THE THREE COMINGS OF CHRIST
Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas. For most of us, it means the beginning of our preparations for the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord. The gospel on the First Sunday of Advent, however, usually focuses not on the birth of our Lord, but on his eventual return. This is a reminder for us that Advent is a time to reflect on what I call the “three comings” of Christ.
The first coming of Christ was our Lord’s birth in Bethlehem. This is what we remember and celebrate every year at Christmas. God became flesh and dwelt among us, as St. John writes in the beginning of his gospel. Advent is a time to prepare ourselves for the celebration of our Lord’s birth. Advent is a time to remember that God, who had promised through the prophets to send a Messiah to save His people, did fulfil His word. Jesus was born into our world and became like us in all things but sin in His first coming.
The second coming of Christ is when He comes again at the end of times. This is the focus of the gospel on the First Sunday of Advent. Celebrating Christmas, the first coming of our Lord, should remind us that Christ will in fact come again. Just as God kept His promise to send the Messiah, we should not doubt that our Lord will keep His promise to return. We do not know when, which is why our Lord exhorts us to be vigilant and prepared. It will be when we do not expect it. Therefore, Advent is also a time to reflect on our Lord’s second coming. A time to be more mindful about being ready and prepared for His return. In Advent, we renew our trust in our Lord’s promise to come again.
Jesus also made other promises to His disciples. He said that when two or three were gathered in His name, He would be in their midst. At the end of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “Behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.” Even as He ascended back to His Heavenly Father, our Lord promised to be with us here in this world. The third coming of Christ is Christ’s coming to each one of us now in the very lives we lead every day. Christ comes to us in His Word, in His Body and Blood, in our hearts and minds when we pray, and in our community when we gather in His Name. We spend much of our time, perhaps too much, thinking about the past or the future. We can never live in the past or the future; we can only live in the present moment of each day. Christ comes to us in that present moment whenever we open ourselves up to Him and His grace.
Thus, Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas, remembering when Christ was born. It was a crucial event in God’s plan of salvation and we honour it each and every year. Advent is also a time to remind us that our Lord will come again in the future as He promised to do. But let Advent also be a time to appreciate the gift we receive each and every day — the coming of our Lord to us. The coming of our Lord to us, not just in the past or in the future, but right here and right now. The coming of our Lord to us today.
易唯誠神父
