sin and death.  In fact, just the opposite.  We who follow the Messiah take stock of the darkness in our own lives and around us so we can be most ready to welcome the light of Christ and partner with him in His cleansing illumination.  An advent exhortation is to watch, that is, to be prepared, and to be ready for his coming. 

In the Catholic Apostles’ Creed, we affirm that Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead.  This is a bedrock doctrine of Christian faith.  Christ also wants to come right now into our lives and into the world around us, dispelling the powers of darkness with his incomparable, glorious light.  We believers are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Advent is a time of preparation for the true light that gives light to everyone.  Advent asks us this perennial question: Are we watching and making preparation to receive the light that the darkness cannot overcome?

Advent is a time of spiritual realignment and renewal.  Consider the Advent readings from the Old Testament, and especially from the Prophet Isaiah.  The Prophet is speaking to a people who had wandered far from God in both their private and public lives; this becomes clear in the Prophet’s indictment of their misguided worship, out of which came improper treatment of neighbour. 

In his prophetic proclamation, Isaiah focussed on a future fulfilment of God’s renewed, perfect world, which is viewed in terms of the mountain of the Lord, and the coming Messiah who redeem and restore.  The people of God had lost their focus; the Lord was no longer the ultimate good, the spiritual centre and focal point of the people.  Does this sound familiar?  In an age of infinitely competing values that are opposed to God’s will, Isaiah’s exhortation to return to right praise rings true today.  Advent is a season when we reflect on our highest values, the greatest good to which we devoted ourselves.  Advent calls us to find the personal and corporate place of right praise and proper worship, to align our entire existence to the true nature of Jesus Christ.

Advent is a time to cultivate spiritual discipline of waiting.  Personally, this the most difficult fruit of the Spirit for me to cultivate and harvest.  This Advent watchword convicts us every year, for we are a poor waiter.  One reason this sort of biblical waiting makes us deeply impatient is that it is open-ended. 

Yes, it is true that Advent waiting anticipates the birth of the Messiah.  That waiting is finite; that is, we can calculate the arrival of the One for whom we have been longing.  Yet Advent waiting moves us to other realities the Messiah brings: Justice, peace, wholeness, healing, and renewal. 

In my own parish, we have already planned the advent retreat and in the Archdiocese it has been planned, too.  So, what remains for us to do is to submit our humble self for the preparation of the coming of the Messiah: For the recovery of a loved-one, for the preparation of the coming of the Messiah: for reconciliation between family members, for the salvation of friends. We are waiting for Emmanuel to come, but that coming is rarely on our own terms. 

Advent invites us to lean into this truth: The day and the hour of Christ’s second coming and his coming into our lives with his touch of goodness is not known to us, yet we can wait with confidence that when he does come, it will be at just the right time.

Advent is a time to embrace living between the times. Advent reminds us that we live in an in-between time: that is, between the flesh-and-blood incarnation of Jesus Christ into the world in a particular time and place, and the second coming of the Lord and King Jesus Christ in power and glory.  We need to immerse ourselves in the works of piety by attending to prayer, receiving the sacraments, Christian conferencing, relationships of accountability, and more. 

Works of mercy flow from these essential Christian practices, and among them are visiting the sick, attending to the poor, feeding the hungry, and caring for the most vulnerable.  As we live between the times, we cultivate a deep discipleship that is invested in the needs of our neighbours. To do so is to be faithful to the Advent call to prepare for Christ’s coming. 

May you enjoy this season of Advent with renewed hope, peace, joy and love as you prepare to celebrate the miracle of the incarnation, the wonder of Christ’s presence in our lives, and his coming again to the world.

God Bless Nigeria!!!