Word of the Week

First Sunday of Advent

Advent: Adventus (L.): meaning “to come; arrival”, behind it stands a Greek term that conveys appearance, visitation, or presence.

Advent is the liturgical season of four weeks devoted to preparation for the coming of Christ on Christmas day. The season of Advent is a time where the church unites herself to the mission of St. John the Baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn.3:30). The Church makes present each year the “ancient expectation” of the coming of the Messiah in the Liturgy of Advent (CCC 524).
    
The word Advent cannot be found in Sacred Scripture, but its meaning, in the sense of ‘coming’, can be found up to 24 times in the New Testament. The general connotation of this word in ancient times described a visitation of an important person, often a king or high-ranking official, to a city he has previously procured. It often signified a period of absence before the king's return (2 Cor.7:6; Phil.1:26) (Hahn and Minch, 61). The historical meaning of ‘coming’ is accentuated in light of Christ. Christ, High Priest, Prophet, and King of the Universe, is the highest-ranking official who places all enemies under his judgment (Mt.24:37, 39:2) and rescues his faithful disciples (1 Cor.15:23; 1 Thess.3:13; 1 John 2:28) (Hahn and Minch, 61).

The Advent season is a time when clerical, religious and lay faithful alike are called to anticipate the coming of Christ by preparing their heart. The arrival of the infant king in a cave leads every Christian to ponder the profound mystery of humility and what it takes to be a child of God (1 Jn.3:1). Just as every infant child is dependent upon mom and dad for the essential needs of survival so should every Christian be dependent upon God for the essential needs for the Christian journey. Every Christian heart during the Advent season should be united in the spirit of simplicity to embrace the Christ child anew on
Christmas day.

“Spiritual poverty must be the only goal to which we aspire in the Advent season”

-St Francis De Sales

Primary Texts Consulted

• Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.
• Hahn, Scott and Minch, Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, RSV 2nd ed. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000.

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