Monday of the First Week of Advent
Not long after the ghosts and goblins haunt our front porches, “chestnuts start roasting o’er an open fire” and “Jack Frost nipping at your nose.” Some have labeled this the “Christmas madness.” Yuletide begins earlier and earlier so we might ask the question, “Whatever happened to Advent?” After all, it is Advent that gives Christmas its meaning. The “Yule” makes no sense apart from the “yearn” (for Christ to come).
“Today Christmas has devoured Advent, gobbled it up… For much of America, Christmas arrives nearly as an afterthought: not the beginning but only the end of a long Yule season that has burned without stopping.” – Joseph Bottoms
But Advent itself is something to celebrate. Once a penitential time, much like Lent, the emphasis we have since the renewal of Vatican Council II is joyous expectation. But it sometimes seems that we prefer Rudolph and Frosty to Isaiah and Micah.
And aren’t some Catholic institutions sending mixed signals to the faithful? Churches are vested in violet and rose while some Catholic schools in many parishes have “decked the halls with boughs of holly.” Last Advent I subbed at a Catholic high school that completely ignored Advent with Christmas decoration displayed while it was still Ordinary Time. Should the Catholic school
keep the same calendar as the Catholic Church? Christmas parties begin as early as November, ignoring the days of Christmas (this year from Dec 25 to Jan 12).
Is there value in keeping the liturgical year in our homes and schools as well as in our churches? What is the remedy for this sad state of affairs? An unknown author posted “The Advent Virus” several years ago. The Advent virus can cure us of the Christmas crazies. But be forewarned. He/she warns us to “be on alert for symptoms of inner hope, peace, joy and love.”
Here are its symptoms:
- a loss of interest in interpreting the motives of others,
- a loss of interest in worry,
- frequent overwhelming episodes of gratitude,
- feelings of connectedness with others and nature,
- increased tendency to let things happen rather than force them to happen,
- increased ability to focus, slow down and calm down,
- keeping our priorities straight
How do we restore the true meaning of the Yuletide? Catch the Advent virus! Listen, really listen, to the Advent readings. Reflect all week and prepare to hear them proclaimed at Mass. Let them root deep within. Exploring the Advent readings is mining for pure gold. An example is today from Isaiah: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.”
We can invite the Advent virus and become people of true joy and thankfulness — people of the Advent, people of Christmas.
—Timothy J. Cronin