The Hope of Advent

by Deacon Lorna Goodison on November 22, 2022

         An African Prayer Book was compiled by the Right Reverend Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He shares prayers that express the lived journey of Christians of African descent. The book also contains a short story about a village outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. In the era of Apartheid, residents of the village, Mogopa, were ordered to leave their homes and be resettled elsewhere. On the eve of their departure, they held a prayer vigil at the local Church. Church leaders from across South Africa attended. During the vigil, an elder of the doomed village said a prayer of thanksgiving, “God thank you for loving us so much.” His prayer released people from resentment and anger.  Years later, apartheid ended and the Mogopa villagers returned to their land and successfully rebuilt their community. Through the darkness, the people saw the light of God’s love and held on to hope.

      On Sunday, we begin the new liturgical year with the season of Advent.  Advent means coming and our faith is rooted in Christ’s threefold coming. We joyfully celebrate the depth of God’s love in sending Christ to earth in humble human form, how He lived and taught us the way of peace, died, and rose again, to redeem us from sin. Then we give thanks that Christ comes to us daily through the Holy Scriptures, in our prayer life, and in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood at the Eucharistic table. Thirdly, Sacred Scriptures prophesied that Christ would come again to overcome the darkness of sin and usher in God’s eternal and glorious reign. Advent is therefore a time of remembering: Christ has come, Christ is with us, and Christ will come again. His threefold coming is the light of hope within life’s darkness. Each Sunday, we light a candle to remind us that Christ’s Loving Presence is the light that overpowers darkness.

      On Sunday we light the first candle, symbolizing hope. The gospel (Matthew 24:36-44) states that no one knows when Christ will come again. “The Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” The gospel depicts people engaging in the dailiness of life unmindful of Christ. His unexpected coming interrupts life and the unmindful are engulfed in the catastrophic events of His coming.  The candle of hope reminds us to consider how the first prophetic hope of Christ’s coming was fulfilled by His birth. In like manner we consider the call to “keep awake,” to be ready, for the unexpected time will come when prophecies of Christ’s second coming will be fulfilled.   

     How can we “keep awake” if the hour is unknown?  We “keep awake” for Christ’s coming by an ongoing, conscious attentiveness to our relationship with God, engaging Christ in all the dailiness of life. More importantly, we embrace God’s path of love and peace, even in perilous and challenging times, like the Mogopa villagers who through the despair of losing their homeland discerned God’s hope for new possibilities.  Advent reminds us that our faith points to a world made whole through the Divine Presence; a world in which all believers may “stand before the Son of Man” and be found “blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are the hope of our tumultuous world. This Advent, help us to slow down, listen to our voice and focus our lives on you. We place our hope in you as we prepare our hearts to celebrate your birth at Christmas. Amen.

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