The Church’s liturgical observation of Advent ends with the celebration of Christmas Masses, the feast of the birth of Christ.
What we may overlook is that Advent has no end in time, and in its essence, does not end with Christmas. The act of dropping our illusions, of letting God be God, of waiting in hope for God to act as God wills, ought not to be let go, and surely not for the cultural celebration of Christmas. Openness to God as God must ever be foundational in our spiritual life, although few of us, perhaps, wish to risk all for this basic attitude. A Christian Christmas, a genuine Christmas, continues Advent; cultural Christmas is a substitute, another chance to hide from divine reality, before which we either dread or hope. Cultural Christmas adverts our gaze from God’s Advent.
As we have explained, all of our Catholic celebrations are one in that God is one, but each uniquely highlights some aspect of God-in-Christ, the mystery of God in humankind. Advent is the season that, if understood properly, is true to God in this sense: to keep Advent, one must keep surrendering all that is not God, and long for the truth of God beyond our beliefs and expectations. The limitations of even the prophets and apostles show up when their imaginations outstrip naked faith. Isaiah, John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul are best in pointing towards the God who is, and who ever comes; but when they imagine what form God presence among us will take, or what that Coming looks like, they fall short. In her sheer humility, Mary achieved what no prophet did: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” not as anyone expected or predicted, but as God willed. Divine wisdom ever surpasses our human understanding. Genuine Christmas provokes wonder, and ever humbles us.
For a human being living open to the truth of God, all of our life is in tension between divine Presence experienced through faith and love, and the divine ever beyond human experience. Living in the tension of truth keeps us wondering at the action of the God who “is, who was, who is to come.” Even as we gratefully receive the gift given—Christ—we acknowledge our limited receptivity, our misunderstandings, sometimes our neglect or abuse of the Gift. But “even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts.”
What we may overlook is that Advent has no end in time, and in its essence, does not end with Christmas. The act of dropping our illusions, of letting God be God, of waiting in hope for God to act as God wills, ought not to be let go, and surely not for the cultural celebration of Christmas. Openness to God as God must ever be foundational in our spiritual life, although few of us, perhaps, wish to risk all for this basic attitude. A Christian Christmas, a genuine Christmas, continues Advent; cultural Christmas is a substitute, another chance to hide from divine reality, before which we either dread or hope. Cultural Christmas adverts our gaze from God’s Advent.
As we have explained, all of our Catholic celebrations are one in that God is one, but each uniquely highlights some aspect of God-in-Christ, the mystery of God in humankind. Advent is the season that, if understood properly, is true to God in this sense: to keep Advent, one must keep surrendering all that is not God, and long for the truth of God beyond our beliefs and expectations. The limitations of even the prophets and apostles show up when their imaginations outstrip naked faith. Isaiah, John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul are best in pointing towards the God who is, and who ever comes; but when they imagine what form God presence among us will take, or what that Coming looks like, they fall short. In her sheer humility, Mary achieved what no prophet did: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” not as anyone expected or predicted, but as God willed. Divine wisdom ever surpasses our human understanding. Genuine Christmas provokes wonder, and ever humbles us.
For a human being living open to the truth of God, all of our life is in tension between divine Presence experienced through faith and love, and the divine ever beyond human experience. Living in the tension of truth keeps us wondering at the action of the God who “is, who was, who is to come.” Even as we gratefully receive the gift given—Christ—we acknowledge our limited receptivity, our misunderstandings, sometimes our neglect or abuse of the Gift. But “even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts.”
