Catholic Transcript Online

As Catholics our observance of Advent is our strongest response to a frenzied holiday season of shopping, office parties, social events and greeting cards. The season of Advent affords all Christians time to appreciate the greatest affirmation humanity has ever received – the Nativity of the Savior.

Especially on the third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday, the Church notes with special joy the promise of redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ. In a special way, our celebration is with the Lord as he proclaimed his wonders to the disciples of John the Baptist: "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them" (Mt 11:4-5).

Unlike any other time of year, this holy season can lift our collective spirit and renew within us the purity and the call to holiness. We rejoice, for our salvation is promised in the coming of God’s Anointed: "Let the earth open and salvation bud forth, let justice also spring up! I, the Lord, have created this" (Is 45:8). This period of joyful hope and spiritual expectation, Advent, not only prepares us for our observance of the Nativity, but it also turns our minds and hearts to the second coming of the Savior. Thus, this season of preparation invites us to recall our destiny in and with God in heaven.

There is the divine motivation in the Nativity – Christ introducing and offering the way to heaven.

The community of faith gathers, for this child is the Savior who offers salvation. Joseph was promised in a dream: "He will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21). Here, the Savior calls to all mankind: "Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth, for I am God; there is no other... To me every knee shall bend; by me every tongue shall swear, saying ‘Only in the Lord are just deeds and power!’" (Is 45:21-23)

With this call to salvation and its grace of eternal life, the humble Nativity entails our conversion to a place in the light. "Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light" (Rom 13:12). By heeding Advent’s quiet expectation of salvation, all the Earth may be filled with God’s glory (Ps 72:19).

Through the eyes of faith, Advent is both a season of preparation for the great feast of Christmas and a revelation of man’s anticipation of eternal life. While secular society can distract us in this holy season, Christians must observe Advent as a sincere occasion of faith. We are affirmed by this child’s birth because it is also the advent of our own salvation.

Living with all the trappings of the holiday season can be Christ-centered. We need to remind ourselves of the true meaning of our decorations and gift-giving. For example, the placing of a fresh evergreen tree (or "Christmas tree") was first employed by the Christians as a symbol of the life found in the newborn Christ, and the candles (our strands of lights) adorning it were symbolic of the eternal life he offers as Savior. Gift-giving first started as the exchange of simple tokens expressing the abundance of the Christ child’s grace, for he is the true gift on the holy day. The poinsettia plant was incorporated into the holiday in North America; its red and green leaves symbolize the two natures of Christ: the red, divine and the green, human.

With the malls and shopping plazas covered with richly decorated trees, flashing lights and holiday sales, we can choose to remain free of holiday stress by keeping Christ as the reason for the season. May we all recapture the true sense of anticipation for the Savior’s coming and his gift of eternal life: Hark, the angels of God rejoice, for faith, hope and love are born for all mankind!

Father Hinkley is the Pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish and the Shrine of Saint Anne, both in Waterbury.