Reflection on the First of Advent

By Mgr Jan Jaworski

…because your redemption is drawing near (Lk 21: 28).

Advent marks the coming of a very important person. The word derives from the Latin word – advenio, ire, which means arrival. In the Christian context this obviously refers to the arrival of Jesus Christ.

Everything a person does in life, he or she does in striving towards something, waiting for something, because the effort is necessary for someone. The season of Advent is a time preceding the feast of Christmas, the time of internal preparation for it. The time of waiting is the essence of the atmosphere of these few days and their whole mystery.

Human life in essence is waiting. Through one’s whole life one endeavours towards something, always awaiting something.

Life – the passing of days, months and years – is like a thread from a Gobelin tapestry. The one who threads has before himself a sketch of an artist, but while threading one does not immediately see how the picture is being created. Only when he work is completed can one turn back to the thread and see what has been achieved and whether the pattern has been faithfully achieved. Likewise, each one of us, one day at the end, will see the full beauty and true greatness of our life.

Life is waiting for the moment of confrontation. We cannot say that nothing awaits us, that everything that can be has already happened. The most important event has yet to happen: our meeting with Christ. This promise is our ultimate goal, realised through work, through goodness and faith in the Gospel.

The summons “Come”, often repeated during the liturgy of Advent, expresses the Church’s actual desire. God bestows graces upon us commensurate with our preparation. We must prepare the way to the Lord through concentration and prayer. That is why during Advent, the Church calls us to penance, repentance from evil, and acts of goodness. As we begin the New Year – that of the Church – we become aware of the truth that we are members of the pilgrim Church, and we are preparing ourselves for the final coming of the Redeemer.

Advent is an opportune time to prepare ourselves for the joy of Christmas in the most dignified way. Advent is a time of preparation for the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, a time of prayer and increased penance so as to make place for Jesus in our hearts and in the hearts of others. Advent is a time of light and joy, a time of counting the days to Christmas. Advent makes us aware that we are on the road towards the mountain. Christianity sees realistic opportunities in the progress of man and the whole of mankind. It foretells even better and more human stages.

Advent is a time of waiting for the coming of the Lord, which had its place at a particular moment in history when Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem. The whole of creation had waited for this coming of Jesus. We must remember that the Redeemer is always with us and wishes to create a tight connection with the redeemed creation through himself.

Advent is an opportune time for introspection: do we benefit from the fruits of salvation and to what degree do we live in accordance with the promises of the Gospel? Advent is an appropriate time to throw off the darkness and to put on the “raiment of light”.

Solidarity with Jesus in his earthly life gives full meaning and explanation of our difficulties. We do not live in paradise among angels, but among the battles for a better tomorrow for our spiritual individuality; let us remember that in patience, in openness to the issues of God, we will find the joy of Advent which will lead us to the cradle of Bethlehem. Advent is only a temporary phase which leads us to Jesus, who came into the world – in the still of the night.

In Advent, John the Baptist’s call, “Repent, the Lord is at hand”, resounds. John is the herald of Advent, leading us to Christ. Not only did he preach through his own stature and mortification to his peers, but also to those who came after them – to us.

John wore clothing from camel’s hair and a leather girdle around his hips. His nourishment was locusts and wild honey. Thanks to his mortification, he achieved great perfection. Crowds assembled to listen to John on the subject of mortified life.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. May your humble deportment be always known to all people, because the Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in constant prayer present your needs to God”.

This is the first in a series of articles Mgr Jan Jaworski wrote for The Southern Cross, completed just a few days before his death on October 8.