The welcome of Advent
By Keith Joyce
Come, draw near, and enter into the welcome of Advent. Our hearts long to connect with the heart of the Father. From that heart comes the greatest love of all, to remind us, in the fragmentation of our lives, that we do belong to God, that we do matter as his daughter, as his son.
God’s love has drawn near; it has come right into the very fabric of our existence. Our souls give thanks for this love; our hearts respond in worship. Advent anticipates this thankful worship for the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in his birth in Bethlehem. This is God’s gift of his love reaching into our world. May the living reality of Jesus be born afresh in us; may his love once again renew our lives with their stresses and blessings.
This is a powerful love because the One who demonstrates it, in the 
words of the Nicene Creed, is the “one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.” When this is the One we prepare for in Advent we can better appreciate, from Celtic Daily Prayer, “that the door to the stable where the Christ child has been born is very low – only those who kneel find access,” resulting in life-giving preparation of “repentance, humbling and interior ‘housecleaning.’” Such preparation draws us into the love of God and welcomes us into ever-deeper harmony with his heart.
This love also brings hope for the future because Advent further reminds us that Jesus Christ will return in his “second coming.” While the Apostles’ Creed says it will be to “judge the living and the dead” it will also be an expression of the reality of what the Nicene Creed declares: “his kingdom will have no end.” This can lead us to think of our human end, of last things such as death and judgment, Heaven and hell. But it’s always in the context of the loving rule of God’s kingdom, which is permanent and eternal. It is not a passing and momentary thing even though our earthly time is limited. God’s love is permanent and eternal; it can be trusted even when the circumstances of our lives are not perfect.
As we respond to the welcome of Advent, and for all of eternity, let us know deeply the loving heartbeat of the Father through the coming of the Son and poured into our lives by the Holy Spirit.
God bless you and yours this Advent in all the joys and challenges of your lives.
The Very Rev. Keith Joyce is Dean of Fredericton
