“Man has a sort of advent structure, inasmuch as waiting is a deeply rooted aspect of his nature”

Let us listen to God's word; thanks to the liturgical reform, we can savor its full richness. We respond joyfully to each reading we hear: "Glory to you, Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ." Praise for the word, for the truth it contains and for the love with which you have proclaimed it to us; you speak to us without cease, and we listen to you without cease!

We listen to your word and recognize in it the simplest, but also the deepest, realities and truths. In the word of God for the Advent season our human situation is reflected very clearly. And if the key word of this season is "Come!" it is only the second aspect of this situation. We could say that week by week and day by day these Scripture readings which the Church offers us indicate that man has a sort of advent structure, inasmuch as waiting is a deeply rooted aspect of his nature.

This has many ramifications: it means that man is not sufficient unto himself, nor does he find his fullness in any specific historical period; and it also means that, following the deepest call of the heart, man feels the need to go beyond himself.
Today's liturgy speaks to us very insistently of the various meanings of this advent structure when it reminds us of those narrow, winding paths and those ravines, valleys, and hidden places that are found in each of us and that then expand on the level of society to become more and more serious.

The special feature of the Advent liturgy is that it traces a very realistic picture of humanity, inasmuch as, humanly speaking, it sees us as almost at the limits of despair and impotence. Despite this the picture also contains a great deal of light because of the fact that we have an advent structure, changing everything about ourselves with the invocation "Come!" and because we believe in our own self-realization and in our capacity for perfection and happiness. Believing in all this, we bear witness to the call which God addressed to us at the beginning.

Advent means God's coming as found within each individual and all humanity and also God's coming for which the individual and all humanity make constant preparation. These aspects are found in this present moment as we live it and also in every other moment in the history of salvation. Both aspects are always present: God's coming, which has already taken place and is recognized in the person, and God's coming, for which we make constant preparation - the coming toward which we move and to which we open our hearts, following the deep call we feel within ourselves and which we perceive through our spiritual sensitivity.

If, remaining within the liturgy of the word announced to us in Advent, we wanted to define the purpose of today's gathering, I would say that each one of us has the task of discovering within himself and others the advent structure of the human person.
In the second reading the Apostle Paul speaks about this point and about our mission and the mission of all Christians; and the Second Vatican Council, referring to these or similar words, stated that through its very nature the Christian vocation is a call to the apostolate. This statement is of great significance.

In the course of today we shall reflect on some of the specific implications of the fact that there is an apostolate of the laity. At the beginning of this meeting I want, therefore, to turn my attention to the primary meaning of this statement of the Apostle Paul and of Vatican II that expresses the age-old teaching of the Church, in other words, that the Christian vocation is, through its very nature, a call to the apostolate.

Seen against the background of today's liturgy and that of the whole of Advent, this means that each Christian must not only discover his own advent structure but must also help others to discover it in themselves. This task is sometimes even more difficult today - if only in appearance.

Maybe it is in fact easier under other aspects. In any case, the discovery of this structure in oneself and in others can be seen as the basis, precondition, and starting-point of any apostolate. The person must understand how incomplete he is in order to desire fulfillment and feel the need to go beyond himself. Then he calls out "Come!" and in this way rediscovers himself in that order of things that has its source in God - in the Most Holy Trinity - in the mysteries of creation and salvation. And we can be certain that if we say "Come!" he will come. God comes even when we do not call him and even when we are not thinking of doing so, because he knows that we call out even in silence.

My dear brothers and sisters, please take this brief reflection on the advent mystery of man as the start of the time we are to spend together and which we place on the altar here as an offering. Let us pray as we pray in every eucharistic liturgy that he who has already come may offer us as a gift to the Father; may he offer us and also this day of encounter which we dedicate to the service of the people of God and the Church of Christ in our country.

6 December 1970