Further in Advent

Once we get to the third week of Advent we then pray the Second Advent Preface. It reads:

His future coming was proclaimed by all the prophets. The Virgin Mother bore Him in her womb with love beyond all telling. John the Baptist was His herald and made Him known when at last He came. In His love Christ has filled us with joy as we prepare to celebrate His birth, so that when He comes He made find us watching in prayer, our hearts filled wonder and praise.

The prayer of the Church reminds us of two key figures that is John the Baptist and Mary. Both of who are important role models for us in how we should be praying.

John the Baptist has three appearances in the Advent scripture selections. In the first week he is in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth. In second selection he is in the desert announcing the coming of Christ. And in the third selection he is in jail and sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the Messiah. We see in these three passages how we should be acting during this season. We should be searching for God. We should recognize that He is here and will come in glory. We should be leaping for joy when we have that encounter with Christ, as John did in his mother’s womb.

Mary is another role model for us. She is a harder role model for us to follow, since God kept her free from the stain of original sin. But we should realize that while the bar is higher God does assist us in a similar manner to Mary. We pray the Hail Mary, in which we acknowledge that she is full of grace. We need to realize that if we attend to the sacraments and a life in prayer that we are recipients of grace. Mary is a role model in another manner also. She is steadfast from the beginning in her support of the Father’s Will and in caring for Jesus, the Son of God. We should learn from her motherly love that made Jesus the priority in her life, that we must work to imitate that love. We must work to imitate that care and dedication in our own life.

As we move through the season of Advent, we should be working hard to prepare for the two comings of Christ, once as an infant in a manager and again in glory at the end. In order to be able to appreciate God in both of these encounters we need to be about God in our daily life.