A blessed, holy and joyful Advent to all, as we begin a new liturgical year this evening. The ancient expectation for the arrival of Christ goes back to the Jewish people, the Magi, the Gentiles, waiting for the ‘Messiah’, Emmanuel, ‘God with us’, the anointed One who would free us from the evils of this passing world.
Christ did arrive, revealing to us that is was not primarily from external suffering that we needed saving, but rather from from our own sins, from the darkness within each of our hearts. Hence, the type of Christ as the ‘light to the nations’, a light that would shine as a ensign in His Church, the sacraments, His people until the end of all things, when He will return in His final and definitive ‘Advent’, to restore and renew the cosmos in His divine and infinite power.
So light the Advent candles, live in hope and rejoice, in our own quiet expectation, making room in our souls for Christ, for our salvation is near at hand.
A suggestion for a very valuable read is this 2009 sermon by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who I am sure is awaiting and preparing for his own meeting with Christ in this final era of his life, and offering our own intentions with him.