Today, we begin the season of Advent to prepare for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord. This year, I would like to share a series of updated meditations that I wrote during Advent 2020 as a kind of “spiritual retreat” for this liturgical season.
At that time, the Coronavirus crisis had erupted. It was said that all of humanity was in danger and that everyone had to be vaccinated multiple times to avoid catastrophe. The pharmaceutical industry, politics, the media, and even the Church were all rowing in the same direction. The latter insisted that vaccination was an act of charity toward one’s neighbor.
Moral objections were ignored. Those who did not want to be vaccinated were marginalized and many of them lost their jobs. Scientists who warned about the vaccine were discredited. Many publications that did not follow the official narrative were censored on YouTube. I experienced this firsthand when I questioned the vaccine, both for moral and obvious medical reasons. Churches were closed, and even in the woods, outdoors, people wore masks to protect themselves and others from infection. A bizarre scenario!
Currently, here and there, people are questioning the measures taken. The vaccines have caused and continue to cause too many side effects. If people opened their eyes, they would recognize that it was a great deception. But only a few are willing to see it; most do not want to know. This also applies—and especially so—to the ecclesiastical sphere. Only a few bishops offered resistance and properly guided the faithful (and we are grateful for each of them). The rest had lost their way.
Rereading this meditation from 2020, I once again see this great deception before my eyes. What was particularly painful was that the Catholic Church, at the official level, misguided the faithful. The spirit of discernment was lacking. Unfortunately, this lack of discernment has now become characteristic of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, which adapts to the world and thus becomes a heavy burden for the faithful who want to remain faithful to the Lord and the Church’s traditional doctrine throughout the centuries.
For example, when we hear the new Archbishop of Krakow say that he cannot imagine any other Church than the one Pope Francis has taught us and see that Leo XIV is following this path, we know to whom we must turn.
Against this backdrop, I would like to offer this series of Advent meditations once more, enriched with beautiful songs. Without allowing ourselves to be disturbed by the aforementioned turmoil, we must enter this holy season of Advent and await the coming of the Lord joyfully. He is faithful and invites us to follow Him.
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away,” Jesus, the Redeemer of humanity, tells us (Mt 24:35). Therefore, it is important to take advantage of this Advent season, particularly in these times, to deepen our relationship with God. Only in Him do we find true security for our lives, both temporal and eternal! “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help” the psalmist exclaims (Psalm 146:3). These words are clearly being fulfilled before our eyes!
As we delve deeper into God’s work, which spans all time, we can remember and realize that we are safe in His hands, no matter what happens. We are called to offer our hearts as a dwelling place for the living God. A moving German Christmas carol says it well: “A little child is born to us in Bethlehem. I want to give Him my heart and everything I have.”
If we take advantage of this time to internalize the Word of God and follow the path of the Lord, the Star of Bethlehem will also shine on our lives, even in the midst of this world’s darkness, and faith will become a sure beacon in the growing anti-Christian confusion. This is not only for our benefit, but also so that we may be a light for others who wander in darkness and seek the way. These apocalyptic times are even more difficult for them than for the faithful. However, precisely these times also constitute an opportunity to awaken from delusion and seriously embark on the search for God. This requires the prayer and witness of all of us!
In this sense, we unite with the Lord, firmly trusting that this will be a time of special grace, in which He Himself will prepare us, day by day, to better understand the mysteries of His love. May the Mother of God accompany us on this journey!
Meditation on the day’s reading: https://en.elijamission.net/be-prepared-for-the-return-of-christ/