Today is the beginning of a new liturgical year – ushered in by the First Sunday ofAdvent, the Sunday after the celebration of Christ the King. It continues through 4 Sundays until December 24.
Advent is divided into 2 parts - First Sunday to December 16; and December 17-24. These 2 parts correspond to the season's two-fold meaning. It is a season to remember and celebrate the First Coming of Christ, and a season reminding us to anticipate and look forward to the Second Coming of Christ.
The First Coming of Christ is what we celebrate in Christmastime: the coming of God in the flesh, the Incarnation. It happened in the past. We remember and celebrate in gratitude, awe and joy.
The Second Coming of Christ is what the readings of this Sunday until December 16 will speak about: the coming of Christ in spirit. It will happen in the future. It will be the day of our full liberation. The liturgy provides us an opportunity during Advent to reflect on this, with longing, joy and expectation, preparing ourselves for this last day.
The proper way of remembering and celebrating the First Coming of Christ, and anticipating and looking forward to the Second Coming of Christ is living our present thankfully, mindful that we have been liberated from sin and death, and living joyfully hopeful of the definitive and final coming of Christ.
We live not as people in the dark, living in the ways of sin – selfishness, perversion, lust, greed and pride. We live as people of the light, living in the ways of goodness, truth, justice and compassion.
The symbols of Advent remind us of the twofold meaning, and the essential task of the present.
The purple color of the liturgical vestments show a certain penitential character – to repent and free ourselves from sin, so that Christ may have a place in our hearts.
The Advent Wreath symbolizes the anticipation of the people of the Old Testament of the Coming of Christ – as the Christ’s Coming drew nearer, the world and humanity’s hearts are gradually illumined and illuminated. It also symbolizes the Christian ideal of our personal lives as well as our social, political, economic, religious and cultural lives – the more we get to know Christ, the more we celebrate his love in the Sacraments, the more are we liberated from the darkness of sin, the more are we shaped and guided by the light of God’s love.
In our present circumstance, there is always a temptation towards externals especially in this commercialized world. The invitation is to prepare ourselves spiritually, by more intense prayer, participation in the liturgy, and a heart more open to the needy.
Today too, we remember our brothers and sisters who have physical disabilities, those who are differently-able, or the handicapped. For us who have full physical abilities, let us be reminded of our responsibility to use our abilities properly, and to their ordered finality. For our brothers and sisters who have physical disabilities, those who are differently-able, or the handicapped, it is our task to make this world more friendly and accessible to them. Let us remember, that the greatest disability or handicap is the inability to see other people’s needs, the inability to share, the inability to forgive – the handicaps of our hearts.
May we take the season of Advent as an opportunity to truly remember and celebrate the First Coming of Christ, to truly anticipate, look forward to and prepare for His Second Coming, by living our present, freed from the handicap of selfishness, free to love.
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