How do We Celebrate
Advent?
Advent is a time for celebration and preparation. Pope John Paul II stated in 2001:
“Dearest Brothers and Sisters:
With today’s first Sunday of Advent, a new liturgical year begins. The Church takes up her journey again, and invites us to reflect more intensely on the mystery of Christ, a mystery that is always new and that time cannot exhaust. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Thanks to him, the history of humanity proceeds as a pilgrimage toward fulfillment of the kingdom which he inaugurated with his Incarnation and victory over sin and death.”
( Pope John Paul II, Angeles, December 2, 2001)
Advent activities have seen a resurgence in recent years in houses of worship. Perhaps this is the way of the faithful to keep the presence of God within this season. I was amazed that television commentators this recent Thanksgiving holiday decried the commercialization of “even Thanksgiving” as more stores opened on that date to entice would-be shoppers. “Black Friday “ through even “Black Monday”! Am I alone in wondering how this commercialization and increasingly secular approach to Christmas overshadows our expectation of the coming of Jesus the true light of the world?
I must confess that when I was employed at a local bus agency we experienced a Christmas problem. This was in 1991. We had two coaches painted in Christmas schemes. Both included Christmas trees, elves’ pictures and gifts. Someone complained that the Christmas trees were emblematic of a Christian Christmas and therefore offensive to non- Christians. The trees were painted out. Within the same year another complaint was that the elves were not of the ethnicity of the community in which the buses were routed. The buses were painted again and the elves came off. Another complaint came in that the gifts were signs of new birth and therefore smacked of Christianity and the birth of Christ. The buses were recalled and painted a fourth time, this time with blocks and the meaningless, innocuous phrase “Happy Holidays”, with the intent of celebrating nothing and not offending the sensitive. This worked!
During Advent, I invite all to enjoy: the spirit of the season when people are more generous in their compassion to everyone else, Christmas music is upbeat and embracing, Christmas plays, and our own Christmas Boutique. I also enjoy the many special readings and figures we have in our liturgies during Advent. I enjoy the lighting of the Lenten candles; the readings that ask a scared woman of faith named Mary to become the Mother of God and she assents; the figure of John the Baptist pleading with people to prepare to welcome the Lord of all Creation as he tries to purify himself of worldly values. Let’s prepare with new appreciation this season!
Fr. Mike
