by Msgr. Joseph Calise

If you were to ask most people in my age group who they considered to be the greatest mystery writer of all time, no doubt most of us would answer, “Alfred Hitchcock.”

We would be able to support our answer with such movies as Psycho, North by Northwest, The Birds, or any of the more than 50 films he directed in the almost 60-year span of his career.

Further proof could be found in almost any episode of his television series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. However, there would be one voice that would strongly disagree – his own.

I remember an interview with Hitchcock in which he strongly made the point that his work was not “mystery” but “suspense” and “thrill.” Mystery, he explained, is a genre in which something occurs and you try to figure out who, what and why. Thrill and suspense bring the audience much more into the action.

For example: In a mystery movie, you might see a plane explode and have to figure out who did it and why. In a suspense film, you see a black-gloved hand place a bomb on a plane and then watch the plane take off – wondering when. You know what is going to happen and are drawn deeper into the action by that knowledge.

We Know What Happened

On this First Sunday of Advent, we already know what has happened. Although the birth of Christ is enveloped in spiritual mystery, we know that it happened in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago as a once-in-salvation-history moment that does not need to be repeated.

Another baby does not have to be born for us in the City of David this coming Christmas Day. No one is wondering if it will be a boy or a girl or what his or her name might be.

The Christmas Incarnation happened once and for always so what we prepare for during this liturgical season is the known – the coming of God into the world as man. Yet, the season does not end there because the historical presence left us with a promise, the promise of a return that would bring all together into the kingdom. Therein lies the suspense.

If we believe in Jesus of Nazareth, we accept His promise that one day He will come back “in power and with great glory,” as it says in today’s Gospel, to take us with Him. If we believe in Jesus’ message, we know that someday we will be together with Him, but we do not know when.

The suspense of the season is in knowing that just as the faithful over two millennia ago received the fulfillment of a promise – so too will we see the fulfillment of a promise given us.

The challenge, of course, is in being prepared, a message heard not only today but time after time in the Scriptures. So, if we believe in the events of Bethlehem, accepting Jesus of history as Our Messiah, and await the fulfillment of His promise to return, we are drawn into the celebration of the season of Advent, an opportunity to recall the full significance of a critical moment in the history of the world.

Not If, But When

The suspense is not found in whether or not the Messiah will come – He already has. Nor is it in whether or not He will come again – as people of faith, that promise determines who we are. The suspense is not “if” but “when” it will happen and whether or not we will be ready. St. Paul comes to the rescue.

In writing to the Thessalonians, St. Paul encourages them to a constant growth in love, a love which will make them “blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones.”

If we live lives of love now, as best as we can one day at a time, we will be ready to meet Jesus face to face whenever He comes in glory. And, of course, the most powerful way to live a life of love now, is to remain close to Jesus in the Eucharist, the presence that links Bethlehem and the kingdom.

As we begin the Advent season, may we celebrate the events of Christmas past as we await the Christmas yet to come by living fully Christ present in the Word, the Eucharist and in Love.[hr]

Readings for the First Sunday of Advent

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Psalm 25: 4-5, 8-9, 10, 14

1 Thessalonians 3:12 – 4:2

Luke 21:25-28, 34-36[hr] Msgr. Joseph Calise is the pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish, Williamsburg.