Introduction to The Coming of Christ
To the Catholic, Advent is a time of longing and expectation, a time when we prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas. But there is a paradox here: Christ came two thousand years ago. How do we prepare for a past event? Is it simply that we are preparing to celebrate Christ’s birthday? By preparation do we just mean buying presents—out of generosity, obviously, since Christmas is about Jesus and not about gifts—or baking endless goodies—on which to gorge ourselves over the next month—or cleaning the house so all of our Christmas guests will be comfortable while they enjoy our perfectly curated Christmas feast?
Gift-giving is certainly a good. We give generously to others because we have received generously from God in the redemption he grants us through the human nature assumed in the Incarnation. The mystery we celebrate at Christmas is two-fold: it is the mystery of God becoming man and it is the mystery of man becoming god, the mystery of the Incarnation and the mystery of the Redemption.
It remains a question, however, why we prepare for the Incarnation if it is a past event? Christmas is not simply about commemorating the birth of Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem. Rather, as Vincent McCorry notes in his reflection on the First Sunday of Advent, “it is a triple-header.”
The word “Advent” comes from the Latin meaning “coming.” In Advent we prepare for Christ’s coming: first as an infant in the manger of Bethlehem, second on the Last Day when he comes in glory to judge the living and the dead, and third when he comes to reign in our hearts today.
The first coming is necessary for our redemption and, therefore, is directed toward the third coming. The second coming on the Last Day is to judge whether there was room at the inn of our hearts and is, therefore, also directed toward the third coming. Indeed, it is this third coming that is most important. Fr. McCorry describes it as “the literal, factual, not-merely-symbolic-or-poetic, but completely real coming of Christ into the individual soul by sanctifying grace.”
If this is the case—and it is—then the real preparation required during Advent is the preparation of our hearts to receive him. It is a preparation that makes room at the inn, so to speak. You can ask yourself: is my heart full of other things, of earthly possessions, of dreams, desires, goals for my future, of the good opinion of others, or even of human relationships, such that there is no room left for the Christ child? He must be our first and greatest love for which reason Mother Church commends prayer, fasting, and almsgiving during Advent. These activities are designed to draw our hearts away from the things of the earth and toward God, to detach us from the things that keep us from him.
It is good and important for us to feast in abundance as we celebrate the coming of our Saviour at Christmas, which is why Mother Church has given us a Christmas season that extends forty days. But in order to appreciate the feast, we must first keep the fast. We should meditate on the second coming and consider whether our supreme Judge will recognise in us his home or send us away saying, “I do not know you.”
As an aid in these last days before Christmas, amid the hustle and bustle of last minute baking and Christmas shopping, we have provided a series of three sermons. The first, from St. Bernard of Clairvaux, reflects on the first coming of Christ, his coming to and through Mary in the Incarnation. The second, from Aelfric of Eynsham, reflects on the second coming of Christ on the Last Day. The third sermon, again from St. Bernard, then reflects on the dispositions needed by those who seek to celebrate the coming of Christ Jesus our Lord.
Following these sermons is a poem by Christina Rossetti that reminds us that the greatest gift we can give to the Christ child is far more precious to him than any gold, frankincense, or myrrh. It is our hearts that he desires and that is all he desires. Finally, we round out this first part of the Christmas issue with a piece by Amberlee Duteau that speaks to the challenge Catholics face in striving to observe the penitential and preparatory character of Advent and the festal celebration of Christmas in the midst of a world that marks its celebrations during Advent.
The other three parts of this issue will provide reflections on Christmas during the Christmas season, but for now we mark our preparations for Christ’s coming and say with the Spirit and the Bride, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
Aaron P. Debusschere
Editor