Advent And The Lives Of The Saints

What do the lives of the saints teach us about Advent?

I love reading the lives of the Saints and I am sure that most of you reading this also enjoy reading about them. But admittedly one of the things that I always experience and always amaze me – and I’m sure that you have the same experience as well – is the astounding spiritual strength that the Saints have. You read some of the things that they were able to do and to stand up for and you cannot help but wish that you had that spiritual strength as well.

The spiritual strength under the power of the holiness to convert souls to Christ is as a direct result of their continued involvement in spiritual exercises. In other words, the saints did not just get up one morning only to realize that they are spiritual superheroes. In their decision to follow Christ, and to be like Jesus, they have exercised their faith on a daily basis and have grown their belief in Jesus Christ to the point where over time, they were able to achieve the things that they did, be it to die for the truth, to lay down their lives for someone else, witness to the gospel in a very powerful way, and all the other amazing things that has made many of the saints who they are. For many of us, it may just simply mean to live out God’s call on our lives.

Advent challenges us to exercise our faith. It challenges us along the way of spiritual exercises all geared towards making us better Christians and better followers of Jesus Christ. And why I mentioned the lives of the Saints earlier was the draw a parallel. Many of us when we do read about them, they ‘wow’ us and makes us wish we could be like them and do the things that they have done. The bottom line is that we can’t simply because we have not done what they have done; we have not believed as they have believed; we have not trusted as they have trusted; we have not hoped as they have hoped; we have not exercised our faith as they have.

Advent challenges us to work on those spiritual exercises. Advent challenges us to take stock of where we are and where we ought to be. Advent challenges us to be people of hope in the midst of the hopelessness that surrounds us. Advent challenges us to be people of faith when all seems to be giving up on faith. Advent challenges us to be people of joy even when there may not seem to be anything to rejoice in. Advent you see reminds us of God’s amazing love for us. This is reason for great hope. This gives us reason to believe and to have faith. This gives us reason for great rejoicing. Advent is nicely poised at the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year. Come December 31st, many if not all of us, will revisit the year gone by and promise to try to do better in the coming year. Advent presents us with the same type of opportunity, but on a far more important level – our spiritual lives. Getting this one right is a serious game changer, and it will set the right tone for the rest of the year.

So as we journey through this season of Advent, let us really be grateful and give God thanks for giving us yet another opportunity to evaluate our lives and to take a closer look at how we are doing with our spiritual exercises. Let us as we journey through the season of Advent, pray and ask God to give us the virtues of hope, to give us the virtue of peace, to give us the virtue of joy, to give us the virtue of peace.