Although our society has begun its preparations for the birth of Christ, even as they are hesitant to mention his birth, the Church begins its preparations today. Our liturgy, however, wants us to know that we are not only preparing for a special celebration 4 weeks from now, but our readings put before us the bigger picture. It’s not just the celebration of Jesus’ birth that we are to prepare for but also we must prepare for the day when he comes again to bring us into his kingdom. Advent tells us Christ is coming, but it also asks us, are we ready to meet him?

Doesn’t it sound as if our Lord is speaking to us today when he tells us: “beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life”. We have to struggle against this happening to all of us during this time of the year. Buy

ing gifts, decorating, sending cards and going to parties might be nice but how much do they do for our inner self, our spirit, besides maybe wear us out? Jesus tells us pointedly in today’s gospel: “be vigilant at all times and pray...” In the midst of all our preparations for Christmas, we have to work at making this also a time of spiritual preparation or Christ’s birth will be a shallow event for us. His coming 2000 years ago will have little or no value for us. If his birth is an event without much depth of spiritual meaning for us, neither will any other part of our faith have much depth of meaning, including the beautiful gift of himself he gives us in the Eucharist.

Jesus’ first coming was simple and humble, his coming to us now in the poor, in prayer and sacrament is experienced mostly by faith, but his coming in the future will be glorious an unmistakable, although it will be frightful for some as he tells us in today’s gospel: People will die or fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world. But if we are prepared, not just for Christmas, but for Christ, the Lord tells us “stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

On this first Sunday of Advent, we prepare for his coming by beginning to tell his story again: the story of his birth, his miracles and teaching, his death and resurrection. St. Luke will be our mentor through much of this year. In hearing the account of Jesus’ Nativity, we might be tempted to think that we heard that last year. The truth is that we’re not the same person we were last year, or the year before. We’ve grown older, we’ve encountered new experiences, we may have made new friends or other friends have gone out of our lives, we most likely see things a little differently than we did a year or two ago. As we hear it again, we will see the story of Jesus perhaps a little differently than we did a year ago, perhaps it will mean a little more to us than it did then. Although the story of Jesus does not change, we do. We have to keep hearing itbecause it is a story of infinite love, a story of infinite meaning that will continue to speak to us. We will never exhaust the richness of the love Christ has shown us.