What does Advent mean and why is the season so significant?  Adventus Domini is a Latin phrase meaning the “coming of the Lord.”   Advent is a time of preparation, a time of holy desire and longing for the Promised Messiah. It is, however, a tragic mistake to view the Advent Season as a sort of sentimental preview of Christmas.  Far too often, these trite attitudes have led to the appalling expulsion of Christ from Christmas.   All that remains is tinsel and trees and the hollow loneliness of Christmas without Christ.  How can it “seem like Christmas” when a secularized society has shut out the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior?
   
    The Advent Season brims with joyful hope as the liturgies remind us of the two Comings of Christ.  From the First Sunday of Advent to December 16th, the Church stresses the Second Coming of Christ when He will come in justice to judge “the living and the dead.” The November liturgies prepared us for the Last Judgment when Jesus will complete His work of Redemption.  On the last day, He will raise every human person from the dead, reuniting everyone with their bodies.

    As Our Lord warned us, the time for mercy will have passed. Jesus said: “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”  Faithfulness to our baptismal promises, affords us the sure hope of being among: “Those who have survived the great period of trial and have washed their robes, making them white in the Blood of the Lamb." (Apocalypse 7:14)

    From December 17th to Christmas Eve the stress shifts to Our Lord's First Coming. Jesus, true God and true Man, comes not in justice but in mercy and forgiveness.  By His death on the Cross of Calvary, Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest, saved us from sin, Satan, and eternal death.
   
    At Bethlehem Mary, His Virgin Mother, kneels in peaceful adoration of the Child in the Crib.   Joseph, the Husband of Mary and the Guardian of the Redeemer, worships his Foster Son in humble prayer and wonder.  The glorious sound of singing angels permeates the still serenity of the stable: Gloria in Excelsis Deo!  Even the animals are still as they sense the Profound Presence.   
   
    My dear friends, never permit the Advent/Christmas Season to become a festival of pagan parties and shallow sentimentalities.  Prepare for both Comings of Christ by making frequent Confessions and fervent Holy Communions.  Be ever mindful that Jesus comes to us every day of the year in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and in the Most Blessed Sacrament.  He comes not to condemn us but to save.

    This Advent, as we wait and watch for His coming, let us sing out with the Universal Church: "Lord, show us your love and grant us your salvation!"  

    Have a Blessed Christmas!
                                                                


                            Father Richard J. Rego, S.T.L.