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Happy New Year! Today we are celebrating the new year in our Church calendar, the Season of Advent. It is the four-week preparation for Christmas we have borrowed from pagan Rome where people used to open their temples in a feast called “adventus” which in Latin means “coming” of their gods. The concept was adopted by the imperial court to celebrate the coming of the Roman emperor who was also considered god at that time so that elaborate preparations were made not only in Rome but also in the occupied provinces. The Church took on these practices later because after all, the one True God and True King who is coming is our Lord Jesus Christ! But unlike the pagan Romans, we prepare not the outside world and appearances but our hearts where Jesus Christ comes every day to dwell and reign in us.
Here we find that Advent is a season of active waiting where we do not stand idly waiting for Christ to come but instead we make His coming happen daily. You see, Advent has a two-fold character: beginning today until December 16, we focus on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ at the end of time, and from December 17 to 24, our sights are set to the days that led to His first coming in that first Christmas more than 2000 years ago. According to St. Bernard, between these two comings of Jesus Christ is His third coming in every here and now, or TODAY. In tagalog, we refer to his first coming as “si Kristo’y dumating” (came) and His second coming is “si Kristo’y darating” (coming) and Christ present is “si Kristo’y kapiling” (among us). And there lies the challenge of every Advent: do we make Jesus present, felt, experienced in every here and now?
Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to that day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So it will be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. So too, you also must be prepared, for an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” (Mt.24:37-39,42,44)
Once again like in the weeks before the end of our liturgical calendar with the Solemnity of Christ the King last Sunday, Jesus again did not give any specifics about His second coming like dates or signs that we have to wait for it to happen. He is always present among us, always coming and every day is His day of coming, His day of judgment and most of all, His day of salvation for us. We do not have to be focused on the dates and time because what is very certain and clear is that He is definitely coming. The Second Coming of Jesus (parousia) is definitely going to happen, in fact it is happening daily in the most ordinary days and circumstances of our lives like in the “days of Noah.” Active waiting for the Second Coming means being aware always of Christ’s presence in our lives wherein we strive to become better persons through prayers, celebration of the Eucharist, meditating the Sacred Scriptures and most of all, doing what is good.
Of course, we continue to commit sins for we are not perfect. Holiness is not being sinless but being filled with God, being aware of His presence always that we strive to be good. Active waiting is being filled with hope, trusting amid the darkness that Jesus is coming again like a light piercing the dawn slowly but surely. St. Paul beautifully expressed this reality in our second reading today because like us at that time, the Romans were so preoccupied with the date and time of the Second Coming: “Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to wake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now that when we first believed. The night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” (Rom.13:11-14)
I like the imageries created here by St. Paul. First is his mention of “time”, “hour”, and that phrase “night is advanced, the day is at hand.” They all evoke how we all slowly move towards the direction of perfection and salvation in Jesus Christ. Yes, we live in a world filled with many problems and miseries, sufferings and pain but slowly, we could see clearly now our salvation because somehow, it is still good that triumphs over evil even if it takes some time. Despite the prevailing darkness, like the breaking of dawn, the day is getting brighter as life gets better slowly no matter how small or little is the progress we make since our conversion or last confession. We have that sense of hope and certainty deep within that darkness would soon fade and light would burst forth. Hence, in this passage, St. Paul also evokes in us a sense of urgency and vigilance in this passing from darkness into light: “throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”
The joy of Advent is not measuring or knowing the exact time of the Second Coming but realizing how God values each one of us that He gives us every present as a time to experience His Son’s coming and salvation. May we all “walk in the light of the Lord” (Is.2:5) by working harder for peace and justice, rising above the “personalisms” and mudslingings so prevalent these days in our country. Let us not waste time for it is not time that is passing by but we who are passing by. Every time we waste time, we actually waste our lives because the time we did not put into good use to become better persons can never be brough back nor regained. It would be too bad that in our lost time, we have lost our lives too because we have missed the Lord coming. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan
