Seriously though ...

We are about to enter into one of the most important seasons of the Church’s year. At the same time, we are very conscious of how the weeks in the run-up to and including what is essentially a Christian festival have become somewhat overwhelmed by the ethos of shopping and materialism. One could forgive a visiting alien for being completely bewildered as to what the season of Advent and Christmas is really all about.

There are two very distinct but entirely opposed faces to Christmas: on the one hand we have Father Christmas standing in the rain collecting money outside the supermarkets, next to his sleigh (on wheels, with the distinctive rumble of a diesel engine coming from underneath it); rack upon rack of Christmas cards sporting glitzy pictures of snowmen and Christmas trees; we have false snow on shop window fronts; tinsel and glitter everywhere; reindeer with big red noses; piped Christmas pop music seemingly throughout the land; drinks parties and crowds of shoppers on every High Street spending money they don’t necessarily have.

The other face of Christmas presents us with images of a very young woman – not much more than a girl - far from the comfort of home and the reassurance of her family, lying on a bed of filthy straw giving birth for the first time; we see her newborn baby with nowhere to sleep except in the animals’ food trough; we have a handful of poor shepherds on a hillside on a very cold Middle Eastern night.

Of these two faces of Christmas, it was the poverty and silence of scene in the stable which attracted the jubilation of the angels and of the whole company of heaven. For it was the child being put to bed in the animal trough of which, centuries before, the prophet Isaiah had written …

… on him the spirit of the Lord rests,
a spirit of wisdom and insight,
a spirit of counsel and power,
a spirit of knowledge.
He gives no verdict on hearsay,
but judges the wretched with integrity,
and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land.
His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless,
his sentences bring death to the wicked.
Integrity is the loincloth around his waist,
faithfulness the belt about his hips. (Is 11:1)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government will be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counsellor
The Mighty God;
The everlasting Father
The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 60:1-3 & 9:6

It was the baby delivered into the world in such difficult and humble circumstances of whom the psalmist wrote that his would be …

… a voice that speaks of peace,
peace for his people.
His help is near for those who fear him
and his glory will dwell in our land.
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps. (Ps 84:9-14)

As all the shops become increasingly decked out with decorations, and the number of illuminated snowmen and sleighs adorn the roofs of houses across the land, so the Church begins to gear itself up for a time of deep reflection and seriousness.

On the first Sunday of Advent in churches all around the world purple becomes the colour of the season: tabernacles are covered in purple veils and Christian clergymen and women will don purple stoles and chasubles. Purple is the colour of seriousness: it is the colour which calls us to penance and to a time of solemn preparation. The public perception (even amongst the Christian community) of what we are preparing for during Advent has, for a very long time, been misunderstood, for the first part of Advent (the first two weeks) is all about preparation for Christ’s second coming. It is not a time of preparation for remembering his first appearance, i.e. his birth in Bethlehem on that first Christmas morning. The Mass readings in the first couple of weeks bear out the call to prepare ourselves for the promised end of all things, when Jesus will come back to the world and there will be judgement for all of mankind. We are asked to imagine what it will be like to stand before him and called to give an account of ourselves: our thoughts, our words and our actions, particularly those which have damaged our relationships with others and, therefore, with God ….

“Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” Matthew 24:44

“His winnowing-fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into the barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out” (Matthew 3:12

“Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come” Mark 13:33

“The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all that it contains will be burnt up” 2 Pet 3:10

“And then you will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man” Luke 21:27, 36

The solemnity of this time of year cannot be emphasised enough if we are to use this time of preparation well. Like Lent, it is a time when we have to really search our souls and see the ways in which we stand in need of God’s healing.

But … it isn’t all doom and gloom! The tone of Advent changes completely after the third Sunday of Advent, otherwise known as Gaudete Sunday, or joyful Sunday. At this point, and after two weeks of soul-searching, we begin to think about the fact that Jesus has already been amongst us and has shown us how it is possible to be transformed. He transformed those who came to him when he walked the earth 2,000 years ago. He makes himself available, still, for our own transformation, through his Word and through the sacraments of the Church. We can read for ourselves with what compassion and mercy he deals with those who come to him. I particularly love this passage by St Teresa of Lisieux (from her book, ‘Story of a Soul’, ISBN 0-935216-58-8) which sings of the love and mercy of Jesus and which, knowing how deeply flawed we all are, should give us great hope …

“I have only to glance at the Gospels: at once this fragrance from the life of Jesus reaches me. Even if I had all the crimes possible on my conscience, I am sure I would lose none of my confidence. Heartbroken with repentance, I would simply throw myself into my Saviour’s arms, for I know how much he loves the prodigal son. I have heard what he said to Mary Magdalene, to the woman taken in adultery, and to the Samaritan woman. No one can make me frightened any more, because I know what to believe about his mercy and love; I know that in a twinkling of an eye all those thousands of sins would be consumed as a drop of water cast into a blazing fire.”

There is no doubt that Christmas should be a time for celebration and thanksgiving, for families to get together and to rejoice. Our rejoicing, though, is made all the more profound and meaningful if we have spent Advent seriously considering who Jesus is to us as individuals and as a community, and what the outlook might have been without that first Christmas Day.