Advent Reminds Us To Stay Awake For You Do Not Know The Time
“Stay Awake! You do not know when the time will come.
We’re just a few days away from the start of the month of December. For many this means that Christmas time is almost here. But how should we prepare for Christmas? What happens in the days leading up to Christmas? What must I do prepare for Christmas the way God wants me to prepare?
This is what Advent is for. Advent helps us to prepare for Christmas when Christ came into the world. Advent also helps us to prepare for his second coming, be that at the end of all time, or at the end of our individual time. One of the things that has instilled I believe, a fear of death into the hearts and minds of many has been this Covid-19 pandemic. Many have died. Many are fearful of dying. Much of that fair is brought about because of a sense of not being ready. No one likes to be taken by surprise. No one likes not to be prepared for an event, especially if it is a major one. It’s like having to write an important exam with the sense looming over you that you were just not prepared for this exam. I remember when I was a child I used to have these dreams that a major exam was just around that corner, but I was not ready. I was not prepared for it. I never liked those dreams. I’d always awake from them very anxious and with a headache. Thank God I’ve grown out of them.
Advent helps us to be prepared; prepared for the coming of Christ in whichever form he chooses to come, and when he chooses to come. This weekend’s gospel tells us, “Stay awake! You do not know when the hour will come.” So if we do not know when the hour will come, them it means that we should always be prepared. We should always live our lives in accordance with the will of God. It is this preparation that has allowed the Saints and countless Christians throughout the years to face death unafraid.
I don’t mean to sound morbid but one fact of life that never changes is that we all will die. For every single one of us, our lives here on earth will come to an end some day. No one is exempt from this. As practicing Catholics and Christians, we’re well aware that Jesus Christ will come again. We profess this very often in our Creed. The thing is we do not know when. Advent helps us to prepare by self-examination. Just as when I was younger and preparing for exams, I prepared for them by the discipline of study. So too, Advent challenges us to prepare for the second coming of Christ through the discipline of holiness.
How do we achieve holiness? simply put we achieve holiness by following Jesus Christ. We strive to love as he loves, to be merciful as he is merciful, to be compassionate as he is compassionate. We strive to be holy by forgiving as we have been forgiven by him. This is one of the areas that many people struggle with – forgiveness that is.
Advent challenges to get our lives in order . It challenges us to prepare a way for the coming of Christ while reminding us that no one knows the time nor the date when he will come . So it challenges us to always be ready and to make straight a path for his coming . In the light of Advent, when we look back at 2020, it seems as if this entire year has been one of an Advent experience with the Covid-19 pandemic that has swept over the whole world. While many have grown very fearful, many continue to live lives in a frivolous manner. It is as if Christ is never coming back. Those who live their lives in this manner are like the five foolish bridesmaid that we would have read about not too long ago (ref. Matthew 25: 1 – 13). One thing in life is for sure; that is we all will die someday and after that we will be judged based on how we lived our lives. We will be judged by our obedience to the will of God.
Advent therefore encourages us to live our lives more prayerfully and in accordance to the will of God. It encourages us to renounce sin and to focus on the things of God. It is in prayer and it’s through spending time with God that we are given the grace to be holy just as He, our Heavenly Father is Holy.
During this season of Advent, we will be exploring Advent as an acronym spelt out below. We trust that you will follow along with us as we journey through this wonderful season of Advent.
Attend Mass frequently
Devotion to prayer
Vocation – Be true to Your Call (St Catherine of Siena)
Encounter Christ
Now – Do not procrastinate your Salvation.
Turn away from sin
