When we start a new calendar year, we often use it as a time to take stock and resolve to make changes in our lives. The Church begins a new year today and the readings remind us to be watchful and prepared. Isaiah announced a vision of the New Jerusalem with all nations streaming toward it. Isaiah’s vision reminds us that true peace is found in God alone.

St. Paul instructs us to turn away from works of darkness and seek the light of truth. We can do this when we put on the Lord Jesus and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. This calls us to see ourselves as new creations in Christ; to love Jesus with our whole hearts and make Jesus the center and foundation of our lives.

This comes about by rejecting the ways of sin, by attending Mass at least every Sunday, by being strengthened and nourished by the Sacraments. It also comes about by praying daily and by loving and serving others. Making Jesus the foundation of our lives brings us the gift of true peace and renews our wearied minds and hearts. Then, when our time comes to stand before the Lord, he will find us prepared and ready.

As Advent begins, we would do well to pause for a few moments and reflect. What might be preventing me from making Jesus the center and foundation of my life? What activities preoccupy my time and my thoughts? What bad habits blur my spiritual vision? How could I really listen to the voice of the Lord this Advent season? Saying a special prayer during these four weeks, committing to some spiritual reading, even simply putting an Advent wreath on the table: any of these things can help us focus on Christ as we continue watching and waiting for His coming.

Blessings during this special season.

Fr. Socorro

The Advent Wreath By Father Paul Turner

An Advent wreath symbolizes our longing for the coming of Christ. The wreath is a circle of evergreen branches into which are set four candles. Traditionally three candles are violet and one is rose, but four violet or four white candles may also be used.

The wreath symbolizes many things. Evergreens signify God’s enduring promise of redemption, evident like green branches in the midst of snow. The circle signifies our hope for the return of Christ, whose kingdom will have no end. The colors of the candles match the traditional colors of the vesture for the four Sundays of Advent. Violet garments signify our penitent hope for salvation. The rose color, which may be worn on Advent’s Third Sunday, signals that the season is nearly over – joy is at hand!

The wreath’s most luminous symbol is its growing light. One candle is lit on the First Sunday of Advent; two on the Second, three on the Third and all four on the Fourth. In the northern hemisphere, Advent comes at a time when the days decrease to their shortest length. As the hours of darkness increase, we light more candles on the wreath. The wreath, which symbolizes the coming of Christ, grows in intensity as the anniversary of Jesus’ birth draws near.

The Advent wreath may be used at home or at church. It should be blessed on the First Sunday of Advent after the homily at Mass, at evening prayer Saturday night, or during a prayer service including biblical readings and Advent songs. At home, the wreath could be blessed by a family member and lit during the evening meal, to remind everyone of the true meaning of this holy season.

From the beginning of civilization, kings or militant groups have ascended who have dreamed of enjoying a world-wide domain, a universal kingdom that would last forever. Some have come close to conquering much of the known world–Alexander, Genghis Khan, Augustus Caesar, Adolf Hitler and canniest among all of them is the present terror group called ISIS which I sure will eventually evaporate. And some kingdoms have lasted a very long time, such as Rome whose Eastern half lingered on for 2000 years.

But in spite of all their intrigues, the great rulers of the earth all proved temporal like anybody else. Their kingdoms, too, ultimately passed away, leaving abundant ruins for generations of travelers and archeologists to explore.

There is another thing that these great ones of the earth had in common–they enviously guarded their glory, sharing it with no one. Their ascent to the peak of power was made over the backs of others, and they did not hesitate to eliminate any and all rivals.

 The Solemnity of Christ the King celebrates the fact that there is one who is unusually different. He came to serve all, even His enemies. He truly was a Son of Man, with a vulnerable human nature. But He was also truly Son of God. Not in some mythological sense, like the Pharaohs, or the wishful thinking sense, like the Caesars, but really and truly, the Immortal, the Eternal, taking the form of a mortal man in a specific time in history.

 Rather than executing His opponents, He forgave them. Rather than dominating His subjects, He exalted them. He even called them not servants, but friends, and bestowing on them a share in His priesthood and kingship. Though He died, like other kings, it was for a different purpose than Augustus in his bed or Hitler in his bunker. He died willingly to save His people, and His death was not a result of a battle lost or a plan gone awry, but of a glorious victory planned before the world began.

 He rose in glory, which can’t be said for the rest of them. And at His heavenly coronation, when He ascended to His Father, He was given what all the rest lusted for–a universal dominion that will not pass away. But the world goes on unmindful, with corporate executives and statesmen still riding for position, elevating themselves at the expense of others.

 The true King, however, is biding His time. He will return and suddenly things will be seen as they truly are. His coming will sweep away ambition, vanity, and pretensions, and much of what now appears important will look very empty. No longer will oppression be allowed to stand; the innocent will finally be liberated from those who victimize them.

 This dominion will truly be universal–there will be nowhere left where He is not recognized as Who He is, though in some quarters, that acknowledgment will be made with consternation and gloom.

 This judgment, this kingdom, will have the last word. No election will overturn it in four years or four million years. There is no one stronger who can rest the dominion from his Almighty hand.

He’ll be here soon. How soon no one knows.

Fr. Henry Rebello SAC