Advent 2024

The Middle Coming of Christ

Reflection: Dec. 6, 2024

Every year we celebrate the season of Advent and as we do so, we are immediately reminded of the two adventi (i.e., comings or arrivals) of the Incarnate Word of God, namely, His First Coming on Christmas Day and His Second Coming at the Parousia (i.e., at the end of time). This year, however, I would like to invite all of us to keep in mind the middle coming of Jesus Christ.

In his Sermo 5, In Adventu Domini, St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote about it in these terms:

We know that the coming of the Lord is threefold...The first coming was in flesh and weakness, the middle coming is in spirit and power, and the final coming will be in glory and majesty. This middle coming is like a road that leads from the first coming to the last. At the first, Christ was our redemption; at the last, he will become manifest as our life; but in this middle way he is our rest and our consolation. If you think that I am inventing what I am saying about the middle coming, listen to the Lord himself: 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my words, and the Father will love him, and we shall come to him'." [1]

The middle coming then consists in realizing and accepting the Incarnate Word's arrival, not only in a manger more than two thousand years ago or in the clouds at the end of time, but also into our own very lives in the here and now. How can we do that?

A first way is through the reception of the sacraments, especially Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. Our Catholic faith teaches us, on the one hand, that it is through baptism that we are gifted with the indwelling of the Holy Trinity. [2] On the other hand, our faith proclaims, it is in the Holy Eucharist that the indwelling becomes mutual. In other words, Christ dwells in us, believers, and we dwell in Christ. This mutual indwelling leads us to a fuller immersion into Trinitarian life and transforms us collectively into his body (i.e., the church) by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A second way in which Jesus comes into our lives happens through the acknowledgment of our shortcomings, of our need for repentance, penance (especially through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving), and renewal, which helps us become, little by little, more Christ-like.

Repentance, penance, and renewal are intimately connected with our relationship with others, however. For this reason, it is through those relationships with others, especially the poor, that Jesus comes into our lives. This is the middle way in which Jesus comes into our lives and it is, in fact, the bridge between the first and the second comings. As we read in the Gospel of Matthew (25:31-46)¾which is worth reading in full as we begin our Advent season:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’

Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’

And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me no food, I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’

Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’

He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’

And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

So, this Advent season, as we read Sacred Scriptures, light candles in the Advent wreath, pray, and go to confession, let us make sure that we pay closer attention to the way in which we welcome Jesus, the Incarnate Word, in the here and now, in the form of the people with whom we come in touch on a daily basis.

To be sure: let us not reduce our Advent preparation to individual and internal acts of purification. Instead, let us perform acts of charity so that we can become like the baby who laid in a manger as a sign of hope, gave up his life for us on a Cross to save us, and will come again in glory to judge the living and the death.

May our living out of the middle coming become a bridge between our celebration of the first coming of the Incarnate Word on Christmas Day and our celebration of His Second Coming at the end of time when, hopefully, Christ will recognize us as if he were looking at his own image in a mirror, an image filled with faith, hope, and love.

A most blessed Advent season to all!

Sr. Walter Maher, CCVI

VP for Mission and Ministry

[1] 1-3: Opera Omnia, Edit. Cisterc. 4 {1966}, 188-190¾also found in the Roman Office of Readings for Wednesday of the First Week of Advent.

[2] CCC 1265-66; see 1996-2000; 2014; 2021.