Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility, says the Collect for the First Sunday in Advent. He came because of love, and love is what He expects from us. Saint Paul writes: “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”

Love cannot be measured, because if it could be measured, it wouldn’t be love. This is not easy: loving our neighbor as ourselves requires more of us than we are usually capable of. Even in small things, it is not always easy for us to consider our neighbor as our equal, let alone to step aside and put him before ourselves.

The last Sunday of the Church Year directs our eyes to the soon-to-beginning Advent season, which is not merely a time of preparation for Christmas, but has fundamental significance in terms of our past, present, and future.

Advent speaks of the coming of the Lord – two thousand years ago through the incarnation of the Son of God, as well as at the end of time when He returns in His glory and power, and also of His coming to us and into us again and again through His Holy Word and the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of His Most Holy Body and Blood.

An old Lithuanian priest once said, recalling the ten years he spent in a Stalinist prison camp, that in a sense it was a good time: he had never before or since been in the company of so many intelligent, talented, and good people, because the Soviet regime feared such people and tried to imprison them whenever possible. Of course, this was said with bitter humor, as in reality, those ten years working in the forest in the Far North were extremely difficult for this priest and left a lasting mark on his health.

In one of his sermons, Saint John Chrysostom rebukes lukewarm Christians: “Thou, O Christian, art but a carpet-knight, if thou thinkest to conquer without a fight, to triumph without a struggle. Nerve thyself, strive manfully, hit hard in the press.” Being a Christian does not mean a comfortable life.

The apostle Paul often calls the recipients of his letters saints. The word “saint” comes from the Latin and means someone who is holy and dedicated to God. The word “holy” is often used as a synonym for the words “pure” and “blameless,” and undoubtedly the mark of God’s saints should be that they are pure and blameless. However, let us not forget that no one can become a saint and truly holy on their own, for it is the work of God and the gift of His grace.