2nd Week of Advent Message from Fr. Thomas

Advent is the period when we prepare to celebrate the coming of Christ among us two millennia ago, but we also believe that he is coming among us now and so we have to be prepared to receive him, and we know that he will come again at the end of time and we have to prepare the world for his coming.

"When God was making trees, He gave a gift to each species. But first, he set up a contest to determine which gift would be most useful to whom. he said to them, "I want you to stay awake and keep watch over the earth for seven nights." The trees were very excited to be trusted with such an important task. The first night they would have found it difficult not to stay awake.  However, the second night was not so easy, and just before dawn, a few fell asleep. On the third night, the trees whispered among themselves in an effort to keep from drooping off to sleep. Even so, it proved too much for some of them. Still more fell asleep on the fourth night. By the time the seventh night arrived the only trees awake were the cedar, the pine, the spruce, the fir, the holly, and the laurel. God looked at this little group of trees and said, "What wonderful endurance you have! You will be given the gift of remaining green forever. You will be the guardians of the forest. Even in the seeming dead of winter, your brother and sister trees will find life protected in your branches." Ever since then all the trees and plants shed their leaves and sleep all winter long, but the evergreens stay awake."

This story by John Shea illustrates the two major themes of Advent:  wakefulness in the midst of sleepiness, and greenness in the midst of barrenness. The evergreens show us what our role as Christians is. It is to be awake among the sleeping, to be green in the midst of the barren. We are called to be evergreen followers of Christ. This means to be active, watchful, and become faithful disciples in this advent season.