THE ADVENT OF CHANGE — WEEK 4

THE ADVENT OF CHANGE — WEEK 4

LOVE: Emmanuel, God With Us

This week we step into the final movement of Advent: Love.

If Hope awakened us,
and Peace steadied us,
and Joy strengthened us along the way,
then Love is the fulfillment of everything Advent has been preparing in us.

Not a feeling.
Not a sentiment.
But a Presence.

In these last days before Christmas, the Church draws us close to the mystery of Emmanuel, God with us.
Love that comes near.
Love that takes on flesh.
Love that desires to dwell with us in the most ordinary places of our lives.

Advent has been leading us here, to the God who does not wait for us to climb up to Him, but who descends quietly into our humanity to be with us, as we are, where we are.

This is the Love that completes the story.
This is the Love that is about to arrive.

SCRIPTURE AND THE CHURCH’S WISDOM

Emmanuel, God With Us

Matthew’s Gospel tells us:

“They shall name Him Emmanuel, which means God with us.”
(Matthew 1:23)

These words come to Joseph in a moment of fear and uncertainty, yet they reveal what lies at the heart of Christmas. Love does not remain distant. Love enters the very places where we feel unsure, unready, and overwhelmed.

St. Charles Borromeo teaches that the Father sent His Son out of His immeasurable love to teach us, to free us, and to make His home spiritually within us.
God does not come to visit.
God comes to dwell.

Even the genealogy of Jesus, often skimmed over, tells a story of God entering real human history. Jesus’ ancestry includes saints and sinners, insiders and outsiders, glory and brokenness. As Fr. John Bartunek explains, this is not decoration. It is revelation.
God steps into the real, not the idealized version of our lives.

Let that truth breathe for a moment.

Nothing human is beneath Him.
Nothing human is too messy for Him.
Nothing human is outside the reach of His love.

This is the mystery of the Incarnation:
Love made visible.
Love made vulnerable.
Love made near.

God comes not because we are ready, but because we are loved.

WHAT IS LOVE

C. S. Lewis and the Four Loves in Light of Advent

C. S. Lewis describes four distinct expressions of love that reveal different dimensions of the human heart:

1. Affection (Storge)
The quiet, steady love of family and familiarity.

2. Friendship (Philia)
The love born from shared purpose and mutual understanding.

3. Eros
The passionate, committed love that draws two into union.

4. Charity (Agape)
Divine love, unconditional love, the love God Himself is.

Advent invites us to see how each of these loves is purified and elevated in the mystery of the Incarnation.

1. Affection (Storge)

The Ordinary Love That Makes Room for God

Lewis calls affection the most humble of loves, one that grows in quiet routines and unseen sacrifices.

This is the love of the Holy Family, the simple tenderness into which God chooses to be born.

Affection reveals that:
Love begins in small places.
God begins in a manger.

2. Friendship (Philia)

Love Rooted in Shared Purpose

Lewis says friendship begins with the words: “You too? I thought I was the only one.”

Advent is full of holy friendships: Mary and Elizabeth, Joseph and the angel, prophets across generations. Their shared purpose prepares the way for Christ.

Friendship reminds us:
We do not prepare for Christ alone.
We become companions in holiness.

3. Eros

The Love That Desires Union

Eros, Lewis explains, is not mere appetite. It is the love that longs to give oneself completely.

In the Incarnation, eros is fulfilled.
God crosses the distance between heaven and earth because He desires union with us.

Our longing for God mirrors His longing for us.

Eros becomes covenant.
Longing becomes communion.

4. Charity (Agape)

The Love That Gives Everything

Agape is the highest love, the love that exists because God is Love.

This is the love of Christmas, the love that empties itself, becomes flesh, and enters our humanity to save it.

In Jesus, all human loves are perfected.
Love now has a face.
Love has a name.
Love has come to dwell with us.

THE INCARNATION

Where Every Love is Fulfilled

All of Advent leads us to this moment:
the moment Love Himself enters the human story.

Jesus’ genealogy shows God woven into human imperfection.
Joseph’s dream shows God entering human fear.
Mary’s yes shows God welcomed into human vulnerability.

The Incarnation is not symbolic.
It is the most concrete expression of love the world has ever known.

In Christ:

Affection is sanctified in family and ordinary tenderness.
Friendship becomes companionship in grace.
Eros becomes covenantal union.
Charity becomes flesh.

Every love becomes capable of more because Love Himself has come.

Advent ends not with an idea, but with a Person.
Love made visible.
Love made near.

A FINAL SPIRITUAL REFLECTION

Letting Love Draw Near

As Christmas approaches, I am struck by how quietly God comes.

Not when everything is settled.
Not when we feel ready.
Not when our stories are complete.

He comes into the middle of things, into the places that feel unfinished or unclear.

In my own life, I notice that God rarely meets me where I feel strongest. He meets me where I feel most in need. That is where His love finds room.

Maybe that is the invitation of this week.
To allow Love to come close without first requiring ourselves to be different.
To receive Emmanuel in the place where we most long to be met.

Love comes because He loves us, not because we are ready.

And so we welcome Him
in our longing,
in our hopes,
in our need.

Love is near.
Love is arriving.
Love is already here.

A MOMENT FOR REFLECTION

1. Where in your life do you most need to experience “God with us” right now?

2. Which of the Four Loves feels most alive in you this season and which is God inviting you to deepen?

3. What part of your heart feels least ready for Christ’s coming and what would it look like to let Love draw near there anyway?

4. How is God inviting you to receive love, not only give it?

5. As Christmas approaches, what simple prayer of welcome rises in your heart for Emmanuel?

Closing Prayer

Emmanuel,
God who comes close,
teach my heart to welcome You.

In the places that feel unfinished,
in the parts of my life that do not feel ready,
let Your love arrive quietly and fully.

Open my heart to receive You
with the trust of Mary,
the courage of Joseph,
and the hope of all who waited for Your coming.

You are Love made flesh.
You are Love drawing near.
You are Love who dwells with us.

Prepare a place in me, Lord,
for Your presence,
Your peace,
Your joy,
and Your love.

Amen.