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Advent Reflection - in the Year of Our Lord 2019

That time in the cycle of seasons is now upon us when the struggle between the profane and sacred, the secular and spiritual, worldly and Divine, reaches its greatest intensity.

Indeed, just a few days before the celebration of one of mankind’s largest and most ancient of Feasts, our northern hemisphere will undergo its longest and darkest night. The symbolism of this annual occurrence was not lost on the ancients. It should not be lost on us.

We shall reach the point in the battle at which the darkness seems to have the upper hand.

Pagans of old sensed a deeper meaning in this, but did not have divine revelation. Pagans of our day have divine revelation, but prefer something else.

The deepest longing of man’s soul was born as he beheld the mystery of the created universe. “If all of this was created,” he asked, “By whom was it created?”

We must understand the roots of our human expression of this deep longing. The myths, legends, poems, practices, and traditions that sprang from our common yearning found fulfillment and sanctification when a great star rose in the East and settled for a time over the hills of Judea. It was then that eternity itself entered our dimension of time, for no other reason than to bring his creation back to him.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen observed: “There are only two philosophies of life. The Christian, which says: ‘First the fast, then the feast.’ And the pagan, which says: ‘First the feast, then the headache.’

As of this writing, we have entered the season of fasting and penance, which the Church in her wisdom has given us in order to prepare us for that great Feast.

The attendees of that first Feast, which stands directly at the center of all human history, hosted by exiles of the House of David, could not have been more diverse: pagan shepherds invited by angels - it required the supernatural to break through their cynical and superstitious perception of human existence. The great scholars of the East - invited by the gift of reason, which they would later come to understand was of Divine origin. By some accounts, a Judean midwife and her companions - those who awaited the restoration of the kingdom with the faith of their father, Abraham. Last but not least, the animals, which God created before man.

his loving circle of witnesses excluded the haughty and proud, on whom the infant-King, when fully grown, would pronounce judgment.

Let us marvel at these great events of our shared human story, even as Mary “treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19).

May our Christmas lights twinkle merrily, mocking the longest and darkest night of the year, in hope-filled anticipation of the “dawn from on high breaking upon us.” (Luke 1:78). May worldly cares not stifle our enthusiasm during this joyous season. (Matthew 6:31). May the noise of the world not drown out the still, small voice. (1 Kings 19:11).

And may this penitential season of Advent, given to us for our benefit, fully prepare our hearts for the one, the only, and the true meaning of Christmas Day.

Tom Casey

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