Fourth
Sunday
of Advent
22 December 2024
Church Year C
A Holy Advent Prepares Hearts
for Christmas
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of
the Arlington
Diocese, Virginia
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As
we prepare ourselves for
Christmas, it is natural to anticipate the joy and fellowship
of Christmas
Day. Amidst the
busyness of our lives,
we look forward to the special way the world seems to grow
quieter for this
special time with family and friends. At
Christmas, the truest gift we share is the gift of ourselves
to Our Lord and one
another.
During
Advent, we journey in
hope to a stable in Bethlehem.
We
eagerly approach the manger to find the source of our hope.
Jesus, the
Lord. He is “the
light of the human
race,” and “the light which shines in the darkness,” and which
the darkness
cannot overcome. The
radiant light of
Our Lord has the power to change our lives and the lives of
those around
us. If we embrace
it the light can bring
peace to our families and our world.
Within this light, true charity – love of God and
neighbor – shapes our
lives.
Advent
reminds us not to put
the essential things off.
Growing
intentionally through God’s grace, we prepare to make
ourselves true gifts to
others throughout the year to come. In
the weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas Day, the church
invites us to slow
down, be prayerful, seek God’s mercy, be charitable, forgive
others and help
those in need. In
these ways, we prepare
for the Lord’s coming in glory by being ready and vigilant in
how we live our
daily lives.
Indeed,
Advent is a time when
we should consciously strive to grow in our relationship with
the Lord by
growing in the virtues through prayer.
Pope
Francis’ recent
encyclical, “Dilexit nos (“On the Human and Divine Love of the
Heart of Jesus
Christ,”) is a powerful way to prayerfully reflect on the
heart of Our Savior
so that our own hearts may burn with the fire of divine love. The Sacred Heart,
Pope Francis writes, “Is
the unifying principle of all reality” since Christ’s life,
death, and
Resurrection shows the depth of divine love for humanity. The Holy Father
reminds us that Our Lord
“waits for us, unconditionally, asking only to offer us his
love and
friendship.”
We
know as Christians that the
sacred Christmas season begins on Christmas Day. We likely all know
“The Twelve Days of
Christmas,” the English carol that points to the reality of
Christmas as a
season that lasts through the Feast of the Epiphany January
sixth, when we
commemorate the revealing of Jesus Christ to the world by
recalling the
adoration of the Magi. We
should
approach Christmas Day with the awareness that we are entering
a season set
apart, where our celebration of the coming of the Lord bears
witness to others
and points to the reason for our hope.
This
year on Charisms Eve,
Pope Franis will inaugurate the opening of the Holy Year 2025,
a Jubilee Year
in our church. This
Holy Year bears the
theme “Pilgrims of Hope” and will be celebrated throughout the
universal
church. The Holy
Year is an invitation
to each one of us to grow in faithfulness, becoming pilgrims
of hope in our
daily lives. Remembering
the
encouragement of St. Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, that
“Hope does not
disappoint,” our diocesan family will celebrate this Holy Year
in a special way
by encouraging visits to designated churches across our
diocesan community alongside
activities and events throughout the year to come.
As
one family of faith, may
our lives this Christmas and throughout the Holy Year to come
be marked by the
hope that does not fade, so that by God’s grace, we may
faithfully and lovingly
journey with one another toward eternal happiness.