Parousia

My dictionary tells me that Parousia means, simply, the second coming.  It is not a very good dictionary.  

Parousia does refer to the second coming.  It comes from Greek, and it generally means arrival, or advent.  Advent too means arrival.  In usage, the words have different meanings, but they are actually the same.  We use Parousia to refer to the time when Jesus will come again as judge.  We use Advent to refer to the time of spiritual preparation which precedes Christmas.  

Advent is from the Latin word adventus, which means a coming, approach or arrival.  The coming, or the approaching holiday is Christmas.  The approaching time is Parousia.  We know when our celebration of our Lord's birth will happen, but we do not know when He will come again.  Jesus tells us that we must always be prepared, because we cannot know when he will return.  So what is the point of singling out four weeks to focus on preparing for the Second Coming (the Parousia)?  

The season of Advent aligns Christmas and the second coming.  "The Lord is coming," we announce.  Generally we are referring to the Nativity.  It is the wrong tense, though.  Jesus was born two thousand years ago.  He will not be born again this Christmas; it is an anniversary.  If we use the holiday effectively, it is possible that the Lord will come to some people for the first time this holiday.  That is a possible meaning of the phrase, but it is a stretch.

The season of Advent juxtaposes Christmas and Parousia.  When our Lord came the first time He broke the power of sin and death.  When He returns, he will judge.  Did we cling to our sin, or did we yield it to him?  Each person will be judged.  Did we honor Christ, by taking advantage of the grace he poured out for us?  As our Lord said, "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."  (John 10:10)  

Christmas has no meaning at all, apart from this.  He came to give himself to us, and to free us from our enslavement to sin.  When He comes again, He will ask us, "What did you make of my gifts to you?"  How do we take advantage of the grace we have been given?  How do we celebrate Christmas?  How do we honor His first coming, that would make us ready for His glorious return?