What's it all about?

The first Sunday of Advent – the beginning of the Advent season.  What does it all mean?  This week I was prepared for the season in a new way after having attended the wake and funeral of a dear friend.  Jeannie was 10 years younger than me and her passing was a shock.  She had been sick for more than a year and I didn’t know.  When I got word through e-mail that she was in the hospital I called her right away and she told me she had cancer.  “I am going to lick this thing” she said through her sedated voice.  Four days later she was gone. 

Her funeral was beautiful and she was wonderfully honored.  In the eulogy at the end of Mass another friend told funny, poignant, touching stories about her personality, her sense of humor and her faith.  One phrase struck me:  “It's all about Him”, she would often say.  I didn’t know that.  I brought that thought home with me and it has been going around and around in my thoughts – and in my heart.

So, just what is the season of Advent?    It has to do with the coming of Jesus – it is a most beautiful season that the Church gives us to prepare our hearts spiritually for the coming of Jesus in a new way at Christmas. It a season to get in touch with the deep longing we have in our hearts for Him.

However, Jesus has already come.  He is here among us – in the tabernacle, in the Eucharist, in the other Sacraments, in our brothers and sisters.  But He is going to come again – at the end of the world, and more importantly, at the end of our individual lives.  My friend didn’t want to go home to the Lord so soon but in any event she said she was ready.  You know why?  Because she knew that her life was “all about Him.”  She knew that her Incarnate Lord loved her. And all her friends knew that she loved Him.  So what else is there?  If you don’t know that God loves you and you are afraid to admit that you love Him, then Advent is the season for you. Take the gift of this season to get ready to kneel before His tiny crib on Christmas Day and in your heart hear him say to you, "The life I have given - it is all about you."  

  May God's many graces flood your heart during this special season.

Have a look at this link for some more thoughts about Advent: 
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-on-advent-a-journey-towards-the-horizon-of-hope/

 http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/story.php?id=53362