Waiting for Christ

When the Advent season sets in, we are actually already looking forward to Christmas. We get busy with preparations: decorating our homes, updating our gift list, buying clothes and stuff, etc. This is a period of joy and excitement, given the long holiday period, which is also a time for get-together with loved ones and friends.

But Advent calls for a deeper preparation. The word comes from the Latin ad-venio, which means "coming to" (Catholic Encyclopedia). Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God-with-us, is coming, and we have to prepare ourselves to be worthy of receiving him. It is a period for spiritual housecleaning, to take stock of our relationship with Our Lord, and if need be, to reform our lives. A dominant voice we hear in the season’s readings is John the Baptist's as he cries out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths" (Mt. 3:2-3; Second Sunday of Advent, Cycle A). From Our Lord come these words: Be watchful! Be alert! (Mk 13:33; First Sunday of Advent, Cycle B). Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand (Lk 21:28). Be vigilant at all times and pray that you may be ready to stand before the Son of Man (cf Lk 21:36).

Advent invites us to open our hearts wide to welcome Christ. As Pope John Paul II said, let us take the risk of following him. “Do not keep quiet about Christ's truth: cry it out loudly!” (Homily, Dec. 11, 2001). We have to come out of our indifference, our feeling of self-sufficiency, our way of living that may be straying off the path of our faith. Following Jesus demands a renunciation, a conversion, a renewal.

There is no other person to look for except Jesus who is the way, truth and life. To the question of John the Baptist’s disciples, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus points to the signs of his presence: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them (Mt 11:5; Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle A). Jesus was true to his word, fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah that he read in the synagogue at Nazareth: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord" (Lk 4:16-21). And blessed are you who believe that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled (Lk 1:45; Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle C).

In response, we are prompted to ask ourselves. Do I live as a child of God should? Is there anything in my behavior that is not in keeping with the commandments of God? Do I practice my faith, living daily with an eye toward heaven, which is my final home? Do I always show love to my family? Am I a positive influence to the people I meet?

Christ is asking us not only to be with him but to be like him to others -- to be a sower of peace and joy, a force of healing, a source of encouragement by our own words and deeds.

Our life here on earth is, in a sense, a continual Advent, a relentless struggle for holiness, a never-ending fight against the passions and the attractions of evil that try to bring us down. And if, through our own weaknesses, we fall down, our trust in the mercy of God urges us on to get up and begin again. A good way of beginning is to make a good confession, the sacrament of divine mercy. Confess our sins to the priest who sits in the confessional in persona Christi, in the person of Christ, who is always waiting to embrace us back to his love. Be not afraid, but have the courage, or, as St. Josemaria would say, the courage to be a coward, “-- to flee from the occasions of sin; going to the sacraments frequently, particularly to the sacrament of Confession; sorrow, contrition and reparation after one's falls” (Friends of God, 185). Show to the priest the wounds of our sin, with all the ugliness, so that the priest can apply the proper remedy of forgiveness, heal our broken relationship with God and move us to a new beginning. “You revealed your past wounds — full of pus — in Confession. And the priest dealt with your soul like a good doctor, like a conscientious doctor. He made an incision where he had to, and would not let the wound heal over until everything had been cleaned out. Be grateful” (Furrow, 168).

As we wait for Christ’s coming on the day of his birth, we are urged to fill our minds and hearts with the things of God. “Deo omnis gloria. All glory to God. It is an emphatic confession of our nothingness. He, Jesus, is everything. We, without him, are worth nothing: nothing. Our vainglory would be just that: vain glory; it would be sacrilegious robbery. There should be no room for that 'I' anywhere” (The Way, 780).

May Christ find our hearts ready to receive him.

Your Kingdom Come

The last Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year is a celebration of the Feast of Christ the King. This feast, instituted 80 years ago, honors Jesus Christ as the Lord of the Universe. He reigns in our wills and in our hearts. He is our king, our lawgiver, our judge. All power belongs to him, all must obey his commands and none may escape his judgment (cf Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas, Dec. 11, 1925, 7, 15).

His human life showed no kingly trappings. He was born inside a cave with a manger for a crib. He lived in no palace, and while foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, he had nowhere to rest his head (Mt 8:20). He behaved as a servant, washing the feet of his disciples. His royal crown was a plait of thorns, and for his throne, the Cross. “Jesus came into the world with nothing; so too, with nothing —not even the place where he rests — he has left us” (Escriva, Way of the Cross, 14th Station).

Christ affirmed himself as a king: “I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world,” to “proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God” (Jn 18:37; Lk 4:43). Yet his “kingship is not from the world” but “among you” (Jn 18:36; Lk 17:21), that is, within us, in our minds and hearts. Everyone is welcome to his kingdom: the poor in spirit and the persecuted, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:3, 10); he came to call not the righteous but sinners (Mt 9:13). He warns though, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21).
His invitation is to share our life with him and enjoy the riches of his kingdom. The kingdom Jesus Christ is a kingdom of love, peace, light, forgiveness and joy. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (Jn 13:34-35). Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid (Jn 14:27). I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (Jn 8:12). This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28). If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete (Jn 15:10-11).

Jesus addresses to us the same question he asked Simon Peter. "Do you love me?" and we are challenged to respond as the apostle did: "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you" (Jn 21:17). He awaits us to embrace Peter’s confession of faith. “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God" (Jn 6:68-69).

“The program of every Christian is to follow the Lord, the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, in order to possess the Kingdom which he has promised and given” (Pope John Paul II, Homily, Nov. 22, 1998). Holiness consists in this: Prefer nothing to the love of Christ (cf Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, Jul. 20, 2005). Christ promises the ultimate reward for whoever follows him. “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me has eternal life” (Jn 6:47).

Pope Benedict XVI urges us: “Every Christian is called to enter into profound communion with the Crucified and Risen Lord, to adore him in prayer, meditation and above all, in devout participation in the Eucharist, at least on Sunday, the little ‘weekly Easter’. In this way one truly becomes his disciple, ready to proclaim and to witness at every moment to the Gospel's beauty and power of renewal” (Angelus, Jul. 31, 2005).

Our Holy Father also stresses our duty to spread the kingdom of Christ. “Anyone who has discovered Christ must lead others to him. A great joy cannot be kept to oneself. It has to be passed on. Help people to discover the true star which points out the way to us: Jesus Christ! Let us seek to know him better and better, so as to be able to guide others to him with conviction.” (Homily, Aug., 21, 2005). If we let Christ reign in our soul, we will serve everyone, for only by serving can we know and love Christ and make him known and loved (Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 182). Let us pass on the kingdom of love, peace, light, forgiveness and joy in our homes and wherever we happen to be.

Marana tha -- Come, Lord Jesus (1 Cor 16:22). Your kingdom come on earth as in heaven.