Click to watch the livestream for the First Sunday of Advent
(Vigil Mass, November 28, 2020)
ADVENT SEASON IN THE MIDST OF COVID
Today is the First Sunday of Advent. The beginning of a new Church Year. In the midst of the COVID Pandemic we can all use the coming of a new section of our life. During Advent we focus on the first coming of Jesus at His birth in Bethlehem, His second coming at the end of our life to take us to our eternal reward, but we also focus on His coming everyday into our life to help us feel His presence and grow in relationship with Him.
Advent is a time for new understanding, for putting different pieces of God’s revelation together to see the divine plan more clearly. We listen to the words of the ancient prophets, to the wisdom of Jesus, to the stories of His birth and infancy, and we make connection between them. Then we connect those truths to our own lives and our contemporary world and see ways that God is acting anew, ways in which God continues to reveal the coming of Jesus to us today.
Advent in the midst of COVID can teach us a great deal. Advent in the midst of this Pandemic can show us in a special way how Jesus is with us guiding and protecting us. This Advent will probably be the most different Advent experience we will have in our life. God can use it to teach us something special, but we have to be alert to what He is saying and what He is doing in our life and in the life of the world.
In the Gospel Jesus says: “Be watchful! Be alert!” We hear these words so often in our life, (especially in the last nine months). Be Careful! Wear your masks! Keep socially distanced! Stay away from crowds! Etc, etc, etc. However, the watching that Jesus urges us to do as the heart of our Advent season is not meant to be fearful or tense. On the contrary, it is supposed to fill us with expectation and even joy – just as we pray at Mass when we ask Our Father to “protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ”.
But what are we waiting for? The fulfillment of God’s promises – the time when every tear will be wiped away and all pain and suffering will end. For the time when we will be gathered at God’s throne completely immersed in His love and filled with His divine life. We are not waiting just for Christmas. We are waiting for the fulfillment of everything that Christmas began. – Jesus ‘ glorious return! Rather than passively waiting, try to spend this Advent actively anticipating the Lord. Invite Him to meet you in prayer and at Mass. Look for Him in the face of strangers or even in the face of a family member who is difficult at times.
During this COVID year, things are different but there will still be sights, sounds and smells of the season. Let them give you a glimpse of the celebration that awaits you. Believe that Jesus is with you right now. He wants to shower us – even in this COVID year – with His love and grace. Open your eyes and you will begin to see signs that the Kingdom is coming. You will see signs that will fill your heart with hope and expectations
God Bless ~ Msgr. Powell
Forty Hours Devotion Livestream Playlist
REMEMBER TO KEEP HOLY THE LORD’S DAY.
KEEP THE SABBATH.
WORSHIP GOD FOR YOUR OWN SAKE.
Daily Mass from EWTN
