The purpose of Advent is to prepare for two of the greatest events of all human history. The first is the liturgical celebration of the birth of Christ into our world. The second is the glorious return of Christ into our world at the end of human history.
Last week’s readings focused, primarily, on preparing for the glorious return of Christ at the end human history. This week’s readings focus, primarily, on the liturgical celebration of the birth of Christ into our world. They urge us to prepare for this joyful celebration in the same way John the Baptist instructed the people of his time to prepare for it. We may sum up John’s instruction in one word: “Repent!”
The word repent means to be sorry for our sins to the point that we want not only to turn away from them but also to make up for the harm they may have inflicted upon ourselves and others.
Years ago there was a Broadway play about a young person who dropped out of school, rejected his family, and became hooked on drugs. In a moving scene in the play, the young person looks up to heaven and cries out in a tortured voice: “O God, how I wish you had made life like a notebook, so that I could tear out the pages on which I made mistakes and throw them away forever.â€
Thanks to Jesus, our life is like a notebook. We can tear out the pages on which we made mistakes, and throw them away forever. In his love, Jesus gave us the sacrament of Reconciliation. Through it, we can literally tear out those parts of our life where we made mistakes and throw them away forever. As a result, the sacrament of Reconciliation is the perfect way to prepare us for the liturgical celebration of Christ’s first coming into the world.
Next Sunday we will celebrate sacrament of penance. Let us prepare ourselves with prayer to Our Father for His blessing during sacrament of penance.