The Real Heart of Advent

What does the word advent even mean? It comes from the Greek word parousia, which means presence, or arrival. Advent means the arrival of the Lord that has already begun but has only just begun. It has begun silently. John the Baptist ended up in prison. He was expecting Jesus to come with his winnowing chaff. Instead he came quietly, with only some miracles and healings. He sent his own disciples to ask Jesus if he was really the one. “God’s presence had begun... but what a difference from what the Baptist had imagined! No fire fell from heaven to consume sinners and bear definitive witness to the just; in fact, nothing changed at all in the present world. Jesus went about preaching and doing good in the land, but the ambiguity remained. Human life continued to be an obscure mystery that man has to pursue with faith and hope into the world’s darkness. A meditation preached at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto by Fr. Eric Nicolai. Music: Holy Night by Christmas choir Thumbnail: "St. John the Baptist in Prison Visited by Two Disciples" (1455-60) by Giovanni di Paolo (Art Institute of Chicago)