There never seems to be enough time for all the things we have to do, or want do. Life can become extremely stressful when we find ourselves in such predicaments. Sometimes we are forced to borrow or steal away some time from something else. With this Sunday’s Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the Advent season will soon be upon us with next week’s First Sunday of Advent. Interestingly enough, this year we will be short on time for the season of Advent. Whereas we tend to think of Advent lasting four weeks, this year’s calendar will only allow for 24 hours (or less depending on local Mass schedules) to observe the Fourth Sunday of Advent. 

Since the Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve will both fall on Sunday December 24 this year, we will only have a couple of hours to switch from Advent to Christmas. Talk about not having enough time to get things done! Like a quick scene change in a play or opera, the church will have to be transformed from an Advent environment into a Christmas environment with lightning speed. The issue of a shortened Advent season though, is much larger than just the constraints put on Christmas decorations. It also means we will all have less time to enter into the Advent season’s practice of waiting and preparation. Might I suggest then a possible work-around that will involve a little borrowing of time?

At a recent Q&A session I had with our 8th graders, a student asked a very thoughtful question. With the upcoming celebration of today’s solemnity, he wanted to know what happens to the rest of the week. He was mindful of our usual liturgical practice of numbering the Sundays in Ordinary time. In essence, he was asking what happens to the 34th Sunday, which would be the natural continuation from last week’s 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. I explained that while the 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time, is always superseded by the solemnity of Christ the King, the rest of the week is still observed as the 34th Week in Ordinary Time. So there is a Monday in the 34th Week in Ordinary Time, as well as a Tuesday in the 34th Week in Ordinary time, and so on. I also pointed out that we have a similar thing happen with the seasons of Lent and Easter superseding the weeks of Ordinary Time. So, from year to year, the liturgical calendar is always being adjusted.

My suggestion for a possible work-around for this year’s shortened Advent season is to borrow some time from the 34th Week in Ordinary Time to start the Advent season a little earlier. If stores are always starting Christmas early, why can’t we start the Advent season earlier by a few days? Mind you, there is no theological basis for this practice. Our liturgical year will still officially begin next Sunday, and not sooner, with the First Sunday of Advent. But, in terms of our own spiritual observance of Advent, there is nothing getting in the way of entering into the spirit of the season a little early. 

The goal though is not to have more time to shop for presents, or for getting the house ready with decorations. Most of those activities have already started in earnest weeks ago. No, the borrowing of time that I am suggesting, is meant to create a larger spiritual space in our hearts and minds for prayer, for meditation on the mystery of the Word taking on human flesh, and for searching for the presence of Christ in all the ways Christ comes to us, as we hear in today’s gospel: he comes to us in the forgotten and marginalized people of our world.

The Advent season always has two foci; our preparation for the return of Christ, as he promised he would do, and our preparation for our celebration of Christmas. Admittedly, we tend to do the latter really well, and the former not so much. Matthew’s gospel for the Solemnity of Christ the King, makes very clear what our preparation for Christ’s return should look like. Honestly then, we’ll need as much time possible to get things done!

It's coming back! Baby Bulldogs will be back in January. Registration forms will be available after Thanksgiving.  HOWEVER, there will be a free Christmas Baby Bulldogs Special Edition. Tell your friends and neighbors to come join us on Thursday, December 7 from 9:20am-10:05am in the gym. No registration is necessary for this day.  This is a great opportunity to try out Baby Bulldogs and have some great fun with your infants and toddlers and their caregivers. 

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