Reflection – Making the best of Advent

There are two distinct approaches to the Advent season. We can let it pass us by as we await the family or communal gatherings at Christmas, or we can allow it to shape our Christmas.

The following suggestions, derived from the Bible readings of the four Sundays of Advent, propose making Advent a time of personal and communal renewal.

1ST SUNDAY

In the second reading from 2 Thessalonians, Paul urges the Greek community of Thessalonica to respond to God’s urging of them “to increase and abound in love to one another and to all men and women, as we do to you”.

In the Gospel reading from Luke 21, 34: “Watch yourselves or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life.”

REFLECTION

Love is not the same as like. We can dislike someone while at the same time loving him or her. Love is primarily about being life-giving, encouraging, helping and supporting. Like is about being attracted to the other. Attraction might be the beginning of a life-long friendship or the beginning of being trapped in a negative relationship.

“Watch yourselves or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life.”

Parents or personal experience should (but maybe not always) teach us to move cautiously into a genuine relationship of friendship. Amorous relationships may be either very simple or extremely fraught. Our instinct to survive may save us from disaster, or a disaster may teach us to be more cautious. Nothing is certain! Risk is inevitable, or, as the saying goes, no pain, no gain. Adventure is a key element of life - exploring the unknown.

2ND SUNDAY

In the second reading from Philippians 1, 3, Paul writes, “Every time I pray for all of you, I pray with joy, remembering how you have helped to spread the Good News from the day you first heard it right up to the present.” 

In the responsorial psalm 125, 3: “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.”

REFLECTION

The apostle Paul spent quite some time with this community, sharing with them his Christian faith. Previously, he had persecuted Christians, in the belief that faith in Jesus of Nazareth was an attack on the Jewish faith. He was on the road from one town to another, where he planned to ferret out and identify Christians. It dawned on him that he was quite mistaken, so, with help, he gradually worked out the consequences of this discovery and became a Christian missionary. He put his whole heart into whatever he took on.

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.”

Paul attributes his Christian faith and missionary vocation to God and this fills him with joy. What can we say about the joy of sharing this same faith? We are called to mission at Baptism. This may appear to make little sense in cases where the decision to be baptised was taken by our parents, but as adults, we renew our baptismal promises annually at the Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday night). Do we make this public ritual of renewal in a meaningful way?

3RD SUNDAY

In the Gospel acclamation from Isaiah 62, 1 (Lk 4,18): “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he sent me to bring Good News to the poor.”

The communion antiphon says: “Say to the anxious: be strong and fear not and God will come to save us.”

REFLECTION

Our parishes usually initiate and support groups of parishioners, focusing on support and solidarity with the poor. Sometimes, laypeople take the initiative to create and animate such groups.

“Say to the anxious: be strong and fear not and God will come to save us.”

As often as not, things don’t work out as we had hoped or planned. Plugging into our power to endure adversity is often demanded by Christ’s call to mission.

4TH SUNDAY

In the Gospel acclamation from Luke 1:38: “I am the servant of the Lord: may his will for me be done.”

In the Gospel reading from Luke: 1: 41-42: “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!’”

REFLECTION

It is often difficult to know what God’s will is. Paul eventually discovered what it was for him, but it cost him a lot to follow up on that - a courageous and honest man.

“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!’”

Mary and her cousin, Elizabeth, seem to understand each other. True friendship is a gift from God that deserves gratitude. 

Columban Fr Peter Woodruff lives and works in Australia.