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The Eucharist – The Advent of ChristThe season of Advent has arrived. This is exactly what the season celebrates as the word Advent means an arrival. In antiquity the Latin word adventus signified the arrival and the beginning of the visit of a high official such as a king. Christians used the word to refer to the arrival of Christ, their King, who had entered the world in human form. God had come to visit us in Christ who, even though He had ascended into heaven, remained in the world. The early Christians celebrated the Advent of Christ most especially in the liturgical assembly of the Eucharist. Here, the presence of Christ was fully realized in the celebration of His Word and upon the altar. We associate the season of Advent with the coming of Christ at Christmas. Advent is a season that helps us prepare for the celebration of our Lord’s Birth. This is a further development of the meaning of Advent and a very fitting one. The Latin word literally means “coming to” and signifies why Advent is an appropriate time to prepare for Christ’s coming to us not only at Christmas but every day. Advent is an integral part of the Lord’s message. It may be surprising to realize how many times Jesus uses the word “come” in the four Gospels. The following are but a few examples; these and many others give us ample material for reflection during this holy season of anticipation and joy. • “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt 5:17). • “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come” (Mt 6:9 - 10). • “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mk 1:17). • “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose I have come” (Mk 1:38). • “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Mk 2:17). • “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). • “The Son of Man will come when you least expect him” (Lk 12:40). • “I have come to light a fire upon the earth” (Lk 12:49). • “Let the children come to me and do not hinder them for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Lk 18:16). The Gospels are filled with the Lord’s words of Advent regarding Himself and others. The above are a mere sample of the many times Christ refers to His coming and His invitation to others to come to Him. His parables often use the arrival of someone to make a point. Indeed, the Gospel of Christ is based on Advent in the fullest sense of the word. But perhaps no more sublime, and at the same time subtle, is the full impact of the Advent of Jesus Christ than in the Gospel of St. John. In this Gospel Jesus consistently refers to His coming from the Father in order that we may come to Him. The following are but two examples of this constant refrain. • “I have come to the world as its light” (Jn 12:46). • “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me” (Jn 6:37). It is precisely in the Gospel of St. John that the fullest liturgical meaning of the word Advent as understood by the early Christians is most evident. It is here that the Lord tells us, “I am the living bread come down from heaven” (Jn 6:51). The parallel of these words are Jesus’ invitation to us, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger” (Jn 6:35). Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist and we come to Him in the same manner. The Eucharist is Advent in its fullest manifestation – the coming of Christ to us and our acceptance of His invitation to come to Him. The Eucharistic reference, par excellence, to the Advent of Christ in St. John’s Gospel is in regard to “the coming of the hour of Jesus.” Jesus continually refers to His “coming hour” as the culmination of His mission and presence among us. In anticipation of this hour He tells His mother, Mary, at the Wedding Feast of Cana, “My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). St. John reminds us when Jesus is not arrested at one point of the Gospel that it is because “His hour had not yet come” (Jn 8:20). Finally Jesus comes to this hour and solemnly proclaims at the Last Supper, “Father, the hour has come” (Jn 17:1). It is climactic that the Advent of Christ’s hour is associated with the Last Supper at which Jesus instituted the Eucharist. At that Last Supper, Jesus, transcending time and space, anticipated His Passion, Death and Resurrection which became present to the apostles as He changed bread and wine into the sacrifice of His Body and Blood. That hour of Jesus is the one that we enter into every time we celebrate our hour of the Eucharist. Bread and wine not only become the very presence of Jesus Christ among us but His Passion, Death and Resurrection also become present. The Eucharist is indeed the full Advent of Christ that opens every hour into eternity. When we celebrate the Eucharist, every Gospel reference of Christ to His coming takes on full significance. In the Eucharist He comes to us as sinners that He might remove our sin from us. In the Eucharist we who are burdened come to Him so that He might give us rest. In the Eucharist God’s Kingdom truly comes to us. In the Eucharist we become like children in order that we might enter that Kingdom. Every reason for Christ’s coming is realized in the Eucharist. Every avenue for us to come to Christ is also present in the Eucharist. As we celebrate Advent during this 25th year of our diocese’s existence there is no better way to do so than through the celebration of the Eucharist, the hour of Christ that has come. Advent is indeed the celebration of the arrival of Christ as He is fully present in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Advent of Christ in the most sublime and mystical manner. As we prepare to come to Christmas this holy season, may the Eucharist help us to know His Advent among us every hour of our life. A blessed Advent to all!
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