The real circle of life from incarnation to second coming

Here we are again at the beginning of another Advent. Now we begin a new Church year and a new cycle of readings from the Lectionary. It seems that the key word in any new year is “cycle” because we advance chronologically toward a new year; however, paradoxically, the Church’s time cannot be measured chronologically. Indeed, the liturgical season of Advent looks backward – in commemorating the birth of Christ; yet, at the same time, Advent points us to the future – not the beginning of 2024 but to the second Coming of Christ. In a certain way, then, we are suspended in time – remembering how God intervened in our salvation history through the sending of his only Son and anticipating this Son’s return in glory.

This notion of “cycle” is expressed especially through the tradition of the Advent Wreath. The wreath is circular, which, in a way, underscores how God’s love has no beginning, no end.  While God is infinite and eternal; we are finite creatures.  Since we have material bodies, time is the measure of motion and the gauge through which we map out our past, our present and our future.

Although calendars reminds us of our slavery to time, all of us are called to the eternal – which is a vocation to full communion with God.  This tension between time and eternity, between being and becoming is very much symbolized by the placement of the candles within the wreath. Each candle has a beginning and an end – as do our mortal bodies; however, because we are more than bodies, because we are incarnate spirits, made in the image and likeness of God, we are able to transcend the finitude of physical death.  Moreover, like the candles in the wreath, so we, by virtue of our Baptism, are invited to participate in the life of God. 

As we tick-tock through Advent, in the midst of the hustle and bustle of our world, where clocks and commerce propel us into a frenzy, where the media counts the remaining days to Christmas – we feel anxious and maybe panic-stricken as we rush through what ideally should be activities of leisure, and gladness, such as praying, singing carols, writing Christmas cards, buying gifts, baking cookies and decorating the house.

In the movie, “The Lion King,” the theme of the circle of life resounds throughout the story of the little lion cub who grows into the image of his father. But the film falls short inasmuch as the circle of life is really something that transcends the finality of a geometric circle. But the circle of life in “The Lion King” consists of life, death and birth.  For us, Christians, at the apex of the circle is an entrance to the eternal life which awaits us in heaven where, free of all constraints, we will exist in the presence of God, the Blessed Mother, the saints, angels and other members of the redeemed in an atmosphere of praise, glory, life and love.

In a sense, then, we are like those candles enveloped by the wreath. When we are feeling good about life, we are like the candles lit. But when something happens to pull us down, we feel like an unlit candle – desperately looking for the light of God’s love and presence.

As such, we are a people of hope, struggling to maintain our belief in a God whose presence we do not always feel. It is this hope, this grace from God, which keeps us afloat with the conviction that one way or another, despite the absurdity of life which pulls us down, despite our personal suffering, despite the scars we bear from being hurt by individuals or events – despite the wearing of time on our bodies – and the aches and pain which accompany these, we will survive, if not in this world, then in the next. There we shall participate in the life of God as never before. There we will experience the juncture of time and eternity, body and soul, nature and grace, the finite and the infinite in the person of  Jesus Christ. Yes, Advent assures us that, when Jesus returns in glory, we will emerge from the darkness of suffering, which clouds our vision of the divine – and one day open our eyes to the eternal light of Christ and the freedom of the children of God!

Father Comandini is the Coordinator of the Office of Continuing Faith Formation