“What other time or season can or will the Church ever have but that of Advent!” –Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics IV/3.1 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1961), 322.

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Collect for the First Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer 1979 p. 159

We often think of Advent as a season of preparation for Christmas, a kind of communal delayed gratification until we can finally belt out our “glorias” and our “go tell it on the mountains.” And there is some truth to that, but there is so much more to Advent. Fleming Rutledge, Episcopal priest and theologian, has argued that Advent is a special season in the life of the church. All other feasts and seasons, except for Trinity Sunday, commemorate specific events in the life of Christ or the life of the early Church.

Advent is different. Advent is the season of eschatological hope. That is the season that anticipates not just Christ’s first coming as a babe in a manger, but also as the one who is coming as the judge of the nations to set all things right. The readings and the collects of Advent keep this emphasis though it isn’t often reflected in our preaching and practice of the season.

But Advent also has a present dimension in time as can be seen in the collect for the First Sunday of Advent quoted above. “…now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility;” This is the time or season in which we, the church, live in our daily lives. This time of the mortal life in which the works of darkness are most apparent, and in which we await the final rectification of all that oppresses and destroys the creatures of God.

And we are not left without God’s visitation, God’s advent even now. For God comes daily to us in Word and Sacrament to sanctify us, to make us effective witnesses of God’s reign which is coming into the world. Though it continues to be an exercise in faith to await the fulness of that reign, and this is sometimes a very hard exercise indeed.

So, Advent is the three-fold commemoration of:

The Adventus redemptionis: of the Christ child born in a manger for our redemption.

The Adventus sanctificationis: the present coming of Christ in Word and Sacrament for our sanctification.

& the Adventus glorificationis: the coming of Christ in glory to judge the living and the dead to bring the final rectification of all things.

This Advent, let us enter into the fullness of these mysteries. Advent begins in the dark, but it certainly doesn’t end there. Let us accompany the marginalized who eagerly await justice coming down from the heavens as we witness to one another and as we await our final redemption.

Peace and love,

Padre Toni Alvarez

Visit our Advent & Christmas page for more ways to participate in Advent this season.