Do We Need an Advent? | School Sisters of Notre Dame

By Sister Mary Fitzgerald, SSND

Isn’t it amazing? While the days are getting shorter and the nights are growing longer and colder, hearts are getting lighter for many persons of Christian faith.

Part of it is surely because of what we learned as young people: Advent proclaims the coming of God into our midst.

We remember the historical coming of God in the birth of Jesus. We recognize the countless ways we experience an inbreaking of God into our lives, daily, in grace. We relish the coming of God in glory when “every tear shall be wiped away and we shall see you our God as you are.”*

In the midst of trying to focus our attention on the contemplation of the three-fold coming of God, we are surrounded by the lure of consumerism trying to tell us what we can’t live without, or MUST purchase for someone we love.

We are tempted by the artificial Christmas decorations that have been on display in so many stores since July. We are distracted by the sounds of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “All I Want for Christmas Is You" playing in our ears.

To complicate the situation even more, we live in a country that is politically divided. We have heard insults hurled at opponents, threats of mass deportation and arrest of opponents, reports of the invasion of a sovereign country by another, and shocking statistics on the retaliation that has now reached 42 times the original atrocity which caused the war in the first place.

All of this tied up in a bow of devastating natural phenomena which have caused mass migration, homelessness, displacement, hunger, and death.

The packages bear gift tags of racism, homophobia, apathy, narcissistic responses to the needs of humanity, and a sense of powerlessness to do anything to relieve the problems of our world.

Do we need an Advent? Do we need God to be recognized and welcomed in our midst?

Pope Francis said, in a 2018 Angelus address, "Advent invites us to a commitment to vigilance, looking beyond ourselves, expanding our mind and heart in order to open ourselves up to the needs of people, of brothers and sisters, and to desire a new world."

We are called to Advent, as much for others as for ourselves.

So, we will use our Advent wreaths and mark the 4 weeks. We will lift up our hearts as we light the rose-colored candle to signify Gaudete Sunday, getting closer to the celebration of Christmas. Between December 17 and Christmas Eve, we will pray the O Antiphons with the Magnificat, a custom which dates back to the eighth century. We will put up our Christmas trees and place our nativity scenes near them.

We in the SSND family – Sisters, Associates, colleagues, families and friends - will carry in our hearts the challenge of the Call of the 25th General Chapter: "Compelled by the urgent crises of our times … and longing for the oneness of all in God, we commit to actions that deepen our relationships of communion, wherever we are."

For us as Church, this Advent-Christmas season also marks the beginning of a Jubilee Year. It will begin on December 24, as Pope Francis opens the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica, and conclude on Epiphany, 2026. The theme is Pilgrims of Hope.

Introduced in Leviticus 25, Jubilee Years have been proclaimed every 25 years since the 13th Century. Leviticus calls for the liberation of oppressed people. We are called to bring the message of Jesus to all the world. We are called to bring hope to all the world.

What acts of mercy, advocacy, or prayer might we bring before the Incarnate Word in the persons of the oppressed?

How might we bring hope to the lonely, to shut-ins, to the sick, to the elderly, to the homeless, to prisoners, to those addicted to drugs or alcohol, to those among our families and friends who are downtrodden and disheartened?

This Advent, can we find time to place a phone call, to send an email, to write a note?

What better way to bridge into a Holy Year than by beginning to carry the message of hope as we enter into Advent?