Around the year 1208, Christ appeared to a Belgian child named Juliana. On that day, and on many occasions through the following decades, Jesus granted Juliana many special revelations about the sacrament of his body and blood: the Holy Eucharist. Christ told her that the sacrament had always been in the mind of the Trinity. That seems obvious. If God knows everything, then he always knew about the Eucharist. So what? He always knew about carburetors, too. But his knowledge of carburetors was not built into the fabric of creation and history the way the Eucharist was. For the Eucharist would be the sacrament of his coming to earth — the perpetual Advent of the Lord in history. It was for the sake of Holy Communion with us that God created the world. It was for the sake of the Eucharist that He created us with an instinctive desire to eat. It was for the sake of the Eucharist that He created fields to grow wheat and vines to grow grapes. The ancient Christians knew that the Eucharist was central to the Gospel, and so to all of history. The meaning of the Gospel was summed up in the event they called the Paschal Mystery, and that event began on Holy Thursday, with the first Mass. Indeed, the Communion of God and man is the reason for Christmas. That’s why Jesus chose for his birthplace the town of Bethlehem, whose name means “House of Bread.” That’s also why, when long-ago artists painted the Nativity, they showed Jesus in the manger, the cattle’s feedbox, lying on sheaves of wheat. Christmas, like every Christian feast, is a Eucharistic feast. And Advent is our preparation for Communion on that day. Reaping the Prophets The season of Advent is all about preparing for Christ’s coming — preparing to welcome Christ. Through these four weeks, the Scriptures we hear at Mass remind us of the many centuries during which God prepared his chosen people for the coming of Jesus. The prophets and the psalmist cry out with longing and impatience: “Prepare the way of the Lord!” “O Lord — how long?” The whole world, in those days, was waiting for its first Christmas, though no one knew quite how God would fulfill that longing. Today, the world still longs for fulfillment, but now we know why. St. Paul wrote to the first Roman Christians: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:22). Do we, too, feel that groaning, that longing, that holy impatience to be filled, to be fulfilled, in Holy Communion? If not, then we should have a clear focus for our efforts this Advent. For everything in Advent is arranged to be a preparation for Jesus’ coming. Like Israel, we are preparing for his coming on Christmas. Like St. Paul, we wait in joyful hope for His coming at the end of time. Yet it’s also our privilege to experience his coming daily. Catholic scholar Scott Hahn often points out that, when Christ comes at the end of time, he won’t have a drop more glory than he has now in the Eucharist. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that she could call forth divine power to transform her life if only she knew the “gift of God” who was visiting her (see Jn 4:10). We, too, need to know the gift we’ve been given. We need to know him, to long for him with a holy impatience, to “groan inwardly” as we prepare for his advent in Holy Communion. This season, we can make an extra effort to prepare for Holy Communion. Catholic tradition offers us many practical helps. 1. Go to confession. The earliest text of the Mass that we possess, apart from the New Testament, is the Didache, which was written in Antioch perhaps as early as 60 A.D. In it we find the exhortation to “gather yourselves together and break bread, and give thanks after having confessed your sins, that your sacrifice may be pure.” The sacrifice hasn’t changed in 2,000 years, and neither has human nature. We need to shed the weight of our sins before we can hurry to the altar. 2. Pray “Spiritual Communions” By stating our desire to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, we can receive many of the spiritual benefits of Holy Communion. This is the teaching of the Council of Trent and of many spiritual masters. Such a short prayer is called a “spiritual communion.” It’s a small investment of time and effort that pays a big dividend in the soul. 3. Dress up to the occasion We tend to dress up for important events (a job interview or a big date) and dress down for unimportant things (house work or sports). What we put on can greatly influence how we think, feel and act. So when we go to Mass, we should take care with our appearance. We don’t need to drag out our tuxedo or evening gown, but we should at least be clean, groomed and respectably clad. 4. Arrive early It takes time to leave behind the busyness of the day and sink slowly into meditative worship. If you always arrive breathless as the Mass is beginning, you’ll likely spend the first half of Mass trying to catch up with the mystery. Try to get there at least five or 10 minutes before. 5. Go more often J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of “The Lord of the Rings,” said it best. He wrote to his son: “The only cure for sagging of faith is Communion.… [T]he Blessed Sacrament does not operate completely and once for all in any of us. Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and grow by exercise. Frequency is of the highest effect. Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at intervals.” A welcoming attitude In fourth-century Africa, during the Emperor Diocletian’s ruthless persecution of the church, the civil authorities rounded up a large number of Christians while they were attending Mass. Their interrogators asked them why they exposed themselves to such danger. They responded simply: “We cannot live without the Mass.” That’s the attitude of a Christian. That’s the attitude we want to have.