Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and this is Ascension Presents.
So, here we are in Advent. And
I don't know if you knew this about Advent
but Advent is not a penitential season.
Penitential—like Lent is a penitential season.
Like, Fridays during during the year are usually penitential days.
Advent is not a season of penance.
Advent is a season
of devout and joyful
preparation for the coming of Jesus.
That's
kind of like the definition. And I just think this is really interesting.
Let's break some of this down, all right? Cause,
if we want to like really enter into the season
of Advent, let's understand what it is.
So, devout. Now, when I think devout, I
often think of like pious, right?
I picture someone in a corner,
like, you know, with their hands folded. Kind of looking
slightly away, like, umm, I'm very pious.
Right? That's not what devout means. Devout means firm.
It means resolute.
Devout means powerful or wholehearted.
Advent is the wholehearted and joyful preparation for
Christ's coming. So, joyful.
What's joy? Well, I recognize
that while joy and happiness
often coincide, they often happen together.
That
joy is something more profound
than mere happiness. Happiness often
comes out of our circumstances, right? So,
I'm happy because I feel good,
I'm happy because things are going well for me,
I'm happy because of my circumstances.
Joy is the ability
to have a certain happiness
independent of your circumstances;
an abiding
sense of well-being because
I know that the Father
loves me.
Joy is the abiding sense of well-being that comes from the fact
that I know that God knows my name
and he loves me. So, when you want to have
joy, not dependent on your
circumstances, not dependent on
are things going well or poorly.
Joy is a choice
because it's choosing to remember
I'm going to choose to live with that abiding sense that
I know—I know the Father knows me and
the Father loves me and because of
that, my circumstances can be
awful and I can still have joy.
My circumstances can be painful and I can still have joy.
I can still choose this because I will choose
to abide in his love.
I will choose to abide in the absolute
certain possession
of him.
So, Advent
is the wholehearted and joyful
preparation for Christ's coming. Now, here's the interesting part.
I think. I think the other
part is interesting too but this is also interesting.
Preparation for Christ's coming.
I often, like, default back to
this idea that, "Oh, preparation for Christmas."
So, if you had a good Advent you can have a good Christmas.
I want to have a great Christmas, so I'm gonna have a great Advent.
No. Yes, at Christmas
we celebrate the fact that Christ has come into this world.
Absolutely. Of course we celebrate that.
But we also celebrate
and prepare for the fact that
we know he's going to come again.
We know that Jesus is going to come
again. And so, yeah we want to prepare to
be able to celebrate, to worship him well at Christmas.
That's 100 percent great.
But the goal of Advent
is not to have a merry, merry Christmas.
The goal of Advent, ultimately,
is to be able to worship him well and celebrate
the fact that he came into this world well.
But also
to prepare for his second coming.
Now, those are the two kind of major, like, arrivals of Christ.
His past coming at the original
Christmas and his future coming at the end of time.
But the great saints have talked about this intermediary, like, arrival of Christ.
This intermediary coming of Jesus into our lives.
That's when he comes to us. Whenever we pray.
Whenever we open up his Word, he's present.
Whenever we gather in his name, he's present with us.
Whenever we're in the presence of the Eucharist, we're in the presence of him.
So, there's also this inner—inter—
eenter—intermediary—
intermediary coming
of Jesus into our lives.
Here's my question.
If Advent is the wholehearted and joyful
preparation for the coming of Jesus,
into our lives—
If Jesus showed up in your life, would there be any room for him?
Just think about that.
If Jesus showed up in your life today.
Not like at Christmas time
where everyone knows, like, he was born in a stable,
so I want him to have room in my life.
Like TODAY, in your schedule,
if Jesus wanted
some more space, if he wanted some more
room in your life,
would he have room in your life?
And I think that's one of the reasons why people
are like, critics of Advent and say, "We listen
to too much Christmas music during Advent.
And too much Christmas parties during Advent and
too much Christmas food during Advent and too much Christmas drinks
during Advent." You know why?
It's not because those things are bad.
In fact, if you do a little bit of those things all throughout Advent,
I think that helps me prepare. That helps me prepare.
It helps me get into the mood, right?
To have a party here or, some little, you know,
taste of the food here. To have some Christmas music there.
Those things are good
but, the problem is
we end up not using this phenomenal
word that we should
get used to and use all through our lives, but
especially in Advent. And that word
is "no".
When you were a kid, they didn't have twenty-four-hour Christmas music
playing everywhere you go.
When you were a kid, you didn't have Christmas party after Christmas
party after Christmas party. When you were a kid
you didn't have all the Christmas food and all the Christmas drinks
you ever possibly could want. When you were a kid,
you had limited amounts of all those things.
Here's a little bit of Christmas music. Here
is, like, the one Christmas party that you would go to as a kid.
But as adults, we have all these options
and we just have forgotten
how to say no. But,
it's saying no
that gives Christ space.
It gives him room
to enter into our lives.
This Advent,
even though it's not a penitential season,
I invite all of
us, including myself,
to exercise
no.
Here's some good music. Great.
And then, no.
Here's that Christmas movie I love. Great. And then,
after it's done, I don't listen,
watch the next twelve of them.
Here's some parties. You know
what, maybe just this one or just this two.
I need to say no
more
so that I can say yes more,
to Jesus.
From all of us here at Ascension Presents, my name is Father Mike.
God bless.