The One who is coming

The One Who Is Coming

Advent is a strange word. It means “coming.” An advent is something that is “arriving soon.” When we have something coming, when we expect an event, an ­advent, we are usually alert inside. We are listening. My family is coming for Christmas and I am in the country, and I am listening for the sound of a car. It is a special car, and I am filled with a special listening.

Advent is such a beautiful season. It is a time for renewal; it is especially a time for forgiveness because God brings his forgiveness to us in the shape of his Son. The Church year begins with Advent. And every time it comes around, my heart thrills anew….

The word “advent” has a double connotation. It means the arrival of a new liturgical season, the preparatory time for Christmas, for “the coming of Our Lord” as a Child on earth, for his Incarnation in time. But it also means that other advent—the parousia, the second coming of Christ, in glory, at the end of the world. That is an advent which Russian hearts long for and expect. They hope it will happen in their lifetime, but, even if it doesn’t, they rejoice that it will happen in someone else’s lifetime.

These two Advents blend in my soul, mind, and heart. They bring a hunger and a longing that beggars words, for they are the seasons of expectation. Expectation of what? Of whom? To me, of the Tremendous Lover, of the Lord, Christ.

Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty

Catherine de Hueck Doherty († 1985) was born in Russia and was the foundress of Madonna House in Combermere, Canada.