Advent Lifestyle: Listening to the Word and Acting on It

December 1, Thursday of the 1st Week of Advent
Daily readings: Isaiah 26:1–6, Matthew 7:21–24:27

How are we to prepare for the Lord’s coming? How do we become "Advent Christians"? Jesus tells us in today's gospel to "listen to his words and put them into practice" (V. 21). Mary is the best example of Advent because she waited, listened, received, carried, and shared the Lord's Word with the world.

Similarly, we are reminded by the gospel today that while listening to the Word of God, we receive "God the Word" into our hearts, and we give Him to the world when we put them into practice.

An advent Christian is like a wise man who built his house on solid rock; he builds his Christian life on the rock of Christ and his life-giving words. A Christian who builds his Christian life on the sands of his own beliefs, strengths, knowledge, and promises cannot be an Advent Christian.

Pope Paul VI, in his apostolic exhortation Evangeli Nuntiandi, reminds us that "modern men listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers; even if they listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses." The life of an advent Christian is a life of "integrity" against the dichotomy that "modern men listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers; even if they listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses." A life of "integrity against dichotomy" and "authenticity against hypocrisy" is the life of an Advent Christian.

When an Advent Christian combines prayer and action, he or she turns "knowledge into action," "theory into practice," and "theology into theophany," which means "God's experience." Amen.