Advent repeats over and over again: “Jesus, our God, is coming!” A recently-spotted bumper sticker said: “Let’s not be content with putting Christ back in Christmas. Let’s also put Christ back in Christians!”
Advent’s invitation for us is to remind people why we have all our lights and celebrations, why we are making all of our preparations for Christmas, why we are looking for all those gifts we are going to give, and why we are praying and waiting.
In Jesus, our God is coming, as a God of power, subduing all things before Him. But it is a very special kind of power. He is like a shepherd feeding His flock, gathering lambs in His arms, holding them against His breast, and leading them into His life. What a beautiful image of our all-powerful God! What tenderness is expressed here!
The loving and tender shepherd is an image which Jesus develops throughout His public life. He calls Himself the Good Shepherd (Matthew 18, 12-14; John 10, 11-18). It will not be a coincidence that the first people to pay Him homage at the stable in Bethlehem will be shepherds. They knew for whom they were looking and they went immediately to share the good news of glad tidings.
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Christmas is a time when many people come back to church, if only for one day. This is a perfect time for them to be reminded that this is the God we believe in, this is the God that we all need to know: our Good Shepherd who will offer His life for our salvation. We all need to hear the words first spoken by our Good and gentle Shepherd: “Come to me all you who are burdened and weighed down, I will give you rest.”
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The Church celebrates the feastday of St. Nicholas today: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-nicholas/
