It had been ten years since I had been back to my roots, to the mountains of Virginia. We had planned it many times. Each time something happened. Two times I ended up in the hospital. Another time we had some unfortunate bills come up we didn’t expect. The basement flooded and a semi ran into one of our cars. Ten years went by without seeing my mother, father, and brothers in person. Finally, this year, we were able to drive down. As we drove into the night we intended to get a hotel room somewhere near Louisville, KY and split the drive into two nights. The closer we got, the more excited I found myself. Unable to sleep, we stopped at a rest stop in Shelbyville, KY and decided to drive on through the night. Once we got there I couldn’t sleep. I sat up till late in the morning with my dad and mom talking. Just talking. I took a small nap and up again I was. I got to see my best friend Michael, my brothers, some of my cousins, my aunt Etta, and my grandmother Irene. The whole time we were there (and it was a very short trip) I didn’t sleep much. I kept thinking about how little kids will throw a fit at bedtime because they are afraid they are going to miss something. That was me. Excited.
Advent is much like that. It’s a sense of anticipation. The Jewish people had been subjected to oppression time and time again. All throughout their captivities in Egypt, Babylon, and so on; they had a promise from their God to have a Messiah come along to save them. To free them from their captors and place them back as a kingdom in power. They wanted to go back to the Kingdom of David when every person had a car in the garage, a place to live, and plenty to eat. Can you imagine how much they anticipated this? How hard it would be to sleep knowing it was coming? How much excitement there must be when the signs begin to align and the person they have been waiting on for over 500 years now seemed to be imminent? Or even the promise in Genesis that the snakes head would be crushed by her seed? The people had been waiting as long as they could remember, more than a lifetime for their savior to appear.
Now here we are, approaching Christmas. The “new year” of the Church has begun and Advent is a time of that anticipation. A time when we should be getting excited, not for presents and such, but for an opportunity to let Jesus be born in our hearts. A time when we can become a birthplace, a Temple of God, that Jesus can be born into not just for one night, but for the rest of our lives. But it’s not just a time of celebration and excitement, but rather a time in which we should be preparing ourselves. The color for Advent is purple to remind us to repent, to get ready, be ready, and stay ready. Christmas is a day to remind us of an event that occurred in history, but it’s not the only day of the year that we should be thinking about that. We should be taking this time to remind ourselves of the entire story. The annunciation by the Angel Gabriel, the visitation to Elizabeth, the Birth of Our Lord and Savior. All of these remind us that our lives too should be ones in which we make use of the Sacraments, preparing ourselves for our own Easter because we really don’t know when that will happen. No one is promised tomorrow.
So this Advent, take time to journey with the Church toward Easter but begin here and now with your own Yes to God’s plan in your life. Advent is much like my trip back home to Virginia. It begins by setting out for a place we might have forgotten to visit recently. Setting our sights to journey with the Holy Family to Bethlehem to find room in the Inn of our Heart for the coming Messiah. A time in which we clean up those things we have allowed to creep in and turn our very selves into a manger to receive Christ the newborn King. To remind us that we ourselves are temples of the Holy Spirit. A day of peace and joy is on the horizon, so get ready… be ready… stay ready. Are you excited yet?
A reflection on the readings for December 1, 2019: First Sunday of Advent