I’m Waiting for Two Babies This Advent!

By Fr Joshan Rodrigues –

Every Advent season, we are reminded that it is a season of ‘waiting’, of hopeful anticipation of the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. But how many of us really feel this ‘waiting’? How many of us really feel the excitement of the arrival of Christmas Day? Well, let me be more specific. Everyone’s usually excited for Christmas but quite often for reasons other than spiritual. We’re excited for the holidays, for the time we can spend with friends and family, for Weddings, Baptisms and First Holy Communions…it’s a festive season of fun, food and frolic.

I remember a little child asking me in the parish, “Every year Father says Jesus is coming. When is he actually going to come?” Wise words which capture our spiritual state of mind. I must be honest that all these years, even as a priest, I’ve intellectually known the significance of the Advent season, but probably never really had the real ‘feeling’ of expecting the baby Jesus. I’m looking forward to Christmas day, not to the coming of Jesus, because my mind says that he will probably not really and actually come. But all that changed this time around, when during my annual retreat last week, I suddenly realised what it truly meant and felt like. And the reason is that in my family, we are expecting the birth of a child. My brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first child soon.

As you can fathom, everyone is more than excited, not just the parents-to-be. His and her parents, cousins, extended family and friends, everyone is ‘waiting’ with bated breath to behold the new baby. As for myself, I can hardly control my emotions, knowing that I will be an uncle soon. Let’s be honest, for a priest, his nephews and nieces are like his own children. I can hardly wait for the day when I see the face of my nephew or niece for the very first time, and hold him/her in my arms. That’s what Advent is all about!

Isn’t this what Mary and Joseph probably felt when they lived out the very first ‘Advent’ waiting for the birth of the child? And to add to it, Mary and Joseph knew beforehand that this child was going to be more than special. Imagine their excitement and hope! And hence in a certain way, every husband and wife experiences this advent, when they are waiting for the birth of their child. Most of us have had this Advent experience.

So this Advent, I am waiting for not one but two babies! The baby Jesus came once and for all 2000 years ago and I do not know how his face looked like, but I have something close enough. When I see the face of my little nephew/niece, I will see the face of God, because she has just come from God and has been made in His own image and likeness. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby captured this perfectly on Twitter: ” Advent is listening to what can barely be heard – the sound of the heartbeat of an unborn child.”

In fact, there are three ‘Advents’ or ‘comings‘. The first took place 2000 years ago when Jesus came for the first time. The second arrival will take place at the end of time, when the Lord Jesus will come in glory to judge the living and the dead and carry us into His eternal dwelling place. And the ‘third’ advent is his continuous coming right through time. He was, He is and He will come again. This is the advent that we experience. In fact, the Church is always in a perpetual state of Advent, because we are waiting for the day when Christ will come again. We are in one long Advent season! Imagine being at the North Pole where the sun doesn’t set for months at a stretch. The sun is always present. Jesus is always with us.

So why do we need a special season for Advent in the liturgical calendar? Why the wreath, the candles, the special antiphons, the rituals? Of course, Jesus has already come, but we forget what that feels like, and the Advent season is there to remind us of this fact. At the first, second, third birthday of their child, the parents are reminded of what it actually felt like when their child was born. Every wedding anniversary, husband and wife are reminded of what it felt like when they first fell in love. We get so busy in our daily lives – rushing to work, looking after home and family, paying the bills, meeting deadlines – that we forget that Jesus is with us. The season of Advent is there to remind us that Jesus came, he is with us every moment of our lives and that he will come again one day. That is what gives meaning to our lives. That is why we run about doing what we do. Our entire life is an ‘advent’ preparation for the day when we will meet the Lord face-to-face.

So let’s come to gifts! This is something that makes the Christmas season all the more special for us, the excitement of receiving a gift. The wise men brought Jesus precious gifts. So what do I give Jesus this Christmas? My recommendation? A clean and spotless heart! Go for confession.

Frequenting the Sacrament of Confession is becoming less and less important for many people. This is borne out by ever-shrinking lines before the confessional. There may be many reasons why we may not be going to confess our sins, but there is an even greater reason why we must! Because God dwells amongst us, He dwells within me and that is why my heart and soul must be clean. Don’t we regularly clean our homes, more so when we are expecting guests? But I’m sure we all know that we must go, what is missing is the courage or motivation.

I’ve said it a couple of years ago on a Facebook post: going for confession has never been an easy experience even for me. It takes courage, it takes will. The devil is always discouraging us from doing it. What do I tell the priest? How do I tell him? What will he think of me? What will he say? I’ll probably commit the same sins again, so what’s the point of it all? These are all questions that cross our mind. But in the confessional, Jesus waits for me, not to judge me, but to listen to me, to talk to me, to just have a chat. He’s delighted that you’ve come. Talking about our personal lives with the priest has many benefits for our daily lives. It’s like a fitbit that keeps track of our health and exercise progress. Confession is a spiritual fitbit.

No matter what you feel before you go, I will say with confidence that once you do it, you will feel joy and your heart will feel light. You will be happy that you did it. Remember, that on the other side sits a man who is also a sinner. But Jesus listens through him. Anthony De Mello once asked, “What is the difference between a sinner and a saint?” Smiling, he responded, “None! They are both sinners; it’s just that the saint knows it.” So the best gift you can give Jesus this Christmas is going for confession. And it costs nothing! It’s free!

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Fr Joshan Rodrigues is from the Archdiocese of Bombay, India. He is currently studying Institutional and Church Communications at the Pontifical Holy Cross University in Rome. Travelling, reading and social media are his passions. His drive is to make Church teaching more accessible to younger audiences and he holds G.K. Chesterton, Bishop Robert Barron and the Venerable Fulton Sheen among his role models for this task. He analyses different aspects of daily Christian life and culture through catholic lenses in his blog, Musings in Catholic Land.