When I was writing my series in the bulletin on the Mass, one of the things I tried to encourage us to do is to reflect not just on the power of the Word of God in the readings at Mass, but also to consider the other prayers of the Mass as fruitful material for our mediation. In that regard, I find the prayers that the Church offers to us during the Advent season to be particularly beautiful and worth our attention. In the final days leading up to Christmas, the Church has us use a special Advent Preface, which takes place after the Offertory, and before entering the Eucharistic Prayer. I would like to share a part of that prayer and offer a few thoughts, which I hope can be helpful to us in these final days before Christmas. After the normal introduction found in every Preface, we hear the following:
For all the oracles of the prophets foretold him,
the Virgin Mother longed for him
with love beyond all telling,
John the Baptist sang of his coming
and proclaimed his presence when he came.It is by his gift that already we rejoice
at the mystery of his Nativity,
so that he may find us watchful in prayer
and exultant in his praise.
As we read these words, perhaps we can do a sort of final examination of ourselves to see how prepared we are for Christmas, spiritually that is! Can we say that, as we are in these final days, that our hearts are longing for Him “with love beyond all telling” as was the case with Mary? Or, have we exhausted ourselves with Christmas preparations and parties that we are actually just looking forward to getting past Christmas? Are our hearts longing more for the gifts we hope to receive than to receive Him, who is our greatest gift, in the Eucharist?
Consider how St. John the Baptist sang of His coming. Have we planned for which Christmas Mass that are going to attend, and are we resolved to rejoice at the birth of our Savior, singing of His coming through our full, conscious, and active participation in the liturgy? It always saddens me a little bit when I see the many dreary faces at Mass, as though coming to Mass is somehow an imposition and a burden, something to just get out of the way. Our hearts should be flooded with joy, and it should be seen in the eagerness with which we participate in Mass.
Finally, can it be said of us that we have taken time this Advent to be “watchful in prayer”? Or, have we let ourselves be consumed with so many other things? If we have not been as watchful as we would like, we might think that we have missed the chance to prepare our hearts to welcome Christ fully at Christmas. But the good news is that it is not too late! Even if we start now, intentionally dedicating 15-30 minutes to silent prayer, free of distractions, we will be doing ourselves a great service. We can ask Mary to help us to long for Her Son with that love beyond all telling. We can ask St. John the Baptist to intercede for us, that we might have the joy he had at the coming of the Messiah.
Time is running out, the Lord is coming soon! May these final hours be a time during which we set aside some time for silence so that, when Christmas finally comes, the Lord will find us “watchful in prayer” and ready to celebrate with joy the memorial of His birth.
Father Alford