Reflection for the Beginning of Advent
December 28 will mark the end of this Jubilee Year of Pilgrims of Hope. The Holy Doors in Rome will close; the indulgences for local pilgrimage destinations will no longer be as extensive. Yet the spiritual summons of this Holy Year, the call for renewal in a spirit of hope and of pilgrimage, will by no means cease to be relevant. The steps taken this year to rekindle that spirit are meant to “cast fire upon the earth” (Lk 12:49) to light up the rest of our lives.
Such a call may be especially needed in December. Throughout the northern hemisphere, the days are approaching their shortest and coldest, and nature looks barren and bleak, leading in some cases to seasonal depression. Even the festive excitement of the “holiday season” from Thanksgiving to New Year’s has been known to amplify sadness and anxiety (HealthPartners, “Dealing with depression during the holidays”). A call to hope is, by its nature, addressed especially to those living “in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Lk 1:79).
Renewal and Rebirth
The heart of observing a Jubilee Year is pursuing a deeper, more living relationship with God, the object of our hope, through prayer and penance, the Sacraments, and works of mercy. If one has not yet done so, it is not too late. The season of Advent is a perfect time for spiritual renewal and rebirth.
Coming of the Messiah
Advent could be described as the season of hope. It is a time dedicated to waiting, with confident anticipation, for the coming of the Savior. It not only “makes present this ancient expectancy of the coming of the Messiah” throughout the Old Testament, but also points ahead to His final coming in glory, “for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming” (Catechism §524).
Advent also brings assurance of the Lord’s coming into the dark waiting of each person’s own life, whatever it may be. The first reading for the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, proclaims, “Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you” (Is 35:4). The promise of His saving coming does not belong only to the distant past or the unknown future; it is for every part of every human life, to transform all of that life with illuminating, healing grace.
A Time of Waiting
In a particular way, this time of waiting and hoping is a Marian time. Our Lady is our companion in our hoping, she who “believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Lk 1:45) and waited in faith for the unfolding of God’s mysterious promises, “pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2: 19). She is called the Ark of the New Covenant because of the nine months she carried Him in her womb, waiting for His arrival, trusting His Father to direct and care for them.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Among the artistic depictions of the pregnant Madonna, the best known is likely that of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose feast day falls during Advent. The dark sash she wears, indicating her unborn child, was among the clues showing the Mexican people that she was the Mother of Someone of great importance. Indeed, she came bringing them their hope, the One for whom they had been waiting without knowing. She can do the same today, if we will receive her and her Son.
Pope Francis described the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe as “a revolutionary message of hope that she continues to bring to every pilgrim and all the faithful” (Spes non confundit §24). This “revolutionary” message is simple: “Am I not here, who am your Mother?” Familiar as these words are to many today, they sparked a spiritual revolution in sixteenth-century Mexico and can do so in every age: Our Mother is here with us and loves us, calling us to trust in her love and that of her Son, to be free of doubt and discouragement, to set aside anything preventing us from living as her children, brothers and sisters to one another. That is indeed a message of hope.
Bearer of Hope
When Our Lady’s appearances to Saint Juan Diego ended, a new era began for Mexico and a brilliant new illumination for the Church around the world. When the time of waiting for the Messiah’s coming ended with the first Christmas, God’s greatest work in the world began. As this Jubilee Year draws to a close, may its ending be the beginning of a revival in many hearts, to spread through the world. Through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, bearer of our Hope, may we always approach our life as a pilgrimage, with a renewed spirit of hope making us determined to reach its goal: our Lord and Redeemer for whom our hearts are m
