Happy New Year my friends! It’s the most wonderful time of the year quite literally. The time for us to prepare for Christ’s birth! Let us rejoice in such anticipation!
In the past few weeks, my bible study and I have been going through a Christmas study where we look forward to the coming of Christ while we reflect upon the nativity. The study was built around a traditional Christmas song before delving into the gospel and other books in the bible as well as what the four weeks of advent stand for. The design of this study was to correlate with the weeks of advent though- due to our school schedule- it did not correlate with the liturgical calendar. I would like to take this week to share part of this study with you.
Let’s start by talking about what advent is. As many Catholic words, advent comes from latin and translates to coming. Advent is a season of anticipation of Christ’s coming. Now when you think of anticipation you probably think of waiting around. I want you to get that out of your head because advent shouldn’t just be us sitting around waiting for Jesus to be born. For us to fully anticipate the coming of Jesus, we must prepare. Think about how you celebrate Christmas for a second. Do you just sit there waiting for Christmas day to come and go? No! You put up lights, you put up a tree, you wrap presents, you bake cookies, you do whatever traditions your family has. It’s not enough for us to wait for Christmas day to come. True anticipation involves action. So, advent is thus not only a season of anticipation but, due to the nature of true anticipation, preparation.
Now one of google’s definitions of advent is “the coming or second coming of Christ.” Okay, now this is important. Our entire lives should be a season of advent because we are anticipating the second coming of Jesus. This is so crucial to remember. We don’t get this season simply just to reflect on the past, but for us to also prepare ourselves for what is to come. After all, that is what our entire life’s journey is: anticipation- preparation– for what is to come.
With that, let us get right into the song I chose, O Holy Night. (There’s so many versions but I really like this one by Carrie Underwood). A song about how the dark world receives hope on the most beautiful and holy night when Christ was born. There are so many beautiful lyrics in this song, but I want to draw your attention to one “the thrill of hope.” This week, that purple candle on your advent wreath stands for hope, so naturally, we gotta talk about it.
Let’s unpack that phrase first. “The thrill of hope.” That butterfly- feeling excitement you get when you look forward to something to come. What a beautiful way to explain that excitement we should have when we think of Christ’s coming! Hope, according to google, is, “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” The catechism takes that a step further by saying that, “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of Heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit” –CCC 1817. So hope is us not only desiring Heaven, but fully trusting in God’s mercy and promises to lead us there. When Jesus came into the world, He gave us hope for eternal life because He payed the price to free us from sin.
Now let’s take this to the nativity. Flip those bibles to Luke 2:8-20.
Ah the shepherds! What symbolism they repetitively hold in the bible, and what hope they give to us all! Now, take a couple minutes and think about the following questions.
- How did the shepherds react? How do you think you would have reacted?
- Why do you think the angels appeared to the shepherds? Why do you think this is significant?
- How are we the shepherds of todays world? How can we better be like these shepherds?
So, here we have these average Joe men, who have the glory of heaven cast down upon them, and they’re terrified! Which, honestly, makes complete sense. I mean how many times have you seen an angel? I’d probably freak out too! But, after seeing such glory, the shepherds were able to receive the knowledge that God had sent a savior to the world in the form of a small baby in a manager. I guess a grand jester was a must because if someone told me that the Messiah had arrived, but was unable to walk this earth yet because he was a baby- oh and he was born in a barn- I’d probably be a bit suspicious myself. But, the shepherds, with faith and hope, rushed to Bethlehem. Not because they needed to see Jesus to believe, but because they desired to see the king of the universe and worship Him.
The fact that the angels appeared to these normal men is so amazing! God decided that in the birth of the savior of the world needed to be shared with everyone. And the angels didn’t just reveal the birth of our Lord to them, but they gave them the ever so slightest glimpse of Heaven! What joy! What light! What hope they are able to receive for they not only know of the arrival of their savior, but are shown the promise of eternal life.
As I said above, its important for us to reflect on how Jesus came into the world, so we can better prepare ourselves for when he returned. The shepherds heard of Christ, encountered Him, worshiped Him, and then went and spread the word with hope of the life to come. This is what we too are called to do as well. We have all heard of Christ at this points in our lives. Hopefully, you have grown in relationship with Him in a way as tho have encountered Him in your every day life. Once you get to that point, picking up your mission as a Catholic becomes a lot more possible. You are able to worship God and spread His goodness. Love God and love your neighbor.
Living our missions as Catholics is hard. However, there is a grace Christ gives us that makes it so much easier: hope. Christ revealed the promises of Heaven to the shepherds, and He’s revealing it to us to. Listen for these promises. Christ is telling them to you. In the bible, in the mass, in your everyday life. Once you find them, you will experience true excitement for what is to come and a very real understanding of the thrill of hope.
-St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us
Live Radically • Love Radiantly 