If one were to sum up the message of the Advent season in one word, what might that word be? That question might seem difficult to answer. That word would need to capture the Scripture readings of the Old Testament that are given us each day in the Mass that over hundreds of years summarized human sinfulness and the coming of God as a promised remedy. 

 

That word should reflect the importance of the main characters found in the drama recounted by the New Testament before the birth of Christ. That would include Zechariah, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, Mary and Joseph. It should include the call to conversion that led so many to go out into the desert and receive the baptism of John prior to the ministry of Jesus.

 

I would suggest that all of these and many other Advent stories and prophecies all point to one central concept. That is summed up by the word “hope.” Advent should revive and strengthen our Christian hope and, in fact, the hope of the whole world. And that stands in contrast to our modern world that increasingly seeks to live without hope.

 

Our hope of course is not simply wishful thinking. It is not the kind of hope exhibited by one who purchases a number of lottery tickets and then with crossed fingers awaits the publication of the winning numbers. Our Advent hope has a different and better foundation than a million-to-one chance. 

 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines hope as making our desire for the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness. It involves trusting the promises of Christ. And hope recognizes that it has been placed in the heart of every human person by God. (CCC 1817-1818).

 

In short, God has made hope a part of our human nature. In faith, we recognize that hope is not our human creation, but it truly comes from God.

 

In the season of Advent, the Church recalls to us that the human race went from the happiness of the Garden of Eden and our original creation to the wretchedness of our sinful condition following original sin. But God did not abandon us to that despair. Instead, He promised a savior and the hope of a new beginning for the human race.

 

Because God led the people of Israel to the Promised Land and revealed Himself to them, hope was restored. Because God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son to be born in Bethlehem, we have the completion of God’s promise. 

 

Our modern world is walking a different path. For hundreds of years a dominant line of thinking has grown and focused on the powers and accomplishments of the human race. It seeks a world whose happiness is here and now. We are told, under this scenario, that we do not need God. 

 

The advance of science and the related distraction from our spiritual and personal unrest given by our material progress tempt us to avoid stopping and thinking. Where did I come from? Where I am I to go after death? What is truly good? Why is my happiness in this world always short-term? Always coming to an end?

 

We live in a time when there seems to be constant anger among people. There is a never-ending search for the next crisis, the next offense to be taken, the next demand that someone apologize or resign. Increasingly, our young people are not given the family and marriage as a model or path to follow. We take the lives of our young in the womb and the elderly through assisted suicide.

 

Even without recognizing or intending it, these are all signs of living without God and therefore without the only path to hope.

 

This Advent season should be a joy for us. It reminds us of hope. It calls us to live faithfully, morally and simply. We learn from the Holy Family and the simple birth in a stable. We admire the purity and selflessness of the Virgin who said yes to God.

 

Advent is the season of hope. And as we look around, we realize how much we need it.