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The four weeks of Advent, which will soon draw to a close, are like a snapshot, a miniature, a glimpse of the whole of salvation history.

For most of us, the idea of "going home" brings eagerness, comfort and joy, whether it be simply after a long day at work or, in some cases, a much longer period of separation. It's good to be home. When we walk up to the door of our house, we anticipate the good things behind it: family and loved ones waiting for us; things familiar to us; a place where we can be most truly ourselves, most truly "at home."

In this Sunday’s passage from Luke’s Gospel (3:1-6), St. John the Baptist features prominently, proclaiming a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  The sacred author reminds us of the words of the prophet Isaiah which he uses to identify John as “a voice crying out in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord” (Isaiah 40:3). John the Baptist is an enigmatic figure in the Gospel.  He is the meeting point between the Old and New Testaments, preparing the way of the Lord as his forerunner and then introducing the world to him.  He is an ascetic Jewish prophet – Jesus referred to him as the “greatest prophet” (Matthew 11:11), indeed the last of the Old Testament prophets.  His greatness derived most importantly because God chose him for a singular purpose in the Scriptures.

The Church year is celebrated with different seasons: Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, Pentecost. This weekend, we begin the Season of Advent: four weeks before Christmas. The two seasons are related but distinct.

The “Christmas Season” in the Catholic Church lasts from Christmas Eve until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and includes Christmas; the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (December 27, 2020); the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (January 1, 2021); the Solemnity of the Epiphany (January 3, 2021); and, finally, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (January 10, 2021).

The word “advent” comes from the Latin term adventus, literally meaning “coming to.”  The four weeks of the season of Advent before Christmas create a unique season of hope-filled preparation for all of us in the Catholic Christian community — although it can easily be missed by society at large as simply an extended, early celebration of Christmas.  True enough, Christ has come, and we should rejoice in his Incarnation every day of our lives.  But Advent gives us all time for a prayerful “retelling” of the story of the “Hope of Israel.”  We prepare ourselves for the commemoration of Christ’s coming in history in Bethlehem, his coming in mystery each day in the Church and the Sacraments, and his coming in majesty at the end of time.

For much of contemporary secular society, Christmas is over for another year. For Catholics and Christians, however, there is “still more to come.” This weekend, January 4-5, the Roman Catholic Church anticipates the Christmas feast of the “Epiphany of the Lord,” traditionally celebrated throughout the Western Christian world on January 6. Known by many other names in a number of different cultures – “Little Christmas,” “Three Kings’ Day,” the “Twelfth Day of Christmas,” “Twelfth Night,” etc. – this feast extends the Christmas season by commemorating the visit of the “magi” or “wise men” to the Christ Child. What is the Feast of the Epiphany all about in the Church?

Sometimes, when we’re all alone, we hear things differently, more clearly than when we’re surrounded by others in a crowded room, in a class, or in an office where the phone keeps ringing and people file in and out. Things sound different when on a busy street, a crowded train or bus, or maybe sitting in traffic that doesn’t seem to move. Sometimes an empty church may be the place where things sound different than they do when preachers preach and choirs sing.

I don’t know how you feel but preparations for Christmas seem to be coming earlier and earlier every year. The leaves haven’t even begun to change color and fall from the trees when evergreens and Christmas lights find their way into malls and department stores.