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Advent Reflection

Fr Christopher's Advent Reflection

ADVENT: THE THREEFOLD COMING OF THE LORD

Advent tells us Christ is near. That is the heart of the matter. In the Advent Season we are called to reflect upon the Threefold coming of Christ and his present nearness to us.

FIRSTLY: Christ came in poverty and humility when he was born in Bethlehem. Out of love for the Human Race God sent his Son into the world to reveal his loving purposes for humanity. The Lord Jesus shared our humanity, so that we might through faith and the sacraments share his divine and eternal life.

NOW TO THE SECOND COMING: As Christians we believe that history has a purpose, a plan. All history is in the hands of God, who is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The constant witness of Scripture and the Tradition of the Church, is that Christ will come in glory as Judge and king at the end of time. He will come to judge all people, and reward his chosen with Eternal Life and to renew the whole of the Universe. This is not ‘ Pie in the Sky’. The fact that I must account for the way I have used God’s gifts and graces in this life, is an incentive to live my life to the full. To walk in the Path of Life, that Christ has traced out for me by his example and Gospel.

NOW TO THE THIRD COMING: Scripture and especially St Bernard in the early Middle Ages, reminds us that between Bethlehem and Judgement Day the Lord Jesus comes. In the last book of the New Testament, the Risen Lord holds out this promise to all who follow him, ‘Look, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and sit down at table with them.’ Here in this life, Christ comes, if have the courage to open the door.

  • He comes to us in the neighbour who is in need of our love and attention. (See Matthew 25) To ignore those in need is to ignore Jesus himself.
  • He comes to us in the time we set aside for prayer and the reading of Scripture. We don’t have to pray long or sophisticated prayers. We simply place ourselves as we are, in his presence and we allow him to lead us into companionable silence with him. In our distractions and inability we allow the Holy Spirit to pray in us.
  • Christ comes to us supremely in the gift of the Eucharist. As the Second Vatican Council reminded us, the Liturgy of the Church is both source and summit of the Church’s life. Faithful to his promise, Christ comes.

As he comes, let us show in our lives the repentance John the Baptist preached and let us have for Jesus, the love and welcome which his Blessed Mother had for him.

WHICH OF THESE THREE COMINGS SHOULD OUR FOCUS BE ON THIS ADVENT?

I would answer: the Third Coming, between Bethlehem and Judgement Day. If we welcome Christ as he comes to us in prayer, in the Mass and in our neighbour, our celebration of his First Coming at Christmas will be real and authentic for we have already experienced his coming. If we learn to welcome Christ in this Life we shall have no fear when we must stand before him as Judge at his Second Coming at the end of time.

Let our prayer this Advent be that of the first generation of Christians,

AMEN, COME LORD JESUS !

Fr Christopher