Advent: The Mystery of Jesus Coming Now, Today

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Advent readings at Mass focus us on the coming of Jesus in Majesty at the end of time, while Christmas decorations recall his coming in History in Bethlehem, but his third coming that we commemorate during Advent is his coming in Mystery. This coming gets pushed aside. Let’s think about it, for it is the coming that most personally impacts us. Jesus comes to us mysteriously through the kindness of strangers. On Thanksgiving a newspaper appeared on lawns all down my street, but I didn’t get one. I even went out and checked behind the large maple on my tree lawn. I called the publisher and a recording informed me that I hadn’t ordered this special edition. Later, when I went out to Mass, there was a newspaper propped against my back door. When I returned from Mass, there was another paper at my front door. I can only guess that neighbors saw me looking for paper and generously gave me theirs. This thought made me feel warm and cozy all day long. That afternoon I prepared and shared a Thanksgiving meal with a woman down the street who I knew would be alone that day. So Jesus came to her through me. Now isn’t this the point of Tolstoy’s story “Martin the Cobbler”? Click to continue

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