Often when we think of Jesus coming again, we imagine a glorious trumpet announcing his arrival. We expect to look up in the sky and see Jesus coming down with all the angels in Heaven through the clouds.
While that certainly could happen in the future, we don’t usually remember that Jesus comes again, but not in the way we expect.
Pope Benedict XVI explains this “second coming” in a homily he gave during the First Vespers of Advent.
There is not only the final coming at the end of time: in a certain sense the Lord always wants to come through us. And he knocks at the door of our hearts: are you willing to give me your flesh, your time, your life?
Jesus wants to come again into our world, but through us!
This is the voice of the Lord who also wants to enter our epoch, he wants to enter human life through us. He also seeks a living dwelling place in our personal lives. This is the coming of the Lord. Let us once again learn this in the season of Advent: the Lord can also come among us.
In a certain sense, the more Jesus can dwell in each individual heart, the more his presence can be felt throughout the world. We too easily forget this aspect of Jesus’ presence in the world, working exclusively on the external, while neglecting the internal.
This Advent, stop for a moment and imagine Jesus knocking at the door of your heart.
Will you open it to him?
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And today we celebrate...