Advent: It's Not Just for Shopaholics Anymore
Recently, a person in the RCIA, at a local Christian church, wondered where the season of Advent came from. I smiled. Easy. Got it, I thought to myself. ‘It’s about a long but hopeful wait among God’s people for their Messiah, their Savior. It’s also about the coming of the Word of God into the human community.’
Some group conversation ensued. Then, I spoke up. “I think Advent’s about wrapping our arms around values that aren’t so popular in American culture anymore. Like, patience. Dealing with uncertainty. Self-denial, prayer . . . It’s not just for shopaholics anymore. Several group members laughed a little. Surprised, I thought, ‘Now where did that come from?’
It’s a Long Story, But a Good One
Advent is a special season of the Church Year, the one that comes right before Christmas. The Latin term adventus means “coming.” It begins on the Sunday closest to November 30, the feast of Saint Andrew. It lasts until December 24. In any given calendar year, the Advent period will last from 21 to 28 days.
An advent season was celebrated, by some Christians in Europe, as far back as the year 500. It soon became common, in the Church, make special preparations for the “birthday” of Jesus of Nazareth. This was an echo of the many centuries of waiting and hoping 'in darkness,' by the People of Israel, for the One who’d lead them to hope and liberation.
By the 900s, many Christians had begun to celebrate the first Sunday of Advent as the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year. Later, Gregory VII (1073-1085) taught that the Advent season, throughout the entire Church, was to extend over four Sundays—and he selected certain Bible passages and composed lyrical prayers, many still used today, to help Christians get ready for the sacred feast of Christmas.
Certain spiritual practices cropped up here and there. The Advent wreath, a significant ‘evergreen’ symbol of life with four candles, became popular during the Middle Ages in Europe, then North America. For centuries, families made creative “countdown to Christmas” calendars during December. A serious emphasis on prayer, fasting, and self-denial (central to Advent traditions from the start) remained part of daily Catholic life.
Some of you who read this will recall what this kind of Advent was like. For younger readers, know that the period was a big deal – about hope, and self-control, and watching for something big. Yes, something almost unimaginable – the Word of God becoming part of humanity!
Light a Candle, Say a Prayer
I briefly thought about titling this section “Can You Wait for Jesus at the Mall?’ Instead, let’s go with an ancient Christian saying: ‘Light a candle, say a prayer.’
Every year, as I grow older, Advent and Christmas seem to mean something different. Less about getting the goods. Fewer packed-full parking lot spats. Avoidance of shop-till-you-drop marathons. More about time with family and other relationships -- and a focus on all of our rich, life-giving (often simple) gifts from God.
The key, I suppose, is to discover, yearly, a way – individually or as a household – to make the season of Advent meaningful, so a true celebration of the Nativity can be realized in our corner of the earth.
Of course, one can ‘wait’ for, and ‘watch’ for, Jesus at the local shopping mall. Malls today function like the town and village squares of ages gone by – central points at which common folk would gather, socialize, care for each other, share faith.This Advent, if you watch closely, you will see waves of shoppers in our contemporary‘village squares’ who are harried, who seem to need something – a brief, friendly smile, a helping hand, a simpler and less materialistic lifestyle (but also one of those scarce spaces in over-crowded parkng lots of course).
Today’s holiday rush often turns ‘the Christmas spirit’ into a mash-up of Maalox moments and empty encounters. So, this is a particularly right time for us to light a candle, symbolically, and say a prayer for everyone involved, in hope that the pre-Christmas hubbub will lead, in the end, to the Right Person and the Right Place.
Advent: When It’s Come and Gone
When December 25 arrives, then the 26th, what will you recall about Advent 2010? By Christmas dawn, for century after century, Church members had practiced the value of patience and prayerfulness. They had accepted uncertainty – while trying daily to do God’s will. They had made self-sacrifice a December habit to create a bigger open space for the Nativity in their hearts.
When Advent has come and gone this year, what will your story be?
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