MAKE THIS ADVENT TRANSFORMATIVE
What is Advent? Today, we welcome Advent the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year C, the year of St Luke. The liturgy of Advent took shape in the Church in the 4th century introducing a period of preparation for the feast of Christmas. In the 9th century, the Church designated the first Sunday of Advent as the beginning of the new liturgical year.
The English word “Advent” comes from the Latin word “ad-venire” which means approach or arrival. The Greek equivalent, and word used in the New Testament is “Parousia” which means being near, presence, or coming. We read of Parousia or coming in today’s 2nd reading in St Paul’s 1st letter to the Thessalonians, “and may He also confirm your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless in the sight of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus Christ comes with all His saints.” Advent invites us to look forward to both the celebration of Christ’s birth and to the second coming of Christ in glory.
The themes of the Advent season focus on the virtues and qualities central to the preparation for Christmas. Hope is the theme for this 1st Sunday of Advent. The four themes are:
Hope (1st Sunday of Advent) - reflects the hope of Christ’s coming, past and future, and God’s promises of redemption.
Peace (2nd Sunday of Advent) – embracing the peace that Christ brings into the world and seeking peace within our hearts and relationships.
Joy (3rd Sunday of Advent) - rejoicing in anticipation of the arrival of Christ this Gaudete Sunday.
Love (4th Sunday of Advent) – remembering God’s love for humanity in sending His Son and reflecting that love to others.
The readings today reflect hope in times of uncertainty and even till the end of time. In the 1st reading, Jeremiah speaks of the Babylonian invasion in the 6th century that devastated Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, the most sacred place where God dwelt and indestructible in the minds of the Jews. The people were taken into exile in Babylon, the conquest brought the house of King David to an end and Jeremiah was imprisoned. All seemed lost and in that time of darkness, Jeremiah speaks words of hope and believes in God’s plan that the nation will be restored and ruled by a king in the Davidic line “I will make a virtuous Branch grow for David” (Jeremiah 33:14). Many of us would resonate with the fear and hopelessness of the people in Jeremiah’s time. As Jeremiah proclaims, we are called to stay hopeful and courageous in our life journey.
Our Gospel reading of St Luke focuses our attention on the second coming of Christ in glory. We learn of the cosmic signs in the language of the revelation with vivid images, the heavens being shaken and the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory (Luke 21:25-27). We are not to be weighed down and anxious, rather it is a cause of great joy in Jesus’ return. Jesus tells us to “stand erect and raise your heads” (Luke 21:28) and calls us to be prepared and awake. Preparedness in not planning every detail with emphasis on when these will happen, rather in being spiritually ready, in our everyday disposition, how we see things and working faithfully at tasks He has given us. Being awake and not being fixed in looking back to the past or anxious of the future, nor our hearts drowsy from distractions, carousing and drunkenness.
Pope Francis in his Angelus 2018, reminds us that “Advent invites us to a commitment to vigilance, looking beyond ourselves, expanding our mind and heart in order to open ourselves up to the needs of people, of brothers and sisters, and to the desire for a new world.”
To give us hope and to help us in our journey to the end, the 2nd reading of the 1st Letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians gives us much encouragement, “we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus to make more and more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live: the life that God wants, as you learnt from us, and as you are already living it.” We are called to be holy and to be loving. Holiness is not merely being sinless, it is a call to be set apart, to grow in Christ likeness and to belong to God.
Hope is the overarching theme of the upcoming Jubilee Year 2025, which will begin with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve 2024. When Pope Francis announced the Jubilee Year 2025, he stated “We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire.”
As we look hopefully to the Jubilee Year 2025, let us make this Advent special and transformative, and to enter Christmas with hearts and minds ready to receive the gift of Jesus Christ. We seek His peace and to reflect His love in willing the good of the other and to help transform us to be pilgrims of hope. This is so well described in the refrain of the Holy year Jubilee 2025 hymn “Pilgrims of Hope.”
Like a flame my hope is burning,
may my song arise to You:
Source of life that has no ending,
on life’s path I trust in You.
Click the link below to the:
Holy Year Jubilee 2025 hymn "Pilgrims of Hope"
Lyrics: Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri
English translation: Andrew Wadsworth
Music: Maestro Francesco Meneghello
Like a flame my hope is burning,
may my song arise to You:
Source of life that has no ending,
on life’s path I trust in You.
Ev’ry nation, tongue, and people
find a light within Your Word.
Scattered fragile sons and daughters
find a home in Your dear Son.
God, so tender and so patient,
dawn of hope, You care for all.
Heav’n and earth are recreated
by the Spirit of Life set free.
Raise your eyes, the wind is blowing,
for our God is born in time.
Son made man for you and many
who will find the way in Him.
Article by Olivia Tan, HFC Blog Contributor