3rd Sunday of Advent 13.12.09 Find the time
One of the difficulties of the Advent season is that we are surrounded by Christmas celebrations. From a liturgical point of view Christmas comes too soon by far in the world around us. We really should celebrate Christmas after 25th December, not before.
If we can abstract from all the busy-ness and focus on what really counts then the Advent time should be for us a chance to appreciate the true wonder of Christmas.
This wonder comes in two main statements: that God became man and dwelt among us; and that He did this because of His great mercy whereby He wants to forgive all our sins despite our unworthiness.
These are two well-known and much-repeated facts and we may be somewhat dulled in our appreciation of them because we have heard them so often.
But just pretend you are hearing them for the first time. God is becoming Man. We would never believe this if it were a future event instead of a past one, but there it is; it has happened already.
Consider that the same God who made the universe and holds it in being, the greatest of all kings or emperors, far more important than any earthly celebrity – that same God is willing to take a personal interest in someone like you or me.
Earthly rulers do not do that. Presidents, and Prime Ministers are not likely to ring me up to ask how I am going! But God, King of heaven and earth, far more important than any other king or queen is following my every move with interest.
Can we believe that? We should: it is no more than part of our everyday faith, yet if we allow ourselves to be impressed by it as a fresh revelation we discover some of the wonder of Christmas.
And as for the Mercy: imagine any other person allowing us to offend him again and again, even every day; how long would such a person remain on friendly terms? Yet here is God, willing to take us back no matter how many times we offend Him. This is astounding; we need to take time out to realize how fortunate we are that He is like that.
He could wipe us all out if He wanted to, and strictly speaking that is what we deserve. But we get something far better than we deserve.
So He dwells among us and He forgives us - two impressive facts to wrestle with in the Advent season.
Unless we find time and space to reflect on these things we will not appreciate Christmas. It will be just a round of drinking and eating and socializing; pleasant enough as far as it goes, but not getting to the heart of the matter.
We must seek the Child, like the wise men. We must make an effort to find Him, and when found, to keep Him.
How do we find Him when, as mentioned, there is so much bustle around us, making prayer the least likely thing to be happening?
We must pray as much as we can, depending on each one’s circumstances. Force time for it; give up something else, anything else. Whatever it is it cannot be as important as prayer.
Then also, find God in the world. He makes Himself known in many different ways. We can see His beauty in His creation and His will in the unfolding of our lives.
St Paul exhorts us to joy. When we give enough time to the matter we see he is right. We do have much to be joyful about - eternal life to come; His providential guidance in this life; His glory all around.
We will experience this joy only if we let it sink in; only if we give it enough time to become a part of our lives. Can we find the time?
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