ADVENT
Fruitful Waiting
Being ready for Christ’s Second Coming
Coming into the season of Advent, we begin by reflecting on Christ’s message in the Gospel of Luke. Looking at it, it seems that it’s all about doom and gloom, especially when it’s all about the events that will occur at the end times, dealing with confusion, death, and destruction.
But we ought to see this beyond that, and first see the context of this Gospel reading.
Christ spoke to the disciples at a time of the Roman occupation. Historically, His words of the destruction of the temple came to pass when the Romans eventually sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple in 70AD. But more than the historical context of His words, we can look at this at a deeper, and a more spiritual view.
On the first coming of Christ, Jerusalem, and the whole world, is being given a chance to embrace and accept the New Covenant that God is freely giving to us. With Christ through His sacrifice on the cross and His triumph through the Resurrection and Ascension, we are given a glimpse of the salvific glory of partaking in this New Covenant. This same Covenant is to be fulfilled in His second coming, of which we know not the day nor the hour.
How do we know that Christ is finally coming again?
We will never fully know. What we know is there will be signs in the sky, as Christ Himself said. What is important is to prepare through our faith and good works, our prayers and actions, to not let ourselves be encumbered and swayed by the things happening in our world, no matter how frightening they may be. We are simply called to focus on Christ, to fix our hearts and gaze only on Christ, and He will surely strengthen us, preparing us for all the tribulations that may befall the world as He comes again in glory.
How do we prepare?
We allow God to guide us, to follow the ways of truth, humility, and justice. We must have this spiritual alertness, always in anticipation of Christ and His coming. We dwell in prayer and works, and in those instances to have Christ as the source and center of those works. Our spiritual alertness allows us to be vigilant, to also be granted the necessary grace to read the signs and understand what they mean, and to be prepared.
As Advent commences, we are called to maximize these four Sundays leading to Christmas, and perhaps even in our everyday, outside of the season, to be prepared. These four Sundays, and the days covering the season of Advent, may be made fruitful as we prepare ourselves fully, immersing ourselves in prayer and works, to be united in the heart of Our Lord.
The day of Christ’s coming may be unannounced, but we are made sure that He will come, and that we can be prepared for it.
Ave Maria!
