Christ, Revelation 12, and the Enemy at Advent

Here we are with Advent well under way.  It’s better than even odds that you’re facing some obstacles to having the holy, reverent, peaceful, contemplative Advent you desire.

None of us should be surprised when that happens.

It was difficult for Christ to come into the world that first Christmas, some 2,000 years ago.  It remains difficult for Him to arrive for the Christmas’ of our present time.

It Was Difficult 2,000 Years Ago

Think for a minute about the first Christmas and the difficulties Christ faced.  For starters, the elements were against Him – winters are cold in the Holy Land with typical nighttime temperatures in the 40’s.

The townspeople were also against His arrival.  They couldn’t so much as provide a decent room for His pregnant and soon-to-deliver mother.  Seriously, how do you not make room for the Blessed Virgin Mary?  Yes, she was ‘incognito’ at the time, but I’m guessing there was still something stunningly unique about her and St. Joseph for anyone who had eyes to see.  So that tells us something about the state of affairs at the time of the Nativity.

The political system was against His arrival as well.  Politics was the cause for making the arduous journey to Bethlehem.  Not to mention the murderous designs of Herod.

And the religious leadership was against Him.  How was it that society had become so coarse, so taciturn to Roman rule, and so enamored with pagan ways?  Perhaps because the Jewish leaders were busy “widening their phylacteries and enjoying places of honor at banquets” instead of shepherding their people.

It’s Still Difficult

All of these barriers remain to this day.

The elements are against His coming.  It’s winter – cold and dark.  A time when we’re naturally drawn to melancholy and the creature comforts of low and earthly things.

And what of the townspeople?  Among other things, we now have a “virtual village” that has no room for Christ.  Facebook?   YouTube?  Instagram?  Cable News?  We can dispense with the folly of trying to be the ones who will “use them for good.”  There is no room for Christ in those inns.

Our political atmosphere resembles the Roman Empire more and more each passing day.  There is no king but Caesar.  Submit or face the consequences.  Proclaim biblical values and you are crossing the line of a hate crime.  Put in for a religious exemption and even if “granted” (by what authority?) prepare for irrational and punitive restrictions.  Resolve yourself to the fact that a large chunk of your tax dollars go to programs that flagrantly violate natural law.

And as for religious leadership – we witnessed it on parade at the recent bishop’s meeting in Baltimore.  A million dollars and their moral authority vaporized in another conclave that will only sow more confusion and division in souls.

The Ancient Enemy

That was an inventory of just some of the barriers to Christ’s coming.

Underlying all of them is the preternatural work of the ancient enemy – ever watching for Christ and desperately scheming for His demise.  Satan had been condemned for his betrayal in the Garden and told that the Woman and her Son would crush his head.  Since that time He lay waiting, for millennia, plotting his revenge and to “devour her child when she gave birth.”

That’s exactly what Revelation 12 tells us.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.

Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems.

Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth.

She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.  Her child was caught up to God and his throne.

There was no way Satan was going to allow Christ to come into the world unopposed.  In his torment of pride and fury he was determined to exact his revenge upon the Christ child.

Our Role in the Battle

We must deeply interiorize this.  For many, Christmas is red and green, Burl Ives and George Bailey, chestnuts and mistletoe.  For Satan, Christmas stirs up a loathing and thirst for violence beyond anything we can understand, and is second only to the season of Easter.  The above passage shows Satan led a third of the angels to ruin (he “swept away a third of the stars…”), ensnaring them in his rebellion.  He desires to ensnare us and our loved ones as well.

The point being – it is now, as it was then.  The enemy prepares to make his move and “devour Christ” before He can be born anew in us this Christmas.

Will the peace of Christ be devoured by the chaos of the world around us?

Will the forgiveness of Christ be devoured by resentment toward our neighbor?

Will the enduring spiritual joy of Christ be devoured by the fleeting pleasures of holiday celebrations?

Will the beauty of Christ be devoured by the ugliness of the fallen world?

Not if we prepare properly – which is why we have the gift of Advent.  Obviously, this isn’t the Hallmark version of Advent.  The is the “Seal Team 6” version of Advent.

Advent is when we fully engage in the battle for our hearts.

Martha Stewart Has Nothing on Christ

Know who is the greatest Christmas planner of all time?

Christ.

He began preparing at the dawn of time (whereas the author has been known to begin his preparations at the dawn of December 24^th…).

In fact, all of creation was ordered to His incarnation.

The Incarnation wasn’t an afterthought.  Christ didn’t scramble to put together “Plan B” – becoming human because that’s what we are and He had to bail us out.  We were created as human beings because His entire plan for creation centered on His incarnation.

And once creation was fixed in time and space, He began giving us clues about Himself and His first Christmas.

Venerable Fulton Sheen, comparing Christianity with other world religions, finds a distinguishing proof of the veracity of the faith to be the many prophecies of Christ.  To paraphrase the great bishop, one test of a religion is that ‘The least God could do is let us know He was coming … was His birth pre-announced?  When He was coming?  How He would die?  What He would teach?  In what country He would live?  That when He finally did arrive men would come from afar to see Him?’

Christ satisfies Fulton Sheen’s test through the many prophecies of His coming in the Old Testament.

No Detail Unattended

Atheists often claim that the Gospel stories of Christ are mythologies elegantly crafted to fit an Old Testament narrative.  An answer to that is the Gospel narratives were “set in stone” within a few decades of Christ’s passing from this world, and by multiple authors.  It defies reason that they could have so consistently and exhaustively addressed every Old Testament prophecy.

That won’t convince unbelievers, but it serves to remind us that Christ prepared His way.   And not just with prophecy.  He set the stage in the secular world – with Greek philosophy at its zenith, pushed as far as it could go with such mentations as substantial forms (pointing to our spiritual soul) and the unmoved mover (pointing to the Eternal God).  And the power of Rome, which would become the unexpected (but widely prophesied) vehicle for the spread of Christianity.  And, highest of all, He prepared a perfect mother with the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

From the beginnings of time, Christ left no detail unattended in preparing for Christmas.

Praying for the Perfect Christmas Gift

God has a perfect Christmas present for you this year – it is how He will be “born anew” in you.  One very special gift that will draw you closer to Him and bring Him into the world in a new way.  Perhaps it’s a greater awareness of His love for you.  A new spiritual friendship.  A new-found confidence in sharing Christ with others.   A deeper devotion to the Eucharist.   A deeper love for your spouse.  Supernatural release from a deep-seated vice or anxiety.

The ancient enemy has been waiting, watching and planning for thousands of years for just this moment – to devour what Christ desires to create in you this very Christmas.

Satan’s means and methods are legion, but one of his go-to techniques is the simple busyness and distractions of the “holiday season.”   Here’s how St.  Cyprian puts it (from the Navarre Bible Commentary on Revelation 12), “The devil is described as a serpent because he moves silently and seems peaceable and comes by easy ways and is so astute and so deceptive … that he tries to have night taken for day, poison taken for medicine.”  And he tries to deceive us into thinking all our other Christmas plans and preparations are more urgent than simply spending quiet time with Him each day.

And so we have these remaining days to strengthen ourselves through prayer, fasting and alms-giving, that we may not be prevented from the gift God desires to give us.

A Simple Prayer

As part of that time of prayer, perhaps consider praying for the special grace to recognize Christ’s Christmas gift when you receive it.  Something like this:

“Lord, as I prepare for your coming at Christmas, I pray for the one perfect Christmas gift that You desire for me and that once Christmas arrives, and in Your perfect timing and manner, You may make known to me what it is.”

A holy Advent and blessed Christmas to you and your loved ones.