As we know, advent is the season when we look forward to the second coming of Christ as well as look back to the incarnation of Jesus Christ on the original Christmas day in Bethlehem. I came across a fascinating article by Fr. William Saunders on the History of Advent that explained how our Nativity Fast/Yeldho Fast became a tradition of advent.

The celebration of Advent has evolved in the spiritual life of the Church. The historical origins of Advent are hard to determine with great precision. In its earliest form, beginning in France, Advent was a period of preparation for the feast of the Epiphany, a day when converts were baptized; so the Advent preparation was very similar to Lent with an emphasis on prayer and fasting which lasted three weeks and later was expanded to 40 days. ..

Despite the "sketchy" history behind Advent, the importance of this season remains to focus on the coming of our Lord. (Advent comes from the Latin 'adventus', meaning "coming.") The Catechism (of Catholic Church) stresses the two-fold meaning of this "coming": "When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for His second coming."

Therefore, on one hand, the faithful reflect and are encouraged to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's first coming into this world. We ponder again the great mystery of the incarnation when our Lord humbled Himself, taking on our humanity, and entered our time and space to free us from sin. On the other hand, we recall in the Creed that our Lord will come again to judge the living and the dead and that we must be ready to meet Him.

One of the things we learn from the Lucan narratives of the Nativity is that God keep promises. The world may change, people may change, but God never changes. God made promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, etc. These were unconditional promises. The Israelites changed. They rejected God. They paid for their sins; they lost their country and they were taken away to foreign countries to labor and treated as slaves. They never learned their lesson. They blamed God for all their sufferings. They never looked at themselves as the cause. But God knew that he has to keep his words. And He did. The incarnation of Jesus Christ was the first step in that process of redemption of mankind. God's plan for the redemption of mankind was planned and executed over a long time. Like a seed that takes a long time to germinate, we may see no visible progress for a long time as the work is done in the background, hidden.

The last chapter of the Old Testament in the bible is the chapter of Malachi. He was the last prophet. Malachi reiterated the coming of Messiah. After the prophesy of Malachi there was total silence for over 400 years and 10 generations. Most of Israel had forgotten about the promise of the Messiah. They thought that God has forgotten them. (Read the chapter of Ezekiel to learn more about the life of Israel under captivity.) They took it for granted that their life is doomed and they will be always under the persecution of invaders.

Malachi gives vivid description of the disappointment of God at Israel. It tells how God will punish the wicked. Malachi said that the wicked will be burned so that only ashes will remain. In the last chapter of Malachi (chapter 4), he talked about the arrival of the "Son of Righteousness" and his precursor Elijah. Let us take a look:

2 But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings ...

4 Remember the Law of Moses, My servant,
Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel,
With the statutes and judgments.

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

6 And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
(Malachi 4:2, 4-6, NKJV)

Without going into details, "Sun of Righteousness" (v. 2) here refers to the arrival of Jesus Christ. He will be preceded by Elijah (v. 5). Some people thought that Elijah will be born again. What the prophesy referred to was someone like Elijah. He was referring to John the Baptist. (Moses and Elijah did come back to be with Jesus during the Transfiguration Feast.)

Few Israelites who still believed Messiah will come, never expected Him to arrive as a helpless baby born in a manger. Most expected Messiah to come as a warrior king like David, and defeat their enemies. They could not imagine their messiah to be born anywhere other than in a palace. This is why they had a tough time accepting Jesus when He came. He just didn't fit into the image they had on Him.

"Sweet little Jesus boy
They made you be born in a manger
Sweet little holy child
We didn't know who you were

Didn't know you'd come to save us Lord
To take our sins away
Our eyes were blind, we could not see
We didn't know who you were"

In the hustle and bustle of Bethlehem, everyone ignored the baby in the manger, except for some shepherds and magi that came from quite far guided by a star.

Notice that all the visitors who came to see baby Jesus came from out of town. The big crowd that assembled in Bethlehem for the Roman Census were unaware of the birth of the messiah or didn't care.

God's son came to live and die as one of us. To really appreciate that gift, we should put ourselves in the place of ancient Israel which yearned for the promised Messiah who would set things right.

Advent is a time of reflection, as well as a time of repentance. This is a good time to examine our lives. Let us take a good look at our past life, do a housecleaning by preparation for a confession when we closely examine our transgressions and then go for a full confession in front of a priest and then, with a clean body, heart and spirit, we will be ready to welcome our Lord into our hearts. When we have prepared this way, we do not have to fear for the second coming of our Lord, we will be ready to welcome Him (actually He will be already residing in our hearts.)

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.