The word Advent means “coming,” and today’s liturgical texts focus on the coming of Jesus Christ — to be more precise, on multiple comings of Christ. Advent is about a lot more than Christmas.

The celebration of Jesus’ birth on Dec. 25 predominates in the culture around us. We have been seeing Christmas decorations in stores since before Halloween. Everyone knows Christmas commemorates a historical fact. But that was a one-time event two millennia ago, never to be repeated; Jesus does not become a baby again every year. The Church believes the birth of Jesus changed history, but this is not the only coming of Jesus the Church professes.

The first two weeks of Advent emphasize instead the future coming of Jesus at the end of time. Today, Jesus warns his disciples, “Be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” St. Paul likewise urges the Romans: “It is the hour now for you to wake from sleep … the day is at hand.” They are talking not about what happened in Bethlehem decades earlier, but about what will happen in the future. The fact that the Church has been waiting 2,000 years for Jesus’ final coming does not change the fact that it will arrive, somehow, someday. It could even be today! How would we get ready if we knew that Jesus would be returning soon?

That is why the Church speaks of a third coming, in between the first and final coming: Jesus comes to us sacramentally every day. St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote, “In the first coming Jesus was seen on earth, dwelling among men; he himself testifies that they saw him and hated him. In the final coming, all flesh will see the salvation of our God and they will look on him whom they have pierced. The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it, only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. In his first coming, our Lord came in our flesh and in our weakness; in his middle coming he comes in spirit and power; in the final coming he will be seen in glory and majesty.” (See the Office of Readings, Wednesday, First Week of Advent.)

The liturgy expresses this three-fold coming. One of the options for the Kyrie at Mass says, “Lord Jesus, you came (past) to gather the nations into the peace of God’s kingdom … You come (present) in word and sacrament to strengthen us in holiness … You will come in glory (future) with salvation for your people: Lord have mercy.”

Many of us remember that the Memorial Acclamation in the Eucharistic Prayer used to say, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” Even though that was removed from our current translation of the Missal because it does not appear in Latin, it does express sound eucharistic theology: the coming of Christ past, present, future. (See St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica III, 73,4,c).

The best way to observe the historical birth of Christ is by celebrating the Eucharist today, not just on Dec. 25. Likewise, the best way to prepare for the final coming of Christ is also by celebrating the Eucharist today. Coming to Mass often in Advent (even on weekdays) prepares us to meet Jesus whenever and wherever he comes to us. As the Collect for the First Sunday of Advent puts it, let us “resolve to run forth to meet Christ.”

Father Margevicius is director of worship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Sunday, Nov. 27 

First Sunday of Advent