Three Advents

Reading St. Charles Borromeo’s reflection on the season of Advent, we read, “Beloved, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation: the great season of Advent. This is the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that holy Simeon rejoiced at last to see. We too should always observe it with faith and love, offering praise and thanksgiving to the Father for the mercy and love he has shown us in this mystery.” (Letters)

Then he says something interesting in continuation:  “This holy season teaches us that Christ’s coming was not only for the benefit of his contemporaries; His power has still to be communicated to us all. The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. When we remove all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts, bringing with him the riches of his grace.”

In these lines, St. Charles describes three Advents. The first is a historical one in which our God became incarnate in Jesus Christ and was born to us in a manger. The third, a future event when our Lord shall come again, as King and Judge of the living and the dead. And a second one, that is the present when He comes at any hour and moment, if we allow Him, to dwell in our hearts and minds. This second Advent is what we tend to pay less attention to, and it is on this Advent that the outcome of the third will depend.

The celebration of the First Advent is clearly marked by our preparations for Christmas with countless decors, carols, gifts, feasts and gatherings are seamlessly integrated into the first Advent. However, we have to remind ourselves that these external preparations ought to blend with  an interior one which is decorated with prayer, penance and good works. Only in this way could we sincerely say that we are preparing the ‘inn of our hearts’ for the Child.

The third Advent, although an inevitable and anticipated event, is not something we celebrate. This is because we do not know when it will happen and neither are men too eager to face a day when their lives will be judged according to their love, either for God or for oneself, manifested in their every word, thought and deed.

As earlier said, the second Advent is the most important because on this depends what we give Him in the present and how He will judge us in a future end. Simply put, the second Advent is allowing our Lord to be constantly born in our lives at any hour and moment, by constantly allowing Jesus to be the summit of all our thoughts, words and actions.

The second Advent is replaying and reliving our Lord’s birth in Bethlehem every single day through the year. Even when it’s not Christmas, we receive Him anew in our hearts so that we may “give birth” to Him in everything we do and to give

Jesus to others. St. Charles underlines that this is only if “through holy faith and the sacraments, we willingly accept the grace Christ earned for us, and live by that grace and in obedience to Christ.”

Thus, Christ’s presence is made patent in our lives constantly through the exercise of our faith, the sacraments and the virtues as the fruit of our daily self-giving. Moreover, it is obvious that if “we remove all obstacles to His presence He will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts, bringing with Him the riches of his grace.” All these form the ingredients of our personal conversion that ought to take place not only before Christmas but all throughout the year!

This is what makes the second Advent very important to consider and live frequently in our spiritual struggle. It reminds us how we can, each time, better prepare ourselves to receive Christ, so that we can genuinely give His love and compassion to those around us.

If we strive to constantly live this second Advent, everyday could have a Christmas to anticipate and celebrate!