Advent is upon us, the New Year begins; sometimes I think the importance of Advent is underplayed.
As we hear once more the cries of the proclamations of the patriarchs and prophets, with John the Baptist soon adding his voice to those cries, each in their own way reminding us that we don’t always get it right and there is still much each of us could be doing, we shouldn’t be taking it as a reminder that we haven’t ordered the turkey. As Advent progresses and we hear of the Mary and Joseph’s response to God’s call we should be challenged afresh about our own calling from God, not being challenged to find that elusive Christmas present. Eventually we hope to get to celebrating and recalling the birth of Jesus, the realisation of generations of hopes and dreams, the Light of the World coming into the world. Until then the only pictures of Jesus which should be painted with words and song should be that of his return in glory.
Advent isn’t a preamble to Christmas it is a totally different season, a season of reflection and taking stock a time to turn and re-focus on what our faith is about. Advent shouldn’t be dismissed in favour of some other celebration, or downplayed in favour of trying to extend Christmas. We should not hide from looking at our own lives by looking at the lives of the saints; the anticipation should not be for Christmas Day, which we might not reach, but for the return of Jesus to finally unite all creation with God.
Some years ago there was a campaign to put Christ back into Christmas, to reignite the reason for the season. The same needs to be done for Advent, before it is too late and the day and hour is upon us and we are too busy being distracted by other things.
