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Advent - The Holy Season |
Advent not only prepares us for the spiritual coming of Jesus Christ into the souls of those who are numbered among His sheep, but also helps prepare our souls for His second COMING at the end of time. At the end of time, when as Savior and Judge, He will reward the good and punish the wicked. He will make a permanent separation between the good and the wicked, putting a great chasm between them. Jesus is not only the Babe at Bethlehem. He is the still awaited Divine King and Judge who will return again at the end of the world.
The whole of the Advent liturgy is one pressing appeal for the coming of the Savior. The cries of ardent longing which went up to the Messiah throughout Old Testament times are taken up again by the Church who puts them on our lips, and causes us to repeat them ever more urgently as Christmas draws near.
Our Savior has come, of course, but we still await Him. For ourselves and for our own times we await His graces of redemption and sanctification which are to transform our human lives to the likeness of His. For ourselves and all the generations of mankind which are to follow one another on earth, we await, at the end of time, the glorious return of Christ, the Redeemer of the world, who will lead in with Himself, all the elect to the eternal kingdom of His Father.
The long awaited Messiah is King, not only of His own people Israel, but of all nations. He is God's own Son, become man to save all men and to lead them in His company to the kingdom of His Father.
