On 1 December, the universal Church entered into the first of its seasons that form its liturgical year: Advent. We encounter this word in St Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. In this biblical text, the Apostle of the Gentiles makes use of the word “coming”, (1 Thes. 5:23) – which in Greek is ‘parousia’ – and in the Vulgate translation ‘adventus’. Thus, the biblical text reads: “May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thes. 5:23).

At first glance, one gets the false impression that advent sets its fixed focus on the distant future. In fact, the Gospel for the first Sunday in Advent is an eminent example of apocalyptic literature, namely of those writings which unveil or unfold events not formerly known and which could not be known apart from their unveiling. At the treasury of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus prophesised: “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:25-28).

In actual fact, Advent portrays a somewhat different reality. Advent is intimately connected with the present moment in which we are living. Indeed, when one studies closely the original text of 1 Thessalonians 5:23 one reads: ‘in’ the coming (‘en te parousia’). Hence, the text is suggesting that the coming of the Lord is not merely an event that will take place at some time in the unknown isolated future. Rather, Advent is a spiritual place in which we journey in the present moment during our wait for what is to come. Advent reminds us of the virtue of vigilance that we should adopt in our diligent waiting for the eventual coming of the Lord at the end of time.

Jesus Christ is our living connection between memory and hope. All he wants is our trusting “yes”. Do we trust him enough to respond to his transforming love?

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap