Brothers,

As we begin Advent, Jesus’ words pierce the complacency that so easily settles into our lives: “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on which day your Lord will come” (Mt 24:42). Advent is not a soft prelude to Christmas. It is a summons to spiritual alertness—to recognize the Lord who comes now, and who will come again in glory.

Pope Leo XIV, in his recent Apostolic Letter In Unitate Fidei, reminds us that the heart of our faith, proclaimed at Nicaea 1700 years ago, is the awe-filled truth that the Son of God came down for our salvation. The Creed’s verb descendit is not poetry; it is God’s own movement toward us. Saint Paul tells us that Christ “emptied himself” (Phil 2:7). Saint John proclaims that “the Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14). Hebrews reveals a High Priest who fully entered our human weakness (Heb 4:15). On the night before He died, the Eternal Son bent down to wash feet like a slave (Jn 13:1–17). Only when Thomas touched the wounds of the Risen Christ did he exclaim: “My Lord and my God!”

This is the God we await during Advent; not distant, not immovable, but near, humble, and profoundly concerned with the human condition. Pope Leo writes that the Incarnation itself revolutionizes all ancient conceptions of God: His immensity is revealed in His willingness to become small. His majesty is revealed precisely in His choice to become our neighbor.

And this changes everything for us as deacons.

Because He came down, we now meet Christ in our brothers and sisters, especially those in need: “As you did it to one of the least of these… you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). Advent vigilance, then, is not merely watching the skies, it's watching the doors of our churches, our homes, our hospitals, our streets, and our communities. It is staying awake to the wounded Christ disguised in the poor, the lonely, the angry, the forgotten, and even those we do not know.

Brothers, the Nicene Creed is not an abstract theological statement. It is a blueprint for diaconal living. Christ descended so that we might descend with Him, into the messiness of human life, into the shadows where people hide, into the places where hope is thin.

This Advent, let us renew our profession of faith by renewing our readiness to serve. Stay awake. Stay close. Stay small. And in caring for one another, known and unknown, may we recognize the One who has already drawn near.

In Christ the Servant + Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Receive + Believe + Teach + Practice