Men's Rosary

Every year I become more aware of the secular competing with the spiritual during Advent and Christmas. It is more during Advent because after Christmas day the world moves on to the next celebration! I have been focusing on Advent more and understand that it is necessary to be able to celebrate Christmas, the day, and the season.

Advent means “coming or arrival.”  With the coming or arrival of anything we need to prepare. In the context of Christmas in the church, this arrival is the coming of the child Jesus and the second coming of Christ.  In the context of the world, it is the arrival of a day. Either way there is preparation. The dichotomy: one is filling while the other is emptying. Therein lies the competing nature. In the secular sense, Advent is hustle and bustle, parties, shopping, decorating, and a myriad of other activities. All these things fill us up. They can and usually do fill us to overflowing. But this overflowing is not positive. It does not help us to enter into the mystery of the gift that Christmas represents. In the spiritual sense Advent is a time to reflect. A time to go inward and examine ourselves. It is a time to recognize those things that stand between us and God and an opportunity to remove them. It is a time to recognize our nothingness and dependence on God. During Advent we can become aware of how much God loves us and how great a gift he gave us in his son Jesus Christ. This is a time of emptying ourselves, not filling. Only a vessel that is empty can receive. The less full of ourselves we are, the more God will pour into us. Yes, he will fill us and fill us to overflowing. But this overflowing is positive. It is full of God’s grace.

The secularity of Christmas is not intrinsically bad, but we must guard ourselves from being absorbed by it. We must sacrifice some of the mainstream fun to be well prepared for the coming of Christ on Christmas Day. We should also remember that this preparation is not only for a past event, but also a future event. The coming of Christ again. He will come again, and we must prepare our souls. “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”   (Matthew 24:42) Spending time, quietly, with the Lord is crucial. This is when we can best examine ourselves, acknowledge our weakness and failings, and ask for God’s grace to improve. I do not think God expects us to be perfect, but he does expect us to be making a real effort to change. We are full of ourselves! We need to empty out to receive God. John the Baptist, while a champion for Christ, recognized this: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  (John 3:30)

While it is good that we should embrace all that is around us and enjoy all the blessings God has given us in every aspect of life, let us not loose sight of who we were created to be, sons and daughters of Christ Jesus. As we have a joyful anticipation of Christmas Day with all the festivities and pleasures, may we remember that Christ will come again and prepare ourselves for that. That day is what we should be hopeful for and rejoice in its coming. “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”  Amen, come Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”  (Revelation 22:20-21)

A most blessed Advent and Christmas to you all!

“A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, and must empty ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your weakness.”  (St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta)