Where Advent Leads

Let’s go back and think of all the repercussions of the sin of Adam. There isn’t an Arab; there isn’t an American;  there isn’t a European; there isn’t an Asiatic in the world who does not feel within himself something of the complexes, the contradictions, the contrarieties, the civil wars, the rebellions inside of his human nature which he has inherited from Adam. We all struggle against temptation. Why? Simply because our human nature was disordered in the beginning. There is a terrific monotony about human nature. You must not think that you are the only one in the world who has a tortured soul. Now if the sin of Adam has had so many repercussions in every human being that has ever lived, shall we deny that the Incarnation of our Blessed Lord has had a greater repercussion? Can it be that the sin of one man can have greater effects and disorder in human nature than the Incarnation of the Son of God has in ordering all humanity? That is why I say that everybody in the world is implicitly Christian. Some may not become Christians, but that is not the fault of Christ. He took their humanity upon himself. – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Advent is a time of waiting. Waiting for a promise to be fulfilled. A promise that God would again make all things right between Himself and Man. The Creator would be reconciled with His creatures. Through Christ we all become adopted sons and daughters of God the Father. And thereby are heirs of all that His love has had in store for us from all eternity. The first man said no to God and broke their relationship. Through the Incarnation man has been given the opportunity to renew that relationship by saying yes to Christ.

All who come to Christ are reconnected with God. And all are changed, because in coming to Him all must be changed. When the wise men came to pay homage to Christ they did not return by the way they came, for fear that Herod would know the Christ child’s whereabouts and seek do Him harm. In another sense, all who come to Christ with a contrite heart, will likewise, not return by the way they came. They cannot return to their lives which once belonged to the world, because their lives must now belong to Christ. One cannot stand in two camps. One must decide one way or the other. One can choose to remain a worldly sinner or become a saint. For all who one day enter heaven are exactly that; saints.

So this is where Advent leads. To a crib in which nestles the key that frees weary men and women from souls enslaved by sin, and restores peace to uncertain anxious hearts that the world cannot. The key which will soon re-open the gates of heaven to all who believe in Him.