Use this time to prepare for Him in Advent

It is hard to believe that we are entering December and the Catholic Church’s new year of grace and favor from the Lord, the season of Advent. It seems that this last year has sped by so quickly!

Last Sunday, Nov. 26, we celebrated the Solemnity of Christ the King, and we began the last full week of our last year of grace and favor from the Lord. Recalling the Gospel for this last Sunday, it is at once both sobering and consoling. Jesus makes it clear that He is the just judge of all, and He even tells us how He will judge each of us. That’s the sobering part because we all fall short in one way or another. That He is our judge is the consoling part. He is merciful to all who seek His mercy and make the daily effort to do good and avoid evil. Hopefully, that is what we are doing now.

Advent as a penitential season is such because it is a time of preparation for the just and merciful judgment of Jesus upon us. Yes, Advent recalls the four thousand years of waiting for the Messiah, Our Savior, but it also directs our attention to Our Savior’s return and His judgment. That is why our Advent season is supposed to be a penitential preparation of our hearts, minds, bodies and souls to finally see Jesus and make a gift of our lives to Him.

Unfortunately, many other nice but mostly secular things compete with our penitential preparation in Advent for our attention. While these other things are not bad in themselves, if we are serious about Advent, we should not let them interfere with our preparation for His birth. Advent is the great season of hope. Because God became man out of love for us and for no other reason than to redeem us from slavery to sin, we have the sure and certain hope of heaven if we surrender ourselves to Him and follow Him in our lives. To follow Jesus is to be an imitator of Jesus. Advent gives us the best opportunity to do this and to make His life our life.

If it seems that this year has passed too quickly, that must mean that we are not fully prepared for the Lord Jesus. However, He gives us the time now to prepare for Him in Advent. Let us use these few weeks in December to do just that.

May your Advent be a time of abundant blessings and may all of you have a most Blessed and Merry Christmas and a Happy and Holy New Year!