The Advent Season offers meaningful Hope

By Msgr. John Wynand Katende

Posted on: Friday, 28th November 2025

“For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand.”- Romans 13:11-12

It has been observed that in our culture there has been a War on the Christian season of Advent, and we have lost it. Advent has been almost completely secularized, and most Christians go right along with it. Even many churches now schedule their Christmas concerts and activities before Christmas. 

Advent is meant to be more of a reflective than festive nature. It leads to the celebration of the coming of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem (history), the coming of Christ now in our hearts (mystery), and the coming of Christ at the end of time (Parousia). 

Directly following the Solemnity of Christ the King and immediately preceding Christmas, Advent is a great reminder that the same infant in swaddling clothes in Bethlehem is the same person who sits on the throne in glory, ruling both heaven and earth. It is a four week season, emphasizing themes such as hope, peace, joy, and love. They represent the virtues Jesus brought us; each them inviting us to pause, refocus, and embrace God's promise of salvation.

A question here arises, whether there is a political orientation to Advent. The answer is Yes. We shouldn’t be able to celebrate Advent or Christmas without the constant reminder that our Savior was the long-awaited Messiah for the Jewish people. Both the historical background of the nativity stories in the gospels and the situation in contemporary Palestine reveal that the Messiah came to redeem the poor and oppressed.

All of this took place at the hands of a greedy, corrupt, and jealous earthly king, Herod. King Herod does not only refuse to give due reverence and honor to the Christ Child, Who is King of the Universe, but also seeks to kill Him. Herod was not unlike the tyrannical leaders in many parts of today. They feel insecure and demonize or destroy the opposition.

The Incarnation means that God takes on our humanity, and embraces everyone’s unique experiences. Jesus was born into a land that was hemorrhaging with pain and loss. He was born into a family that had experienced generational and poverty traumas. When He talks about how to treat enemies and how to react to violence, we hear somebody who is pushing through trauma, saying; ““Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). Hence, the Christian faith is neither forceful nor utopian/impractical in its promise for a better future. Pathetically, the Jews did not welcome that mode of redemption.

Rather than an idealistic season of rituals, the Advent season offers meaningful hope to face life with all its realities. History points to a church whose worship songs and prayers address a political perspective. As the early church continued to wait for Jesus’ return, anxious and desperate in the midst of persecution, they began to wonder if He was really coming back at all. Instead of using the coming reign of Christ to justify political inaction, exploitation of the natural world, and indifference toward material suffering, Advent reminds us that we still have a job to do, but the Christian way. 

In the context of Uganda, the elections come at a time when many people are dismayed and disillusioned with politics. They feel like politics is irredeemable. They feel that politicians are nothing more than charlatans and sophists, who will promise heaven and earth to win an election. 

When we see the brokenness in our political parties, politicians, and governmental structures, we need only to turn to Christ. He must be consulted so that our hearts can be transformed. When Christian restraints have been removed from a society, the atrocities are magnified many times over. We really do need to wake up and open our eyes wide in order to see beyond our own small interests and concerns. In our communities we need to take care that our kind of hope does not lead to indifference or to forgetting the poor, the hungry, refugees, the displaced and those languishing in conflict and war zones. 

Christ instructs us in the politics that recognizes the dignity of the human person and fosters the common good. We must bear the light of Jesus Christ in the public square, by working for justice in our society, that His kingdom would come on earth as it is in Heaven. To realize this, religious leaders ought to guide us, without going partisan or offensive.

In conclusion, the Advent season reveals that God cares not only about our souls but about our bodies too. He addresses things that make us uncomfortable such as economics, politics, and social dynamics. By addressing these issues, the fullness of salvation becomes tangible, even if not on our human terms. No effort of our own making, no political party, no law, no nothing of that nature can restore us. Christ alone restores us. “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:21).