It's the end of time, liturgically speaking

Well, today the Church marks the end of time. With Evening Prayer today, we usher in a new Year of Grace, a new liturgical year. And so, with the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer, we see out the old.

Understanding the liturgical year is a great aid to spirituality. Observing the different seasons, not just when you go to Mass, but at home and personally, is greatly enlightening.

For example, Advent, the first season of the liturgical year, is almost completely extingushed by our rush to dive in to the "Christmas season." Hence, the Christmas season, properly understood, which only starts on Christmas Day, and (for those of us in the U.S.) extends to the Baptism of the Lord, with its wonderful feasts and observances: St. Stephen, St. John the Evangelist, Holy Innocents, Thomas à Becket, the Twelve Days, etc., goes mostly unobserved, largely due to exhaustion.

While this has died down in recent years, the cries to "Keep Christ in Christmas," starting as they do after Thanksgiving, also ignore the richness of Advent. Observing a season of fasting, abstinence, and penance, a time of deeper and more frequent prayer, in preparation for a major solemnity is a Christian tradition. Many try to say that Advent is not a penitential season. But traditionally, it is. If nothing else, this is highlighted by the liturgical colors (violet and rose, or, if you prefer, purple and pink).

Our Eastern Christian friends, even most of our Eastern Catholic sisters and brothers, observe the Nativity Fast. Keeping Christ in Christmas starts with the observance of Advent, with preparation. In other words, Mass at Christmas is not the after party.

During Advent, when we both look back at the Incarnation of God's Only Begotten Son and look forward to His glorious return, awaiting the light in the darkness, we moderate rather than celebrate. Stated differently, we moderate in preparation to celebrate. This requires us to live contra mundum. Living this way is increasingly alien to Christians. Immersed as we are in the world, in politics particularly (which too many see as a means of salvation and ultimate rather than proximate), we no longer think of ourselves as exiles. And so, adherence to time-tested traditions is often seen as reactionary and so not with it.

During Advent, don't forget the Ember Days associated with Saint Lucy's Day. These are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday that come after: 18 December, 20 December, and 21 December.

Even when it comes to Christ's return, we no longer wait with anticipation for that great and dreadful day. Instead, our eschatology does not often extend beyond the fact that someday we'll all die. This despite the fact that Christ's return to judge, yes judge, the living and the dead is credal, dogmatic, de fide. Yes, you may die before the Lord returns. Then again, you may not. We've largely lost our sense of urgency. Observing Advent can help you regain it.

Advent, then, is a time to reflect, to pray, to examine your conscience in light of the Paschal Mystery, which starts with the Son being born into the world and culminates with His return. In light of this, as Christians, we should live vigilantly, waiting in joyful expectation, preparing ourselves and the world for the end of time, when the King will come.