Image: Photograph by Nicvandum | Shutterstock
We light the candles, defiantly reminding the darkness that we know it will not be victorious.
We can get bogged down by pessimism in this strange world. We are living through experiences which none of us have ever lived through; each day brings something new. Last year, many celebrated holidays separated from their family due to the pandemic. This year, many may be separated due to gas prices or expenses. Supply chain shortages or threats of new variants of disease have us unsure of what tomorrow will look like. In this time of Advent, we find ourselves waiting – for Christmas, yes – but also perhaps for the next shoe to drop, too.
It can be easy to give in to doomsday predictions, which prey on our feelings of instability. The more we read the news, the more anxiety and stress become our companions.
It helps to read the writings and thoughts of those who have gone before us in different and far more difficult times. That is why I have turned to the writings and sermons of Father Alfred Delp this Advent. Advent was a favorite season of Father Delp, whom I first “met” in the fascinating book, Church of Spies, by Mark Riebling. The work details the Catholic Church’s involvement in plots to overthrow Hitler. Father Delp was a Jesuit priest whom the Nazis arrested and tortured for his association with conspirators. He was martyred on February 2, 1945.
Advent of the Heart is a collection of his Advent homilies preached before his arrest and meditations written while in jail. If he could find hope and meaning in Advent, while living under a murderous regime and writing while handcuffed, we can too.
In 1943, he reminded his flock, “Despite this gloomy time, with a certitude about life and faith, we have set up the Advent wreath, even though no one knows how long it will stand or whether all four of its candles will be lit. The course of the liturgical year and the message continues, and we keep on doing things – but not for the sake of custom and tradition. It comes from a sense of certitude about things and mankind and revelation – things that are fixed and valid in and of themselves. These give mankind the right to light candles and to believe in the light and brightness of existence.”
Even in the gloomiest of days, there is light. Even in the uncertainty, the pain, and the confusion, there is light. Not because there isn’t gloom or suffering. But because the Messiah has come. We have a Savior, and that cannot be taken away from us. We light the candles, defiantly reminding the darkness that we know it will not be victorious.
When we give in to pessimism and anxiety, we reveal that our faith is not in Christ but in this world. If we allow our peace to be taken away by the uncertainty of this time, fear of disease and suffering, or the worries of things beyond our control, we tell the world that we have built our house on sand, not rock.
But when we light the Advent wreath and press into prayer, we proclaim that we believe in a Messiah – and that nothing in this world can take that away from us.
It doesn’t mean there will be an absence of suffering or uncertainty this Advent. Father Delp continues, “Not as if it were granted to us to erase all the gloominess! All the gloom must be gone through and endured. Yet, precisely for that reason, the lights of Advent should shine forth from within as we let ourselves be led to the insight that man is not under a law of imprisonment, enslavement, threats.”
We have a Messiah. And nothing the world tells us, nothing the world does to us, can take that fact away. You have been redeemed. He has rescued you. You have been given something far greater than this world.
This Advent, like last Advent, it will be tempting to look for relief and comfort in worldly things. We will want to escape the news with Hallmark Christmas movies, run away from the uncertainty of the future by decorating for Christmas early, or dispel the gloom with Christmas cookies. And while these things are not bad in and of themselves, they will not dispel the gloom forever.
The true answer is in the Light. If we want to banish the darkness and rid ourselves of anxiety, we must turn to the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We find our peace in Him. Pick up a book of spiritual reading to help put on the mind of Christ. Dispel anxiety by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary. Live in the freedom of the Messiah by returning to the sacrament of Confession. These are the things that will bring you true peace this Advent and Christmas. This is how we will tell the world that we are not under a law of imprisonment, enslavement, or threats.
Do we honestly believe the prophecy of Isaiah 9:2? If we do, are we living it? It is a light that nothing in this world can take away unless we allow it. So even in the gloom, walk in the light.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”
