The Tribune

By CANON SEBASTIAN CAMPBELL

WITH so many marching to the tune of the commercial drummer, it’s nigh impossible to get the point about Advent across to the gullible consumer community. It is now all “shop until you drop”.

Even more difficult will be getting across the point of Christmas not being the queen of seasons, rather that we Christians are Easter people ... but this might better serve as an article for a later a time.

Our radio stations do not help us get some perspective on these celebrations at all, even ZNS that boasts of being a tool of education. But how can you teach if you have not been taught? It’s sad that the media does not know about this season.

Advent is a forerunner to Christmas. Even in November we are steeped into Christmas carols. Maybe we need to hold even more accountable Anglicans and Roman Catholics working at these stations. Setting perspective can assist in our education and maybe fewer persons will be stressed and burdened by the approaching Christmas season.

Let us touch very briefly on this season of preparation.

Most persons see Advent primarily as a time of preparation for the coming of Christmas. It is important to recognise it as the coming of Christ at Christmas, but it is equally important to recognise it as the anticipation of Christ’s second coming as king and judge. Furthermore, Advent is God’s coming to us in our daily lives through the word and the sacraments. Remember, the “Word” refers not only to the Bible, but also to Christ, and the sacraments as vehicles of God’s grace; God comes to us through the sacraments.

The early emphasis of this season was on penitence and fasting, for the reasons mentioned earlier. Later, when Pope Gregory set the length of Advent, he also stressed the joyful anticipation that should be integral to the season. The present thinking of the Church lightens the penitential aspects. Now the accent is on the high expectancy combined with thoughtful consideration of the meaning of Christmas, and on prayerful self-appraisal so that we may be ready for Christ’s Second Advent.

Today, If Advent’s significance and purpose are to be effective, we must counteract again the excesses of the times, whether it is frenzied commercialism, harried housewifery, overspending, excessive and foolish drinking and drunkenness or over-extending credit card limits. Christians need to make an effort to mark the Advent season in some special way. Use the season again to see if the route of Christ into our lives is cleared of all selfish obstacles.

How is our church and worship life, are we fathers and mothers leading our families to God?

Where is Sunday School in our children’s formative years?

Do we thoughtfully receive the sacraments, especially Holy Communion?

Are our homes happy places to be or are they torturous and cause for heaviness?

Is there bitching and biting and barking all the time in our homes, churches and workplaces?

If the answer is yes, then the problem might just be us. Advent calls us to seriously consider allowing Christ to come into every situation of life. The colour for the season has traditionally been purple, not to signify penitence alone but rather to signify royalty. Jesus Christ, the King is coming with hope and healing for those who will accept him. The greatest hope is that those who receive him the final word is not death but Jesus, the Lord over death and life. Advent therefore points us to the reality of the “four last things” – Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. Preparation to receive Jesus Christ as King is what Advent calls to and therefore our readiness to appropriate these four last things.

Pray for the observance of a meaningful Advent, then Christmas will take on new dimensions of happiness. The Christ in Christmas will be real and the Mass in Christmas will be regularly celebrated.