Advent
Jeannette CABRAAL
Advent the precursor of Christmas as John the Baptist was the
precursor of Christ. Advent! preparing the way for the celebration of
the birth of Christ; just as John the Baptist prepared the way for the
coming of the Messiah exhorting people to turn away from sin as the
kingdom of heaven was night.
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Everyone loves Christmas...even them |
Manifesting himself as an ascetic: clothes of camel skin and food of
locusts and honey he was the voice crying out in the wilderness for
repentance and turning to the Lord. He cleared the way for the coming of
the Messiah declaring. "He is one the latchet of whose shoe I am not
worthy to unloosen". When he was asked if he was the Messiah. So
vociferously and eloquently did he proclaim the coming of the promised
one.
So too for us Advent is a preparation for the great coming for the
great celebration of the birth of the Messiah.
Oh come divine Messiah..
The world in silence waits the day.
Advent is ushered with the Advent wreath of four candles on the
flower - entwined candle holder symbolic of the season. During the four
Sundays prior to Christmas one candle is lit each Sunday at the
beginning of the Sunday service.
The first candle stands for John the Baptist; the second symbolizes
Bethlehem the city where Christ was born-the hub of the event. The third
for the shepherds to whom legend states the birth was first announced.
The forth for the star which shone over Bethlehem proclaiming the birth
of the Christ Child..
Advent is a profound reflection of what the coming of Christ implies.
The Christ Child should be welcomed spiritually through penance, -
purification, in the river of confession, repentance and prayer. It is a
prayerful awaiting; a spiritual awakening. Then only will we be ready to
welcome the Messiah truly.
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Santa and his faithful Reindeer |
Today more than in any period in history we need a Second Coming. The
world is rife with evil; Strife among nations; strife within nations;
bitter combat, thieving, blasting Massacring; life so cheap, violence
abounding. Man's inhumanity to man screams out in deafening tones with
hardly a hearing.
Today we need the peace of that holy night. The peace that pervaded
that humble stable where the Prince of Peace was born. We need not only
peace at large but peace within our own hearts because it is from that
focal point that we can radiate peace.
Peace is not in the glamorous advertisements of sundry goods
screeching for attention, nor in the gorgeously dressed shop windows.
Certainly not in the insistent tramp of hurling feet thronging the city.
Nor in the gourmet and exotic food and drink at plush hotels with their
ambience and music. The world has commercialized this great yet simple
birth; It has taken commercial mileage of a profound and sacred event.
Peace is where the crib is; the lowly manger, the lowing cattle. The
thought provoking stable is a reminder of the miserable conditions in
which a great spectrum of the world's population wallow in.
Today we need to bring back the sanctity into Christmas. Not so much
the merry, jolly Christmas but a peaceful meaningful Christmas; sharing
the largesse God has given us with the less privileged, not indulging in
satiation of our own selves. It is good for us to understand how the
other half of the world lives - in our own particular world, in our own
country, those who are unaware its Christmas time at all. Why wait till
Christmas? We can start from Advent. Reach out to others in bounty and
generosity Reach out to others in reconciliation and goodwill. Along the
path of Advent may we journey on to a meaningful Christmas. |
