Catholics need to avoid ‘nowhen’ Christian faith and practice.
Perhaps no season of the liturgical year is more intentionally focused on time than Advent. A period of anticipation – and preparation for something in the future – Advent is a tempor-ally specific season. While one could make similar claims about Lent, Advent is unique not simply because of its characteristic as a time of waiting, but also by its very place in the liturgical calendar: one week after the end of one liturgical year in the Feast of Christ the King and, of course, the beginning of a new liturgical year. One cannot define or describe Advent without recourse to temporal language, metaphor, or image. It is the interval in which we conscientiously await “the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4). Temporality is of the essence of Advent.
