Second Sunday in Advent

Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/120510.shtml

Christmas is inherently a sad time. There is a lot of effort during the commercial Christmas season to make everything happy and giddy simply because it’s Christmas. Nobody bothers to explain why it should be so happy, and as a result, it’s exhausting. Nothing is worse than someone telling you to be happy and not giving you a reason for it.

But it’s happy because the root of Christmas is in its sorrow. We celebrate Christmas during the darkest time of the year, when nature is at its ebb. While we celebrate family, many people will be alone; We proclaim “peace on earth, goodwill towards men” but crime increases. And when Christ was born, the world was enslaved to sin and desperately in need of a savior. There is a reason “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is sung so mournfully.

But Christmas is a joyful time because we are given hope. In Advent we prepare for the coming of the Savior, who John the Baptist and the prophecies of Isaiah promise us is coming. And because God kept His promise with Christ’s birth, we believe God will come again. This is the hope that brings us joy: “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel has come to thee O Israel!”

It sounds obvious. But in Advent we remember that Christ is a light in the darkness, He is our hope against sin and death. We prepare ourselves to receive His coming, and have hope. Hope that He will fix us, that He will be what we are searching for, that God will be faithful.

It is easy to lose faith. But Paul tells us “that by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” This is the time to remember that. The Christmas spirit is the faithful reminding each other not to despair, that God is coming for His people. We remind each other that God remembers us in our pain, that He is faithful. We show each other love at this time of year especially because God once did, and we remember that God is good.

Take the time to read the passage from Isaiah for today. This is what God has promised, and it will come to pass.