Let us open this season of Advent with the rich sound of Johann Sebastian Bach. Wachet auf is a Lutheran hymn. It was first published in 1599. The hymn has appeared in multiple German and English hymnals. The most famous arrangements is the cantata played by the brass ensemble in the video below.  Originally written for the final Sunday before Advent, the hymn evokes the virgins to awake and meet the Bridegroom! A very appropriate theme for Advent.

There is a special word that fills the season of Advent for me. The word is hygge.

Hygge is an old Danish word that evokes comfort. This word evokes being home, sitting next to a fireplace with your cozy socks and peppermint mocha. Hygge gives this idea of slowing down the fast-paced life, and connecting to the most essential thing of life: relationships. It is recognizing a moment of being grounded, seeing people with our hearts, consciously aware of the other.

This is the lens in which we should approach Advent. Advent is about relationships, connecting with God through other people. Preparing ourselves to indulge and delight on the great feast of the Incarnation.

Using your imagination, can you feel this sense hygge in Saint Paul? On this First Sunday of Advent, Paul says:

Brothers and sisters: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you,  so as to strengthen your hearts,  to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father  at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones.  

We are to abound in love by resharpening our busy lives. This sets us up for the season of Advent, which is a season focused on the coming of Christ.

Three Comings of Christ

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux speaks on the coming of Christ at Christmas. We know that Christ comes to us in history, mystery, and majesty. A thousand years ago, Bernard introduced this concept. Bernard eloquently stated,

In the first coming he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; he himself testifies that they saw him and hated him. In the final coming all flesh will see the salvation of our God, and they will look on him whom they pierced. The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. In his first coming our Lord came in our flesh and in our weakness; in this middle coming he comes in spirit and in power; in the final coming he will be seen in glory and majesty.

We see him now in mystery through the sacraments celebrated. Whenever we gather for the liturgical celebration we celebrate his active coming to us!

In the same homily, Bernard says,

“Because this coming lies between the other two, it is like a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last. In the first, Christ was our redemption; in the last, he will appear as our life; in this middle coming, he is our rest and consolation.”

Jesus is our journey. He is our road to everlasting life. The last phrase is magnificent. He is our rest and consolation.

Find Jesus in your rest and consolation. Find his presence by being together in meaningful ways. It is coming home for the holidays!

In these cold winter months, what gives warmth to the heart is relationships. It is in our hearts where Christ is born again. Here are two quotes to hold us in contemplation as we embark on this season:

“It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.”—Pope Benedict XVI’s Seek That Which is Above

“In the silence of a midwinter dusk, there is a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen. You are aware of the beating of your heart. The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.” —Frederick Buechner

Happy Advent everyone!