Dear Friends:

Advent season is here! Before his death in 1968, Trappist monk Father Thomas Merton — in several of his spiritual writings — suggested that the purpose of Advent is not a matter of waiting for the Lord, but rather of recognizing his presence among us here and now. “The fact remains that our task is to seek and find Christ in our world as it is and not as it might be,” Merton wrote in his essay, “Advent: Hope or Delusion?”

“The fact that the world is other than it might be,” he continued, “does not alter the truth that Christ is present in it and that his plan is neither frustrated nor changed: Indeed, all will be done according to his will. Our Advent is the celebration of this hope.”

What is “uncertain” Merton added, “is not the ‘coming’ of Christ but our own reception of him, our own response to him, our own readiness and capacity to ‘go forth to meet him.'”

Merton makes this claim about the true meaning of Advent and Christmas boldly and poetically when he writes:



“Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for Him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because He cannot be at home in it, because He is out of place in it, and yet He must be in it, His place is with those others for whom there is no room. His place is with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world. He is mysteriously present in those for whom there seems to be nothing but the world at its worst. For them, there is no escape even in imagination. They cannot identify with the power structure of a crowded humanity which seeks to project itself outward, anywhere, in a centrifugal flight into the void, to get out there where there is no God, no man, no name, no identity, no weight, no self, nothing but the bright, self-directed, perfectly obedient and infinitely expensive machine.”

As we begin the season of Advent this weekend, perhaps we might spend some time thinking about the divine love contained in God really entering the messiness, the painful, suffering, broken world in which we find ourselves. Most importantly, I want us to spend time thinking about what it means to call myself a Christian during this season when Christ entered this world in solidarity with all those who do not belong and who are pushed to the margins of our church and society. How might we be more Christ-like this Advent and beyond? 

Thus, we need not wait for Advent or Christmas or any season or event of the liturgical year to heed Christ’s call to “love one another” (Jn 13:34). The responsorial psalm for the First Sunday of Advent offers us guidance: “Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior, and for you I wait all the day” (Ps 25:4-5).

This follows the day’s first reading from the prophet Jeremiah, six centuries before the coming of Christ, when “waiting for the Messiah” was truly a reality: “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise, I made to the house of Israel and Judah. In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land” (Jer 33:14-15).

“We witness to his presence even in the midst of all its inscrutable problems and tragedies,” Merton said. “Our Advent faith is not an escape from the world to a misty realm of slogans and comforts which declare our problems to be unreal, our tragedies inexistent.” Which is why, in a particular way, Christ is most present to those who need him the most. “Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited,” Merton wrote in “Raids on the Unspeakable.”

In our time, we face so much uncertainty. Danger, death, disbelief appears everywhere. We shall not be overcome. God has not abandoned us. He is faithful. Let this Advent give us hope and joy.

The season of Advent is a most appropriate time to find new and deeper ways to give of yourself. As you anticipate Christ’s coming to save you from spiritual poverty, consider how you can fulfill the needs of your neighbors. How can you give of yourself to share the love of Christ with those around you? 

Christmas is on everyone’s minds, but everyone doesn’t yet have a plan for entering into the true celebration of Christ coming to save humanity. Help someone — or a few people — in your life make that plan by inviting them to join you for Sundays in Advent and Christmas Mass. While it is a good practice to hold off on the full Christmas celebration until the Christmas season begins at the Christmas Eve Vigil, don’t shut down or vocally oppose those of goodwill who might be jumping ahead to Christmas a bit sooner than is canonically appropriate. Instead, share your favorite Advent practices with those around you and invite them to participate. May God bless you. Happy Advent!