What Is The Meaning Of Purple In Advent?

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As Cardinal John Henry Newman said some hundred years ago, Christ anticipated that as time passes we would tend to neglect him and so he reminded us of his Second Coming.   This time he will come much more suddenly so we need to watch for it.

The meaning of the command to watch is not so obvious.  We understand very well what it means to believe, to love and to obey, but to watch may not be so understandable.  The ten virgins we heard about a few weeks ago were all called to watch, only five did so.  Jesus says, Peter, could you not watch for one hour?  St. Paul tells us to watch and be sober!

So what does it mean to watch?  You may have a friend who is delayed in coming and you are so anxious that you check the phone and emails constantly.  Or you might be with some unpleasant company and you are watching the clock for an opportunity to leave without embarrassing yourself.  Or there may be an important event that may or may not happen soon and you are looking for clues as to what will happen.  Or with your spouse or friend you are watching with your eyes and senses to see how the other person is or what mood they are in.

To watch for Christ is like this.  To be awake, alive, quick to notice, zealous to find him, and to look out for him in all that you do.  A Christian is looking to the future and also reflects about what Christ has done now.  He is not a dreamer.  When you generously pick up your cross on a particular day you might think of Christ who bore his with great generosity.  Are you carrying in yourself the dying of Christ?

To watch is to be detached from our present situation without being neglectful, and to live for what we do not see.  There is a great desire for this coming of Christ and it stems from our gratitude and remembrance of his first coming.

There are many Catholics today who love God, but they also love the world and loath to leave it.  They are virtuous, disciplined, good people but they don’t watch.  At some point they will hear, Behold!!  The Bridegroom is here!  Will they be ready, do will they need more time?  Do they have enough oil?

In Advent the priest wears purple and the altar may have a purple cloth.  Why do we do this?  The Jewish High Priest on the day of Yom Kippur would wear a purple cloak.  This was and still is the greatest day of repentance for Jews.  A king would wear purple which was a very expensive garment that took a lot of shellfish to dye the cloth this color that would not fade in the sun.  Christ in the garden was ridiculed as a king when they put the purple cloth over his shoulders, and crowned him with thorns.  The color purple can remind us of these things: we are kings and we need to watch for the true King. Denying ourselves will help us to wait for him.

We always seem to put things before Christ.  So in Advent is a time to put Christ first.  It is a time to put him ahead of sleep or relaxation; also to live Advent in some way within the family.  It could be to watch more religious programs rather than secular shows; to say a family rosary or prayer.

When St. Paul was in jail for several years before his death he was very joyful.  Even in this pandemic we can rejoice and use our time well to be with Christ.  In Japan and other countries Catholics went without priests and the Eucharist for decades and yet during that suffering their faith became stronger.  Let us use well the Eucharist we receive hopefully often and ask the Lord for wisdom to watch for him during this Advent.

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