Advent Season

A theme that has appeared in my homilies this Advent is one of preparation for the coming of Christ. That is the two comings, celebrating His coming as an infant and His second coming in glory. I have consciously tried to concentrate on the second coming of Christ, but I have been drawn to the image of the infant time and time again in my meditation. For awhile it was a mystery as why this was taking place, but I found the answer in listening to my homilies.

I have had two families that are good friends of mine that have newborns in their life. Until this situation, I had never watched infants all that closely. Yes, they are cute, but they are also noisy and demanding. But I have seen these two children grow and mature and it has been an enlightening situation. I have seen how their parents(my friends) lives have changed. At times it is an honor to witness the love the parents have for their children and the sacrifice they demonstrate for them. At other times it has been problematic because we have not been able to eat out and got movies. The children have interfered with our friendship. At times I found myself briefly upset, but I would remember that I was being selfish and these parents, my friends, were being holy by being good parents.

I have been thinking about this even more during this Advent. I had been reflecting on how God demands that we repent and turn to God. I have realized how lovingly God works in our lives. We all know from countless Januaries that new years resolutions we make do not often take hold and last in our lives. They are external principles that we should probably adopt in our lives, but they are difficult to hold onto and remain faithful. That is what God gave us in the Old Testament, that is rules or laws to live by, but it proved difficult.

What wisdom He showed by coming as an infant and teaching the sacrifice that is needed for God first hand by Joseph and Mary. God demonstrated first hand that we are capable of sacrifice. The Father entrusting the Son to us as an infant demonstrated firsthand that with God’s grace we are capable of loving as God does and sacrifice with joy. God showed us in the New Testament that it is not just principles that we are to live, but we are to live for God as God lives for us.

This Advent in 2006 has helped me to realize the true joy of the infant born in Bethlehem. I cannot wait to learn more about the joy of Christ coming again in glory.