The Advent season is finally upon us, and I never thought I would be so excited. Part of the reason why I am excited is because I was anticipating the use of the new English translation of the Roman Missal ever since the beginning of summer. The Church also starts a new liturgical year, as I mentioned in my previous post; around this time, I get the chance to reflect on what went right and what went wrong during the last year and pray about how I can grow closer to God in the next year.
The start of Advent wasn't always like this for me. I never had a personal Advent wreath in my house (and the idea of having one didn't even cross my mind) or anything that signified Advent was going on. The season kind of got swallowed up in all the Christmas hub-bub. My family usually had the Christmas tree up around the Third Sunday of Advent, and the house was decorated with lights and garland and figurines of Santa well before Christmas arrived. To me, in a way, Advent was that period of time at Sunday Mass when we lit the purple and rose colored candles, sang "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel", and heard prophecies of the Virgin Birth in Scripture.
Last year, all of this changed. Before Advent started, I listened to some of the ideas my friends were tossing around about observing Advent. Some were abstaining from meat the whole season or fasting on certain days. I saw Advent wreaths in homes that weren't just decorations, but the candles were actually lit on a daily basis as reminders of the season. On the First Sunday of Advent, my parish included a sheet in the bulletin with Advent prayers and Scripture readings that could be used while lighting the candles on the home wreath. I was perplexed at the fact that I hadn't been doing these things before, and it was so simple! So, I decided to buy a wreath and candles to use, and abstain from meat so as to remind myself at my meal times why that staple was missing, and of the longing and expectation of the coming of Christ.
Through the first week of the season, while focusing a little more on Advent by adopting these simple practices, the season's beauty, by God's grace, was revealed to me. The readings from Isaiah and the words of John the Baptist spoke to me more, and I felt the desire grow within me for Jesus to come into the world. When the time for Christmas came, and I went to my first Midnight Mass, I felt my heart and soul swell with joy when Father walked in with the procession, triumphantly carrying the figurine of the Baby Jesus to place in the manger. I had never felt this way before about Christmas, and I rejoiced in it!
Finally, Advent is here again, and my joy in the season is already growing. Not only do we celebrate the time of Christ's birth over two thousand years ago, but we long for the Second Coming of Christ. At our parish, Father likes to do what is called "The Catechism Question of the Week" where he asks a question based on a paragraph from the "Catechism of the Catholic Church". In this Sunday's bulletin, he refers to the paragraph that states that very reason of our Advent celebration: "When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: "He must increase, but I must decrease." (CCC 524)
I hope the Lord may inspire you to incorporate some reminders into each of your days during Advent to increase your desire for the coming of Jesus Christ!
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As for the new translation, I adore it! It is absolutely gorgeous, and I love the language they use now in the Eucharistic prayers. You can hear more of the Scriptural references now than the way it was before. We had one large congregation mess-up, and it was before the proclamation of the gospel when Father said, "The Lord be with you" and most of us still said, "And also with you" instead of "And with your spirit." Part of the reason why is that it wasn't on the Mass cards they put in the pews for people to reference, but I think we'll catch on to it soon enough. My two favorite changes would be the Penitential Rite and the Gloria, and I might talk about these changes a little bit more in a later post.
I hope you are enjoying your First Sunday of Advent and may this be a fruitful season for you!
Laus Deo!
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