The timelessness of Advent strikes me anew as we approach this holy season. In the cycle of our Church year we touch every other Advent we've ever known, every Advent the Church has known, and even that first long advent humankind shared between the Fall of Man and the Incarnation. Somehow we touch eternity as we enter this season of anticipation, repentance, hope, and joy.
Advent is really threefold in nature, encompassing all time, - past, present, and future.
He who has no limits enclosed himself in human flesh, and embraced all the suffering which this entailed. Our hearts are filled with thanksgiving for this great act of love. . . He showed us that poverty isn't a bad word, and it isn't to be shunned. Saint Francis referred to it as Lady Poverty, and we can learn from him to welcome her, embrace her, and become holy from our friendship with her. Most Christians are aware of the historical aspect of Christmas, but Advent's spiritual dimension in the present can be lost in the many secular distractions which bombard us.