VATICAN CITY, NOV. 30, 2009 (Zenit.org).-
Here is a translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave Saturday at First
Vespers for the First Sunday of Advent.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters,
With this evening celebration we enter the liturgical time of Advent. In the
biblical reading we just heard, taken from the First Letter to the
Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul invites us to prepare for the "coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ" (5:23), keeping ourselves irreproachable, with the grace of
God. Paul uses, in fact, the word "coming," in Latin adventus, from whence
comes the term Advent.
Let us reflect briefly on the meaning of this word, which can be translated as
"presence," "arrival," "coming." In the language of the ancient world it was a
technical term used to indicate the arrival of a functionary or the visit of a
king or emperor to a province. But it could also indicate the coming of the
divinity, which goes out of concealment to manifest itself with power, or
which is celebrated as present in worship. Christians adopted the word
"advent" to express their relationship with Jesus Christ: Jesus is King, who
has entered into this poor "province" called earth to visit everyone; he
brings to participate in his advent those who believe in him, all those who
believe in his presence in the liturgical assembly. With the word adventus an
attempt was made essentially to say: God is here, he has not withdrawn from
the world, he has not left us alone. Although we cannot see or touch him, as
is the case with tangible realities, he is here and comes to visit us in
multiple ways.
The meaning of the expression "advent" includes therefore also that of
visitatio, which means simply and properly "visit"; in this case it is a visit
of God: He enters my life and wants to address me. We all experience in daily
life having little time for the Lord and little time for ourselves. We end up
by being absorbed in "doing." Is it not true that often activity possesses us,
that society with its many interests monopolizes our attention? Is it not true
that we dedicate much time to amusements and leisure of different kinds?
Sometimes things "trap" us.
Advent, this intense liturgical time that we are beginning, invites us to
pause in silence to grasp a presence. It is an invitation to understand that
every event of the day is a gesture that God directs to us, sign of the care
he has for each one of us. How many times God makes us perceive something of
his love! To have, so to speak, an "interior diary" of this love would be a
beautiful and salutary task for our life! Advent invites and stimulates us to
contemplate the Lord who is present. Should not the certainty of his presence
help us to see the world with different eyes? Should it not help us to see our
whole existence as a "visit," as a way in which he can come to us and be close
to us, in each situation?
Another essential element of Advent is expectation, expectation that at the
same time is hope. Advent drives us to understand the meaning of time and
history as "kairos," as a favorable occasion for our salvation. Jesus
illustrated this mysterious reality in many parables: in the account of the
servants invited to await the return of their master; in the parable of the
virgins who await the bridegroom; or in those of the sowing and harvesting.
Man, in his life, is in constant waiting: When he is a child he wants to grow,
as an adult he tends to his realization and success, growing in age, he
aspires to his deserved rest. However the time comes in which he discovers
that he has waited too little if, beyond his profession or social position, he
has no choice but to wait. Hope marks the path of humanity, but for Christians
it is animated by a certainty: The Lord is present in the course of our life,
he accompanies us and one day he will also dry our tears. In a not too distant
day, everything will find its fulfillment in the Kingdom of God, Kingdom of
justice and peace.
However, there are very different ways of waiting. If time is not filled by a
present gifted with meaning, the waiting runs the risk of becoming unbearable;
if something is expected, but at this moment there is nothing, namely, if the
present is empty, every instant that passes seems exaggeratedly long, and the
waiting is transformed into a weight that is too heavy because the future is
totally uncertain. When, instead, time is gifted with meaning and we perceive
in every instant something specific and valuable, then the joy of waiting
makes the present more precious.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us live the present intensely, when we already
have the gifts of the Lord, let us live it projected to the future, a future
full of hope. The Christian Advent thus becomes an occasion to reawaken in
ourselves the true meaning of waiting, returning to the heart of our faith
which is the mystery of Christ, the Messiah awaited for long centuries and
born in the poverty of Bethlehem. Coming among us, he has brought us and
continues to offer us the gift of his love and of his salvation. Present among
us, he speaks to us in many ways: in sacred Scripture, in the liturgical year,
in the saints, in the events of daily life, in the whole of creation, which
changes in aspect if he is behind it or if it is obfuscated by the mist of an
uncertain origin and an uncertain future. In turn, we can speak to him,
present to him the sufferings that afflict us, impatience, the questions that
spring from the heart. We are certain that he always hears us! And if Jesus is
present, there is no time deprived of meaning and void. If he is present, we
can continue to wait also when others can no longer give us their support,
even when the present is exhausting.
Dear friends, Advent is the time of the presence and the expectation of the
eternal. Precisely for this reason it is, in a particular way, the time of
joy, of an internalized joy, that no suffering can erase. Joy because of the
fact that God became a child. This joy, invisibly present in us, encourages us
to walk with confidence. Model and support of this profound joy is the Virgin
Mary, through whom the Child Jesus has been given to us. May she, faithful
disciple of her Son, obtain for us the grace to live this liturgical time
vigilant and diligent in waiting. Amen.
[Translation by ZENIT]