Advent: Is God Here, Or Is God Coming?

It is commonly known that “Advent” means coming, and Advent is a season of waiting for “the coming of God.” Also, the faithful will be reminded at Masses that the initial focus of Advent is on the coming of God at “the End,” a kind of futurist expectation. And the faithful know fully well that in Advent we await the coming of Christmas, and hence remembering the coming of God in and through Jesus Christ. At the same time, if we priests and ministers of the word have done our duty, we have often emphasized to the faithful that the God we proclaim and worship is ever present, “nearer to us than we are to ourselves.” How can it be that God both comes to us and is already present? What is the relationship between God’s coming and His eternal Presence? Using familiar language, we are exploring the tension in Christian faith between “already” and “not yet.” This tension, this experience in faith, will be heard at Mass in readings and in prayers again and again throughout Advent.   

In simple words, if God is Present now, why do we say that “God will come”?  If one denies or is unaware that God is present now, one is in effect living in unbelief, living in the darkness of an empty soul. As expressing ultimate reality, as the truly good and unchangeable truth, the name “God” stands for the Presence in a human soul of that which gives understanding, guidance, meaning, wisdom, purpose, joy, peace, love. Without living attuned to this divine Presence, one experiences much anxiety, despair, fear of the future, mental confusion, an agitated drifting through life. The Presence of God anchors one in reality, not in fantasy, wild imagination, mere “dreaming.” On the other hand, if one thinks or claims that God is present now in such a way that one fully knows and loves God, one has closed off his soul in an arrogant condition called “Gnosticism.”  One is “saved,” “has arrived,” “is already in the Kingdom of God.” Both denial of God’s real Presence in one’s soul, and claiming to be fully one with God now, break the tension of living in truth, and are forms of spiritual death.   

To be ever aware of God’s Presence is the precondition for a life of faith, and of faith working through love. Also to be aware that one is not sufficiently attending to God, not sufficiently trusting God, and not fully obeying God is necessary for living humbly, honestly, openly. To encourage both real faith and humility, Catholic worship presents again and again these two truths: God is fully present to us, but none of us is fully present to God. Although God is here now, we are not fully with God, or loving God. That is the essential tension proclaimed and explored during Advent, and the liturgies are meant to help each of us wake up and live truly in the Presence of He Who Is, here and now. Although God is Present, you and I must allow the Divine to become more fully present in our hearts, minds, and actions, day by day. God is entering into you; are you attending?  Such is the message and beauty of Advent.

Thoughts On The End

The title may sound a little impressive, or pretentious.  It is triggered by the various “ends” coming our way these days: the end of the church year; the end of the civil year; readings and prayers about “the end of the world” or the “second Coming;” thoughts about our loved ones who died; thoughts about our own end, or the end of life of someone we love. There seems to be no end to ends, as they come one after another, unendingly.  Let’s briefly consider these ends one at a time. End of the church year—the Feast of Christ the King. Not a warm and inviting title for Jesus, is it?  At least, not to us, living in a long-established democratic regime, that began in time by overthrowing the king. Do we need another king?  Do we not have enough would-be kings in politics? For my part, I think that Jesus would far prefer the title, “Christ the Servant,” to “Christ the King.” Humility far more befits Jesus Christ than grandiose titles.  He rules by love. End of the civil year on 31 December, and New Year’s Day on 1 January. Why these dates? Did you know that in our civilization, we used to celebrate New Year’s Day at other times —especially at the winter solstice, or at the beginning of spring? When does one year end and another begin? Years seem to be part of an endless cycle of change, or at least a very slow winding-down of cosmic time.  A year might usefully be said to end at either the summer or winter solstice. I could see our Old Year ending on 21 December, and the New Year beginning around 4:00 p.m. on 21 December this year—the actual time of the winter solstice near Great Falls, Montana. What we call the end of the year is literally relative in space-time. “The end of the world.” What does this phrase really mean? If nothing else, it indicates that the person who uses the phrase may need to do more thinking before opening his or her mouth. I find phrases such as “change the world” or “the end of the world” virtually meaningless, quite empty-headed. What is “the world”?  What possibly could constitute “the end of the world?” Would everything that exists cease to be? Would that be the “end of the world?” What about God, or that which simply is, and has no end? Is God all that has to be? Yes, that is why God is called “absolute being,” or “necessary being.” Only God is and has to be.  Everything else? Each in time has its beginning, middle, end. But is there an end to everything that exists, altogether? No one knows but God, who brings all things into being. Our ignorance is legendary, known by all creatures, it seems, except to us human beings. And then there is the so-called “Second Coming.” When we hear this bizarre phrase, what possible meaning can we assign to it? Second coming of Christ? Why not his third, or thousandth, or billionth coming? It seems to me that Christ is ever coming into the world, into any heart or mind that is open enough to let Him squeeze in. Surely it is ever wise to “prepare to meet your God,” in the words of the ancient prophet, Amos. To me that means now, or in the famous words of Martin Luther King, “Not tomorrow, not today, but now.”

A Time To Remember

 

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter on heaven:  a time to be born, and a time to die.”  Although it is always our duty as human beings to remember our loved ones who have died, during November the Catholic Church invites us to do so publicly on behalf of all. To this end, November begins with two linked days of remembering:  All Saints’ Day, as we rejoice with and for those who have attained union with God beyond death “in heaven;” and All Souls’ Day, when we offer prayers on behalf of all who have died, and are still being moved, by God’s grace and their cooperation, to complete happiness in God.  

Typical of our Catholic faith, religious practices are linked with the movements of nature. As we see autumn pass into winter, and darkness descend on the earth, so we are invited to remember our Maker, and to contemplate our own pending death, and to remember our dear friends and family members who have “gone before us” into the “end without end.”  And we remember and entrust to God all human and other beings who have lived and died throughout the ages.  What we want for ourselves, we ask for each and for all:  unending happiness, the fulfillment of all the good that God created each one to be.  

 “In God alone is my soul at rest.” We lovingly entrust our dear ones who have died to the only One who can give life eternally, because He is Life.  God is the life of all that lives. And as Pope John Paul said so well, “When God gives life, He gives it eternally.” With trust in God—not in ourselves, nor even primarily in those we love most—we offer ourselves, all that we have, all whom we live, to “the God and Father of all.” In ourselves, of ourselves, we have no substantial being, no enduring life, for in time we are perishing.  In God we live, you live, your parents live, each of God’s creatures live.  I think that it dishonors God to speak of those who died as “dead.”  They died in time; they live in eternity. Eternity is another name for the non-temporal way that God is. To God nothing is dead.  Rather, “to Him all are alive.” 

Hence, November is a month for entrusting our deceased loved ones to God, not as though God needs our prayers to have mercy on His creatures, but because God is the ever-flowing, ever-creating Good, from whom each comes, to whom each returns. November is a beautiful time for remembering not the dead, but the God who is now and forever. We worship God by lovingly, gratefully remembering His beloved ones who have died in time, live in our hearts and memories, but far more importantly, live because God is.