There is speculation that Jesus was born on September 29 which is the feast day of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Rafael, also once known as Michaelmass: I know this simply because it is the date of my birth and a few years ago,
this link came up with a google search. It made for intriguing reading then, but these days, I see through eyes of faith and ask, “What’s the point?”
He came. He will come again. What is most important for our eternal souls is to take the purpose of the Advent season to heart: ***BE PREPARED. ***
To do this, my husband and I, neophyte Catholics, have retreated to the local mountains for the week – away from the busy-ness and business of Christmas. As His 11th hour converts, we decided to observe this last Advent week in the best way we knew how by secluding ourselves and asking ourselves some hard-hitting questions:
- If I died today or if this is the day of Jesus’ Second Coming, am I prepared to meet Him?
- Have I taken this time of grace to heed his advice: “Be still and know that I am God”? Have I reflected and seriously examined my life?
- Have I done the following WITH MY HEART: prayed? fasted? received the Eucharist? read Scripture? am I in the state of sanctifying grace, thanks to the Sacrament of Reconciliation?
- Am I striving for holiness, keeping my sights on becoming a saint, God Willing?
- Specifically, am I growing in patience, charity, and certainty?
- How can I love God and my neighbor more?
- How can I know, love and serve Him better?
- Am I yielding myself fully to His Will?
- Is Mary’s FIAT – “Do unto me according to Thy Will” – my own?
What is the point of pointing this out? This point is better expressed by Robert Sungenis in the earlier post above:
Simply this: what Christians do (or should be doing!) during Advent and leading up to Christmas is a foreshadowing of what they will do during the days of their lives that lead up to the Second Coming; what non-Christians refuse to do during Advent, and put off until after Christmas, is precisely a foreshadowing of what they will experience at the Second Coming.
We Christians are to prepare for the Coming of Christ before He actually comes - and that Coming is symbolized and recalled at Christmas. Non-Christians miss this season of preparation, and then scramble for six days after the 25th to make their resolutions. By then, however, it’s too late - Christmas has come and gone, Our Lord has already made His visitation to the earth, and He has found them unprepared. This is precisely what will take place at the Second Coming, when those who have put off for their entire lives the necessary preparations will suddenly be scrambling to put their affairs in order. Unfortunately, by then it will have been too late, and there will be no time for repentance.
The Second Coming will be less forgiving than the Incarnation. There will be no four-week warning period before the Second Coming, like we get during Advent. There will be no six-day period of grace after the Second Coming during which to make resolutions and self-examination, like the secular world does from Dec. 26 until Jan. 1.
Lest you worry that we will not be fully celebrating His First Coming, know that we will be returning to our family and parish community this weekend. At Midnight Mass and on Christmas Day, we will be receiving the best Christmas gift of all time: His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in His Glorified Body in the Eucharist where He is
really, truly and substantially present.
Myself, I intend to celebrate Jesus’ birthday not only on December 25… but **EVERY ** day of the year.
God
during this Advent season, which is rapidly coming to a close. I hope this will help you to remember that the point of this Advent season is not celebration, but
Are you prepared?