“Promise Made and Fulfilled,” an Advent Reflection

This past Sunday marked the 3rd week of Advent, the month-long run-up to Christmas, the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Advent is from the Latin, adventus, which means “coming”; Advent is the four weeks anticipating the “coming of Christ,” a celebration of his birth in a stable in Bethlehem. In liturgical churches the color purple sets the Advent tone. Purple is the color of royalty, welcoming the coming into the world of Christ, the King. It is also the color of fasting, penitence and suffering used during Lent and Holy Week. The dual association is not accidental: Jesus’ birth cannot be separated from his death, burial and resurrection. The purpose of Jesus’ incarnation is to reveal God’s love and grace through Jesus’ life and teaching, of course, but also through his passion: his crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. Hence, the same color for the two seasons. In fact, in the early church, Advent was a time of fasting and penitence, much as during Lent. During Advent, many churches bedeck their sanctuaries in evergreen boughs, evergreen trees and wreaths, symbolizing new and everlasting life brought through Jesus Christ. The Advent wreath takes a prominent place in most churches. It consists of a circular evergreen wreath with five candles, four around the wreath and one in the center. The circular wreath symbolizes God himself who is without beginning or end and who is everlasting. The white candle in the center represents Christ, the light who has come into the world, while the four outer candles represent the four weeks anticipating his coming. Of the four outer candles, three are purple or violet and one is pink or rose. The violet candles represent the royalty of Christ the King, and they link that royalty to his death, burial and resurrection, celebrated during Lent and Easter. The first violet candle is lit on the first Sunday of Advent and the first and second violet candles are lit on the second Sunday of Advent. On the third Sunday, the Rose candle is added to them. The third Sunday—the one that we celebrate this week—is traditionally called Gaudete Sunday (from the Latin gaude, meaning “rejoice,” the first word of the introit of Sunday’s Mass: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice . . .”); it represents an easing of fasting and penitence and segues into rejoicing and celebration. The fourth violet candle rounds out the season. It seemed appropriate to me on this 3rd week of Advent, to share with you a reflection on the season. On Saturday, I attended a meeting of the Western Lieutenancy of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, a Roman Catholic order of knighthood, founded in 1113—nearly 1,000 years ago—to protect and support Christians in the Holy Land. As you know, I’ve led teaching tours to the Holy Land for years; in fact, our tour coming up on January 4th will be my 59th Israel teaching tour! Many of you listening to the Podcast have traveled to Israel with me. If you haven’t, check out the Travel section on logosbiblestudy.com, and come along with us. Our Israel teaching tours are educational, profoundly spiritual . . . and they’re a whole lot of fun! In any case, at our meeting, Msgr. Dennis Mikulanis led us in a morning reflection that he titled, “Promise Made and Fulfilled,” a reflection using Scripture and song. It’s a great way to celebrate Gaudete Sunday. So, here goes!