Never too late

Here is this week's installment, a reflection on the remaining days of the Advent period.  Hope you enjoy it.

Never too late

The hours are slipping by.  In just a few days, it will all be over for another year.  The emphasis in today's liturgy is on the imminence of Christmas, the nearness of Christ's birthday.  'The young woman is with child,' the first reading tells us, 'and shall bear a son' (Is 7:14).  'As Christmas draws near,' says the prayer after Communion, 'make us grow in faith and love to celebrate the coming of our Saviour.'  The Church tells us that Advent is a season of preparation, but I wonder whether we've lost sight of that; and if we have, is there anything we can do to remedy the situation, even at this late date?  I think there is, let me explain:

An aquaintance of mine, a priest from Ireland, tells me that when he was a young boy, he remembers a time when there was a devotion during Advent called the 'four thousand Hail Marys'.  The idea was that every child would pray four thousand Hail Marys during Advent, in preparation for Christmas.  This devotion began on the first Sunday of Advent, and all the neighbourhood children would compete to see how quickly they could finish their prayers.  Four thousand Hail Mary's works out to fifteen decades of the rosary every day.  I'm not sure it would work today, and I'm not sure that those who competed even then were really concerned about prayer; it was more of a competition between peers.  Nevertheless, the idea is there: it's never too late for prayer to be effective.

The commercial world will tell us that there are only four more shopping days 'til Christmas, but what if we responded by telling others that there are only four more praying days left?  The best part is that it's not too late to get started.  Even with just four days left, there's still time to say an Our Father here or a Hail Mary there.  Pray it first thing in the morning, before you get out of bed, or while you're in the midst of the morning ablutions.  Pray it last thing at night, as you fall into bed.  Pray it whenever you can.  When it comes to prayer, it's not so much the quantity that counts as the quality with which it's presented.

What else can we do to prepare for Christmas.  Before I make another suggestion, let me ask a few questions: Did we sing or recite a Gloria in today's Mass? No!  What's the colour of the vestments I'm wearing? Purple!  By leaving out the Gloria during Advent, and by putting on the purple, the Church reminds us that Advent is not only a season of expectation and joy, but a season of penance as well.  That's the message that John the Baptist has been screaming about these past few weeks, 'Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight' (Lk 3:4).  Penance comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.  It can involve fasting, self-denial, sacrificing ourselves for others, giving generously to others, especially the poor, forgiving the hurting and bruising that others inflict upon us.  The essence of Penance though is repentance and conversion, turning away from sin and turning back to God.  I'm sure there isn't one of us who during this past year hasn't turned in some way toward sin.  Very often, our turning isn't a malicious choice, it's simply a human inclination.  We're weak and fragile and prone to evil, but it's because God knows our weakness that Christ left us a special sacrament.  Wouldn't it help us to prepare fully for Christmas if we were to avail ourselves of the Sacrament of Penanace, which is brimming over, full to overflowing with the mercy of God?  Don't let it overflow in vain.