Advent with the Saints

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT 2024 

Dear Holy Cross College Community, 

On this first Sunday of Advent, we welcome you to join us as we journey together through this holy season of hope. Each day until December 24, you will receive a daily Advent reflection as an email. They are written by members of our faculty, staff, students, and friends of the College offering their thoughts, memories, and hopes in preparation for the great feast of the Incarnation, the birth of Jesus.  Our Hope is Real reflections are like an Advent retreat. It is a time each day to pause, to read, and pray as a community. This year, we are using the Sunday gospel reading as a source for the reflections. The scripture passage below comes from Luke 21:25-28, 34-36.  

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand… Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from…the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap (Luke 21:28). 

The first Sunday of Advent traditionally begins with the words of Jesus focusing on the promise of salvation while at the same time, reminding us that we can easily become so distracted by what troubles our daily lives that our minds become clouded with doubt, and hearts filled with anxiety and fear. All too often, it is difficult to see beyond the present moment.  But today, we hear Jesus reassure us, as he did his own disciples, to look beyond the disturbing events and frightening anticipation of the future that can fill our hearts and once again to trust in the magnitude of God’s mercy and compassion that will heal us.   

As we begin the liturgical year, this is the promise of Advent. In this season, we are invited to enter the vision of God’s glory that is revealed in our Christian story.  It starts with the promise of the Messian coming into glory in this first week and continues to unfold with events leading to his birth.  Advent is a season of anticipation clothed in a hope that is wrapped in the light of the candles of an Advent wreath. The first candle is hope’s light that breaks into our darkness of the loneliness in our winter hearts, longing to see more clearly what God has promised us through his Son. Each week, the darkness gives way to more and more light as each week, another candle joins the others until all are luminated by the fourth Sunday of Advent.  It is then that we basked in the light of this great mystery of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh, God among us.  

At the beginning of this Advent, I am reminded of the words of Thomas Merton, “you do not need to know precisely what is happening or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope.”  In the lighting of the Advent candles, we hold this mystery close to our hearts and rejoice, “Hope is Real.”  

Dianne Barlas, 

Vice President of Mission and Ministry  

Hope is Real Reflection

Dr. Kevin Myers, Director of Campus Ministry

“I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free, his eye is on the sparrow, and I know he’s watching me.” (His Eye Is On The Sparrow, C.D. Martin, lyrics and C.H. Gabriel, music)

Hope is real, but so is anxiety. It is something that attacks all of us, some in deep and dark ways, others in small nagging ways – either way, it attacks all of us. In my own life, I have let the anxieties of daily life affect my prayer life, my personal relationships with others, and even brought me to deep bouts of depression that I never thought I would rid myself of. It was in those moments that I always asked the question, “Why me, Lord?” The lyrics I referenced above are from an early 1900s hymn that speak of the comfort of knowing that the one who created us is always here for us. We don’t need to do anything to receive the grace and mercy of our Father in heaven. Knowing that Jesus is our redeemer gives us reason to sing and reason to proclaim our freedom from sin to all we encounter. All darkness that we face is eliminated by His radiant light.

When Jesus says in Luke’s gospel that we will see the Son of Man coming in great power and glory, it is not to frighten us into living virtuous lives and catching us when we are living contrary to His love, rather it is quite the opposite. He is calling us to feel comforted and free. Free from the corruption of sin, free from the fear of death, free from all anxiety. He wants us to remain alert for the sureness of his return – not the “what if?” of his return. Nothing in life is more comforting than that fact, that our creator who redeemed us by his cross and resurrection will return in glory and power where anxiety won’t even be a memory. So sing my friends and be joyful, for the Lord who created you and loves you has not forgotten you, will never abandon you, and will always watch over you. In this we can say, thanks be to God. Hope is real.

The Gospel from the First Sunday of Advent presents a simple and yet profound invitation. Luke, the author of the Gospel, encourages us not to let our hearts droop or to grow anxious because we have the hope that we will see Christ (Luke 21:27-28, 34). At first glance, it seems that Luke has contradicted himself. After all, we currently do not see Christ as he has ascended to the heavens. And yet, Christ did not leave us without hope, since he continues to dwell among his people as he did at Bethlehem through Mass. 

I am called to go to daily Mass, perhaps the greatest privilege of my life as a religious brother. Every day, I am asked to go to the place where God makes himself fully known on Earth and receive his unconditional love. We are anxious about so many things in this life, especially at this time of year. So many expectations are thrown upon us during the holidays. We also strive to be the “best” at our jobs and “competent.” Sometimes we are tempted by some form of prestige, thinking that this will bring us fulfillment; it is a lie. When I am at daily Mass and truly paying attention, the truth is that I have no anxiety. I see Christ in the body and blood of the Eucharist, and I am touched by his love, becoming reminded that I am simply a child of God. I am called to love all as God loves them and pray that all will be touched by the love of Christ’s Sacred Heart. God dwells among his people every day in the Mass, and no matter how I am feeling, I can be filled with joy, because Christ wants me to be holy and not possess the “best” resume. 

The Mass is at the center of Advent, and must be at the heart of Holy Cross College, because God so loved that the world that he dwelt among us in a little stable at Bethlehem. 

 — Brother Robert McFadden, CSC, Associate Professor of Theology 

I would be lying to say that I do not struggle through advent and the over-commercialization that happens every year. I am the person that will play Christmas music way earlier than everyone else and plan in October what I’m going to be making when I host my family for Christmas Eve. However, since becoming Catholic in 2020 each year I try a little harder to focus on the coming of Jesus.

In my first year, I attended Taize prayer at my local parish. It was a beautiful time to reflect and celebrate. I’ve continued this each year. In my third year, my husband and I committed every Sunday to light our advent wreath together and read the Sunday readings, and have a meal at the dinner table. This is extremely hard for us as most nights we have something taking our attention away, a sporting event or a television show we are watching together. This simple act and commitment made us come together as a family and celebrate each week and prepare for what was to come.  

I am not a perfect Catholic, but each year, adding a new way to prepare and reflecting on the actual meaning of Advent and Christmas helps me better prepare for the birth of our Lord.  

Samantha Derksen 

Director of Admissions