FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (December 3, 2023)

 

“Expectation full of hope!”

Salesian Perspective

For St. Francis de Sales, the celebration of the Advent season was the high point of the liturgical year. He loved celebrating the season of Advent because he experienced it as a time of “hope-filled expectation.” For de Sales, the emphasis of the season was on that unique encounter between the loving God and His creation. Advent is a time that is full of expectations and therefore also full of vision and opportunity. It is a time to imagine all that is possible in that borderless world that is personal interaction with a loving God.

In our Gospel reading for this first Sunday of Advent we hear that Jesus calls his disciples to “be watchful! Expectation is a state that transports the mind from one end of the spectrum to the other: it can take us from wonder and hope to despair and fear. Who among us hasn’t experienced that feeling of anticipation that precedes a significant accomplishment like graduation or marriage, or who hasn’t experienced the fear and worry that comes with having to undergo surgery or losing a job?

At the same time that we remain vigilant, we need to have the ability to see the Lord when and where He manifests Himself. As we prepare for the coming of God’s Son, there is a certain urgency that requires our attention and vigilance. The Gospel reflects on the importance of being prepared to receive and experience divine love. As we prepare for the coming of Jesus, we need to set aside time to be quiet, to hear, and to perceive His presence in our lives. De Sales reminds us that we can find God in simple things. There is no need for us to multiply our tasks in order to achieve “stillness”, on the contrary, all that is necessary is for us to recognize that God is with us in every present moment.

Francis believed that the Incarnation is the inevitable result of the act created by the Father, since creation reaches its conclusion in the person of Jesus. Such an understanding contradicts the formidable opportunity freely given to us by the loving God so that each of us may encounter our Creator in the person of His Son. We live in the midst of hope, not fear.

As this season of Advent begins, we have the opportunity once again to remember who we are, from whom we have come, and the opportunities that can come to define our lives in that unique and personal relationship that is made available to us in Jesus Christ.

These encounters occur daily in our lives, because it is in ordinary things that we find the opportunities to experience the extraordinary, but only if we have the will to open our arms, full of faith, hope and expectation, to the loving God who draws near to us in so many simple ways every day. The “joyful expectation” that so moved Francis de Sales is in us today, in our personal encounters with our brothers and sisters, and in our world of discovery that presents us with new opportunities to experience salvation. The joyful expectation of God’s presence is all around us. We just need the courage to reach out and embrace her.

Source: FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (December 3, 2023) — Oblates of St. Francis de Sales