One of the confusing issues surrounding Advent is when, exactly, it begins. This confusion stems from the fact that the first Sunday of Advent does not occur on a fixed date. Christmas, for example, is always December 25th, regardless of what day of the week that happens to fall on. Advent, by contrast, doesn’t always occur on the same date, but rather a certain number of Sundays before December 25th. So how does the timing of Advent work out?
Advent begins on the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, which is the fixed date of November 30th. So the Sunday closest to November 30th, on either side, starts Advent. Which is a fitting time to begin Advent surrounding Saint Andrew’s Feast Day! For Saint Andrew was a disciple of Saint John the Baptist, the great precursor to the Messiah. And we refer to him as the “protokletos”, that is the first called by Jesus Christ in His public ministry. And he is brother to Saint Peter, in fact he’s the one who introduced Peter to Jesus. He would of course later be called by our Lord as an apostle to preach the Gospel to the nations. And he died a martyrs death crucified upon a cross. A cross he embraced as he cried out, “O good Cross, made beautiful by the body of my Lord! So long desired, so anxiously loved, so unceasingly sought after, and now at last ready for my soul to enjoy! Take me to my Master, that by thee He may receive me, Who by thee redeemed me.” And so as Andrew followed John the Baptist, was the first called by our Lord, introduced his brother Peter to Christ, and preached the Gospel to the nations, dying himself on a cross…so his feast day is fittingly the measuring point for the start of Advent and its preparation for the coming of Christ. What a great saint we have to usher us into the Christmas season!
The above description would be an example of adopting a liturgical mindset during Advent. We so often tend to think of the time around late November as the time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Certainly that’s what marks off the secular calendar for that time of the year. But as Catholics, we should rather see late November liturgically: we should see late November as the celebration of Saint Andrew of November 30th, that great herald of Jesus Christ, and how through his intercession I can be better prepared to welcome Jesus Christ into my own home on Christmas day through my Advent preparation. That’s not to say that we can’t still take advantage of some great shopping deals in late November. But it is to say that we want to always prioritize our understanding of time and life liturgically, revolving around the celebration of the life of Christ in the great prayer of the Church today.
Want to learn more? Join my day of reflection on the saints of the Advent and Christmas seasons – Mary Immaculate, Saint Stephen, and the 3 Magi!
TOMORROW from 9:30am-1:30pm (Denver time)
$30
Video recordings provided
