Jeremiah 33:14-16 / 1 Thess 3:12 – 4:3 / Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
If there is one word to describe the month of December, it is this word – holiday.
Although there is only one public holiday in the month of Dec, a number of families are going or have gone for holidays overseas, primarily because of the school holidays.
Even the church seems to be decorated for a festive holiday mood. We should have noticed that within the church as well as outside the church.
Oh yes, we see these decorations year after year, and we expect them to be there. Just like shopping malls and Orchard Road are decorated and in fact, much earlier, even before December, we too want our church to be decorated.
But there is one big difference - those that are at the shopping malls and the nearby Orchard Road can be termed as commercial decorations, nice and pretty to look at, and that’s all to it.
But church decorations are more than just nice and pretty. Church decorations are signs and symbols that point to a spiritual reality.
That spiritual reality is the celebration of the birth of our Saviour, as well as the waiting in joyful hope of the 2nd coming of Jesus.
So every piece of decoration in church is a sign or a symbol that points to a reality, a spiritual reality, a reality that we can understand, a reality that we are a part of.
In today’s gospel, when Jesus talked about the signs, it is understandable that we don’t see anything more in those signs other than signs of distress and turmoil, signs of the end-times.
What other interpretations can we give of the words Jesus used: agony, clamour, dying of fear?
Certainly, those kinds of signs are far from pleasant and we would wish that we will never see those signs. And we wonder why such a passage is chosen for the First Sunday of Advent.
But when we look at our world today, and in every age and time, we have those signs of distress and turmoil – nuclear war threat, ecological dangers, plagues, famines, natural disasters.
These are signs that made us fear what is to come and thoughts of the end-time prophecies flash through our mind.
But just as Christmas decorations can be categorized as commercial decorations and spiritual decorations, so are the signs.
The world may see those signs as disturbing signs of distress and turmoil, signs of agony and fear of the future, signs of the end of the world.
But we cannot see as how the world sees, we cannot think as how the world thinks. Because our faith tells us that what others see as the end, we see as the beginning. We see tribulation giving way to celebration, we see distress giving way to success, we see adversity as an opportunity and we see darkness giving way to light.
And that’s what our Christmas decorations should be all about. Our Christmas decorations are not just to be nice-looking or impressive. They must point to two things – 1. The celebration of the birth of our Saviour. 2. The preparation of the 2nd coming as He promised.
So, for example, the Advent candles and the Advent wreath. It tells us that the four weeks of preparation is to let the light of Christ shine slowly into our hearts and dispel whatever darkness that is blocking our hearts from receiving Jesus.
The Advent wreath is round and with evergreen and it symbolizes the eternal and everlasting love of God for us, a love that is expressed in the birth of Jesus.
The Christmas tree symbolizes what we heard in the 1st reading, when the Lord said this: See the days are coming when I am going to fulfil the promise I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah.
Because from the stump of Jesse (the Christmas tree is also known as the Jesse Tree), a shoot will grow and become a great and mighty tree, again pointing to Jesus.
And of course the Nativity scene with the big star of Bethlehem, to point to us the reason for the season, and whether in celebration of the birth of Jesus or in preparation of His 2nd coming, we do it in joyful hope for a promised fulfilled and a promise that will be fulfilled.
So, as we begin this season of Advent, let us come away from the hustle bustle, let us come away to the Divine, let us come away to pray with the lights, the lights that point to Jesus the true Light.
Yes, come and pray, bring a friend along, or even a non-Catholic friend along. Who doesn’t like to admire Christmas decorations in a quiet setting, and we have that quiet setting in this church!
Yes, come away and pray and may we feel how God has fulfilled His promises in our lives as we wait in joyful hope for His abundant blessings to come.