Advent and the Coming of Christ

Centered in the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, is Michelangelo's famous depiction of the creation of Adam. The finger of the creator God reaches down from heaven and mankind is created.  

But today a new image has emerged, one with a new creator, creating a new Adam. Increasingly in this age, God is being removed from the true picture of reality and relegated to the place of myth and fiction, that is the modern view of religion. Now man designs man and defines his purpose.

As Advent begins, the anticipation of the coming of the New Adam preoccupies our attention and meditation; his historic first coming, fulfilled in time with the birth of Jesus, and his second coming, to be fulfilled in the fullness of time. And so, during Advent, our meditation focuses on the creative hand of God in our lives and on the questions, who is shaping my life, and who am I becoming -

• A person being formed by the hand of God, into his image and likeness, or
• A person formed and shaped by the influences of an age where the hand of God has been replaced by hands of human reason alone?

We have before us these two polarities. On the one extreme there is the religious fundamentalist, who views human reasoning and ingenuity with doubt and skepticism - reason opposing faith. On the other extreme we have the atheist, who views religion with outright contempt and rejection - faith as anti intellectual.

The Fundamentalist

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory.

The Atheist

It is between these two extreme and mislead positions that we have our starting point, the Incarnation. This text from the prologue to John's gospel, begins the the gospel reading for the Mass of Christmas Day. This was the gospel for the earliest Christmas liturgy. Later, two additional liturgies, with their gospel readings taken from Luke's account of the Nativity, were added, Midnight Mass and Mass of Dawn. This has become the more popular focus for Christmas, the infant Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the stable in Bethlehem. Often, a merely sentimental view of Christmas replaces the profound mystery of the Incarnation. Here too, we often find the culture conflict between those wishing to display the Nativity scene in public and those intent on removing Christ from Christmas.

Our prayer and meditation during Advent will prepare us to receive this Word from God, with the certainty that comes from a grace-filled  faith. 

Resources For Advent Meditation:

The opening prayer for the Mass on the First Sunday of Advent prays:

Grant, we pray, almighty God,

that your faithful may resolve to run forth with righteous deeds

to meet your Christ who is coming,

so that, gathered at his right hand,

they may be worthy to possess the heavenly kingdom…

• "run" - that our hearts are revived with new excitement, real joy coming from a new outpouring of grace.
• "Christ who is coming" -  hope replaces doubt and guilt - the past is past - look for what is new, that the Lord is bringing you.
• "righteous deeds" - Advent is a time for a serious examination of conscience - of discovery of the compromises I have made with this age of denial of God.

SECOND READING ROM 13:11-14

Brothers and sisters:
You know the time;
it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;
the night is advanced, the day is at hand.
Let us then throw off the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light;
let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day,
not in orgies and drunkenness,
not in promiscuity and lust,
not in rivalry and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.