Despite popular opinion to the contrary, the season of Advent is not a time for sentimentality. While Christmas carols and nativity scenes litter shopping centres to cover for the insanity of spending which we call “The Christmas Spirit,” we in the Church know better. The world is not as it should be, and we can no longer pretend otherwise.
In the Church’s calendar, the season of Advent is the season of waiting: waiting, not for the birth of the Christ child as many believe, but for the coming of Christ the King in majesty. We are those who live in hopeful expectation that because the tomb is empty, because Christ is risen, all of creation is now leaning toward that day of freedom promised in the Gospel. And so, we live in a posture of waiting. To paraphrase Luke’s gospel, we “stand up and raise our heads, because our redemption is drawing near.”
This season, our theme for the Advent season is “Coming Home.” Will you join in waiting with me for the only one who has ever made us feel like we truly belong?
