Dear friends in Christ
Throughout Advent the Church uses the voice of the Old Testament prophets to assist us in the task of preparing a way for the Messiah. The culmination of these voices comes in the person of St John the Baptist who is the bridge between the Old and New Testaments. His was the task to consolidate all the prophecies that had been announced to the Chosen people of Israel the Anointed One. In the person of The Baptist, we encounter a disarming figure who uncompromisingly tells the world that it needs to wake-up and realise that the Day of The Lord is near. So he is as much relevant for us today as he was when he first appeared. God continues to send prophetic voices into our world today, reminding us in different ways of how we have gone off-course and need to return to the basics. For us Catholics in Advent, this means a concentration on godly things. Saint Cyprian reminds us:
Why do we pray for the kingdom of heaven to come if this earthly slavery pleases us? What is the point of praying so often for its early arrival if we would rather serve the devil here than reign with Christ? The world hates Christians, so why give your love to it instead of following Christ, who loves you and has redeemed you? We ought never to forget, beloved, that we have renounced the world. We are living here now as aliens and only for a time. When the day of our homecoming puts an end to our exile, frees us from the bonds of the world, and restores us to paradise and to a kingdom, we should welcome it. What man, stationed in a foreign land, would not want to return to his own country as soon as possible? Well, we look upon paradise as our country, and a great crowd of our loved ones awaits us there, a countless throng of parents, brothers and children longs for us to join them. Assured though they are of their own salvation, they are still concerned about ours. (Treatise on Immortality)
In this Advent, the practical application of this counsel is for us to live in expectation of the final judgment, and the coming in time of Our Lord. Try to live Advent as Advent and not as the start of the Christmas celebration, which begins properly with our celebration of the first Christmas Mass. Try to keep Advent as a muted time, so that we can truly celebrate the Christmas season as the Church intends, entering into each of the mysteries of the celebration which continues until the Baptism of Jesus in the New Year.
The most central figure in the Advent season is Our Blessed Lady, and especially so as we shall be celebrating her feast on Monday (transferred from 8th). God prepared Mary by her Immaculate Conception to be the most pure and worthy Mother of the Redeemer. As the poet Wordsworth loved to say: She is our tainted natures solitary boast! I shall be presiding and preaching at the Chapter Mass in Brentwood Cathedral on Monday at 10.30am; all are welcome to this. In the evening at 7pm I shall lead the praying of the Rosary in the church, Mary’s Litany and Consecration of the Parish to the Immaculate Heart of Mary concluding with Benediction.
May God and His Immaculate Mother guard, bless and protect us in these Advent days!
Msgr Kevin Hale