How can I make Advent more meaningful?

SISTER MAXINE: This random nun clip is from the webinar “Engaging Advent,” presented by Sister Candyce Rekart. To watch a video recording of the entire webinar, find the link in the show notes of this podcast file.
 

SISTER CANDYCE:  This first Sunday in Advent, in the Christian tradition, marks the beginning of the liturgical year. It’s like starting the year with a sense of expectancy, of promise, of hope. This promise is knowing that Jesus came into the world as redeemer. It’s not just remembering; it’s more active than that. It’s a knowing. It’s a knowing in our very being that God is here, now, active in our very lives, and that a promise is a promise and continues to be so even now. Advent is integrally linked, it’s really related to, it’s right there in the middle of, the Paschal mystery, the mystery of the resurrection where Jesus fulfilled that promise of salvation. Our response comes from within, from a desire to interact in some way with the significance of the season. What would it be like to read the scriptures during this Advent season, really read them, and let them speak to you from the inside out? In our reflection now, and carrying into this season, we turn to some key figures of Advent to find inspiration from them. How are we active in engaging Advent? How can the scriptures help us to do that? How do key figures in the scriptures show us a way of looking towards the coming of a Messiah? How do they illuminate the way? How do they help us to understand the meaning of this time before Christmas? How do their messages invoke in us a true response—a response particular to the current circumstances of our own lives? During the next four weeks of Advent, we invite you to ponder the messages, and possible underlying messages, for our times, for certain biblical figures in the Old and New Testaments. We will hear words from some of the prophets—Jeremiah, Baruch, Isaiah, Zephaniah, Micah—who proclaim a promise made by God to the people. A promise they believed in, which carried them forward in hope. Mary, a young maiden, pregnant with child, waiting. John the Baptist, a voice in the wilderness, shouting out, “Prepare the way.” Mary, with Elizabeth, both pregnant, both aware of what God had done in their lives, and both believing in the promise. Let’s look at these figures and what they may invite us to reflect on in our own lives. At Sunday liturgies, in the Catholic tradition, you will hear the words of some of the Old Testament prophets. These messages are promise and messages of hope. Further reading into biblical passages, we see that these prophets also spoke out. They said what needed to be said to the people. They spoke from the realities of their times. Sometimes these words may seem harsh or sobering. They ask us to really take a look at ourselves, to wake up, to be alert. This first Sunday of Advent, today’s words, come from the prophet Isaiah, who proclaims, “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made.” On the second Sunday, Baruch points to God as the people’s guide. His words, “God is leading,” not only apply to Israel but also to us. In the third Sunday’s reading from Zephaniah, we hear that “the lord is in your midst,” followed by Isaiah’s words, “God indeed is my savior. I am confident and unafraid.” By the fourth Sunday, Micah’s promise—For now His greatness shall reach the ends of the earth. He shall be peace.” Perhaps we’re getting the message. God has made a promise to the people. God keeps that promise and that promise is alive today.

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This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.