During Advent the Church emphasizes the two primary ways Jesus enters into the world.
The first way that Jesus came into the world was through his birth on Christmas Day, becoming one of us.
The second way will happen some day in the future, when this present world passes away and Jesus comes again in glory.
Often we forget that there is a third or "hidden" way Jesus comes into our lives.
Jesus' hidden coming
Pope Benedict XVI reflected on this hidden way of Jesus' during an Advent homily in 2006:
Between these two "manifested" comings it is possible to identify a third, which St Bernard calls "intermediate" and "hidden", and which occurs in the souls of believers and, as it were, builds a "bridge" between the first and the last coming.
This third coming is present in the two words, "God comes," and reminds us that God's very being is to "come," as Pope Benedict XVI points out:
Proclaiming that "God comes" is equivalent, therefore, to simply announcing God himself, through one of his essential and qualifying features: his being the God-who-comes.
Advent calls believers to become aware of this truth and to act accordingly. It rings out as a salutary appeal in the days, weeks and months that repeat: Awaken! Remember that God comes! Not yesterday, not tomorrow, but today, now!
We certainly can look forward to Jesus' coming at the end of time, but we can also experience his coming in the present moment.
God is a "God-who-comes" and he does not delay.
What we need to do is open the door of our hearts to let God enter.
