Advent is the beginning of a new liturgical year.  It is the time of waiting and preparation for the coming of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.  Advent also is that season in which we are mindful not only of Christ’s coming at Bethlehem, but also that He will come again to judge us in the future and He continues to come to us in so many ways in the present, but especially in the Eucharist.

Advent is fundamentally dynamic. There is movement. Christ out of love is coming toward us and we, out of love, await His coming. Sometimes we might be tempted to look at a new liturgical year with little or no excitement, similar to what we experience when we watch re-runs of television programs or movies. We know how the story ends and therefore it makes less and less of an impression on us each time.

But that is not what the liturgical year is meant to be. It is more like the way football fans and players alike are looking forward to training next year. Even though there will be the same number of games next season just like this one, even though the team will for the most part face the same opponents in the same cities, even though the games will still look the same , there will be a whole new drama. The drama will involve how they rise to meet the challenges that will come to them within the structure of the new season.

Similarly, there’s meant to be a whole new drama for us in this new liturgical season in which we, with Christ’s help, rise to meet the challenges He puts before us. Every liturgical year is supposed to be a liturgical spiral: we are not meant to repeat last year’s steps, but rather to retrace their direction at a higher and more intense level. The experience of last year is meant to help us to have a better season this year.

Many families will put up their Advent wreaths as we do in our churches. The Advent wreath is a circular garland of evergreen branches representing eternity and the greenery symbolizes hope and renewal. On that wreath, four candles are arranged. During the season of Advent one candle on the wreath is lit each Sunday. Each candle represents an aspect of the spiritual preparation for the coming of the Lord, Jesus Christ. On the first Sunday of Advent, the first purple candle is lit. We recall the Patriarchs and are reminded of hope or expectation in anticipation of the coming Messiah. . On the second Sunday of Advent, we recall the prophets and the second purple candle is lit.  The pink, or rose-colored candle representing joy is lit on the third Sunday, whilst we recall the message of John the Baptist, and the last purple candle is lit on the fourth Sunday as we focus on Mary’s role as mother of God. At midnight on Christmas Eve, the Advent wreath is replaced by a white "Christ candle" which is used until the Epiphany.

Christmas is a very special time for us all.  People of all ages pray at Christmas cribs and children enact their versions of the Nativity, with many proudly wearing shepherd’s smocks and excited mothers clothing their Marys in blue mantles, while somewhat bewildered Josephs are told to kneel while the angels recite “I come to you with tidings of great joy!’  These scenes are all familiar to us.  We see those first shepherds who were watching over their flocks, and hearing the angel’s message, hurried to find the child who had been born. At the manger they were joined by the angels who sang hymns to God's glory. Later, the wise men also arrived. Following the example of these different groups, we too come at different times - evening, night, and morning - in order to relive this divine mystery that is also the greatest human event.

Like those who came first, we come to contemplate God in the mystery of his Incarnation. When we come to Bethlehem, we find in the manger the small, weak infant, who was born and forced to stay outside the town in a stable. Yet the infant Jesus, Son of God, comes on earth to help us to be fully human, giving us the power to become children of God.  Although it is true that we come to Bethlehem to bring gifts, it is in fact we who receive them.

We know that when Christ came into the world the first time, some people were ready, but most people were not. Mary Immaculate was ready and said a hearty “yes” to God’s will. Joseph was ready and therefore capable of adapting quickly to God’s mysterious plans. The shepherds were ready, vigilant at night, to run to Bethlehem as soon as they heard the news. The Magi were ready, so ready in fact that they were able to discern the newborn king’s presence through the presence of a star.
On the other hand, Herod was not ready, too caught up in his own pride and sensuality to recognize the source of his authority. The inn-keepers were not ready, too caught up in their business and in their need for order that they didn’t have room to house their Creator. The scholars of the law were not ready to make even the short six-mile journey from Jerusalem. The vast majority of the Jewish people, who had been awaiting the advent of their Messiah for centuries, were simply not prepared when at last He came.

The surest way for us to be ready for Christ when He comes in the future is to be ready for Him now. The same Christ whom the shepherds and Magi adored in Bethlehem comes to us in the Eucharist, in an even more humble disguise. Our response to Jesus in the Eucharist now is the true indication of whether we are awake or asleep, whether we’re imitating Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds, and the Magi, or whether we’re behaving more like the inn-keepers, scholars of the law, and Herod. How would we have responded two thousand years ago if we were in Bethlehem? The best indication is how we respond now when Christ is here with us.

So let us support the religious meaning of Christmas to emerge with all of the Christmas music, the shopping, and the frantic preparations for this day. But to what do we turn our attention? To peace on earth toward men of good will? Yes, and something more. To the sharing of love with family? Yes, but more. Christmas is more than having a lovely time, more than family sharing, more than the so-called ‘happy holidays’.

We celebrate today what so many are looking for. We focus our attention today on that which will give peace to many who are lonely, uneasy with themselves, and who are searching for meaning in their lives. The centrepiece of the Mass, the essence of Catholicism, and the core of our belief is what we celebrate at Christmas.
And so we celebrate today the fact that God came to us in Christ, to search us out and fill us with God’s Holy Spirit. We celebrate the great reality that He comes to us in every Holy Communion and enters into our hearts. This is God’s Christmas gift to us. Let each of us consider what gift we will give to Christ this Christmas.
My wish for all in our diocese is that each and everyone has a very happy Christmas and that the Christ Child will bless us all abundantly, as we join in our celebrations, including the singing and praying together the beautiful words of some of our most beautiful Christmas Carols:

     Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
     the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head,
     The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,
     the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

     The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
     but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.
     I love you, Lord Jesus; look down from the sky,
     and stay by my side until morning is nigh.

     Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask you to stay
     close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
     Bless all the dear children in your tender care,
     and take us to heaven, to live with you there.

- Bishop Les Tomlinson, Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst, December 2012