The War on Advent | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The focus on sin in Advent is a time to encourage Confession - however we should be focusing on sin all the time - not because of a fear of damnation but rather because it makes our lives or those of others miserable (and if it does not, it is not a sin).
My favorite Advent Hymn is O Come, O Come Emmanuel. While Israel (the real one, not the Zionist state - also known as the Northern Kingdom) is no longer captive, we are exiled. Most of us have assimilated and become Catholic - however some Romani are still in their camps, trying to do what they must to survive and meeting persecution for it rather than being welcomed in Christ. Now that is sinful.
The Christmas story did not actually happen in December. It took place in Spring, when the flocks would be in the field at night. In December, it is too cold, even in Palestine, to be out at night with sheep. The reason it is not celebrated in April is that it would be on the heels of Easter and the reincarnation metaphors are a bit too close for comfort.
The most significant part is not the Parousia (which may be personal rather than a historical event), but what it says about the Lord and how he saw His Mother as the first proclaimer of the Gospel to Him. "She kept all these things and treasured them in her heart" is code for she told Jesus that he was the Son of God. That would later prove fateful when Jesus was meeting His end and told her that he was dead and that John should take care of her. She could likely not look at him in her grief. Even if she did, it shattered his idea of who he is - as did telling John to take care of his grandmother (which the Prostants did get right - Mary Salome was Zebedee's wife and Mary's daughter) rather than baptize all nations. This led him to call out to God in anquish, thus securing our salvation for us (with God experiencing what sinners feel - apartness). Without the Christmas narrative, this does not make sense.
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