Preparing for the Coming of Christ

This upcoming Sunday we will once again enter into the cherished season of Advent. The season when we prepare for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Christmas. As we enter into this season, we should take a moment to reflect on its purpose so we can properly enter into the mystery. 

Christ’s birth “is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries” (CCC 522). The Old Testament tells the story of how God prepared his people for his coming into the world as the Messiah. The annual celebration of Advent is the special time when the Church “makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah” (CCC 525). When we celebrate Advent, God is preparing us, our families, our church, and our society for the coming of the messiah in a manner similar to how God prepared the people of Israel. 

While we prepare for the coming of Christ in a way similar to the Isrealites, we also have a new focus. The Isrealites were being prepared for a future coming of their savior. We are preparing for the coming of Christ in three different ways: we prepare for Christ’s historical coming, we prepare for Christ to come into our hearts today, and we prepare for the future coming of Christ at the end of all time. This threefold coming of Christ should be on our minds throughout this season. 

We must guard against the pressures of the world as we undertake the celebration of Advent. The world simply bids us to prepare for the coming of Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer and the coming of Santa Clause, while the Church aims higher and she bids us to prepare for the coming of Christ. The joys of the cultural aspects of Christmas should not be shunned as they often reflect the joy that rung through the world at the birth of its savior, but these cultural joys must be subjected to the supremacy of Christ. Do not focus your sights on shopping lists or guests lists, rather lift your eyes up to the Lord.

Let us spend this Advent season in mindful preparation for the coming of Christ our King. May we work to open our hearts and lift up our interior gates, so that the King of Glory may come into our lives in order to dispel the darkness. 

Our next three blog posts will focus on each of the three different comings of Christ which we are preparing for during Advent. 

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