Breath of the Spirit

Advent Reflection

December 19, 2004: FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Advent? Christmas? For me, I’ve had a spotty track record when it comes to Advent and getting into the meaning of the season. At the Catholic elementary I attended, each week the entire student body would cram into the vestibule of the school, trying to get a glimpse of the advent wreath and the pink and purple candles. In our classrooms, we would have visible signs like a Jesse Tree, calling us to a daily reflection on Advent, the season of waiting. Daily reflection was something I just never seemed to be able to do. In high school, the season of Advent gave way to what Christmas presents I was going to get my friends. It was a time of preparation and waiting, but waiting to see who got what from friends and parents. Advent?

As an undergraduate student at a Catholic college in the Midwest, my perspective of Advent began to change. Despite being in the midst of finals, one of the busiest times for students, the campus stopped dead in its tracks on December 8th, feast of the Immaculate Conception. The spirit of Advent and Christmas would transform the campus into a wonderland, where students from inner-city schools would come to spend an evening with students who "adopted" them for a few hours. This evening was capped off by a campus-wide Mass celebrating the joy of Advent. This experience as an undergraduate opened my eyes to what Advent means: a time to open one’s heart in preparation for Christmas.

Advent? Christmas? I have to admit, the days and weeks have all collapsed for me in recent years. As a graduate student for the past three years, Advent comes at one of the busiest times for me—the end of classes and preparation final exams. During graduate school, I haven’t have time to catch my breath and think deeply about Christmas joy or Advent as a season of waiting. I’m usually waiting to get a paper done. Christmas has been a day where I keep thinking about all the time I’m spending with my family instead of writing one of my precious papers.

But this year, it’s a bit different. In this fourth week of Advent, the final home stretch before Christmas, I am finishing my last final as a graduate student. The Advent season has become not just a forgotten season this year, it has become one of dual-fold anticipation: the coming of Christ and the unfolding of a new chapter in my life. So I am stepping back, taking stock, and preparing my heart for the joy of Christ on Christmas and the coming of new possibilities. Amen.