Just Teach Sheets – In-Depth December Week 1 2025

In-Depth Track – Just Teach Sheet

December Week 1 (2025)
Theme: Advent & Preparation
Focus: Advent, Eschatology, and the Threefold Coming of Christ
Audience: Catechists • Apologists • Adult learners seeking theological and liturgical depth

Opening Prayer

Eternal Word,
who came forth from the Father’s heart to dwell among us,
and who will come again in glory,
renew in me the longing for Your presence.
Teach me to live between the “already” and the “not yet” —
faithful in hope, steadfast in repentance,
and joyful in Your mercy.
Amen.

Overview

Advent is the season in which the Church contemplates the threefold coming of Christ:
In history — His Incarnation at Bethlehem.
In mystery — His coming now through grace and the Sacraments.
In majesty — His coming again in glory at the end of time.

It is therefore a season not merely of sentimental preparation, but of eschatological tension: the cry of the Bride, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20).

Day 1 – The First Coming: The Incarnation and Fulfilment of Promise

1️Biblical Foundation

Isaiah 7:14 – “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.”
John 1:14 – “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

2️Doctrinal Note

CCC 456–460: The Word became flesh to save us, to reveal God’s love, to be our model of holiness, and to make us partakers of the divine nature.

Theological Depth:
The Incarnation is not merely an event in the past but the permanent union of divine and human nature in the Person of Christ (hypostatic union).
In Advent, the Church relives the expectation of Israel — not pretending Christ has not come, but contemplating what it means that He has.

Patristic Witness:
St Irenaeus: “What was not assumed was not healed.”
By assuming our flesh, Christ redeems the human condition from within.

Meditation:
In every Mass, the mystery of Bethlehem continues: the same Word who became flesh comes again under the form of bread and wine.

Day 2 – The Second Coming: Eschatological Hope and Judgment

1️Scriptural Basis

Matthew 24:30–44 – The Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.
2 Peter 3:10–13 – “The day of the Lord will come like a thief.”

2️Doctrinal Note

CCC 1040–1041: The Last Judgment will reveal the truth of each person’s relationship with God and confirm God’s triumph over evil.

Theological Insight:
Christian eschatology holds together judgment and mercy: Christ comes not only to reveal justice but to fulfil love’s final victory.
The delay of the Parousia is not divine forgetfulness but mercy — a “time of grace” (2 Pet 3:9).

Apologetic Clarification:

The Second Coming is not symbolic; it is a real, bodily return of Christ in glory.

Christian “end times” theology is not doom but renewal — a new heavens and a new earth (Rev 21:1).

Mystical Reflection:
St Augustine: “He will come to judge who first came to be judged.”
The one who once lay in a manger will one day sit upon the throne — and His judgment will be the revelation of truth itself.

Day 3 – The Intermediate Coming: Grace in the Present

1️Scriptural Basis

John 14:23 – “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”
Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”

2️Theological Note

St Bernard of Clairvaux spoke of a third coming:

“In this middle coming, He is our rest and consolation.
In His first coming He redeemed us; in His final coming He will raise us;
in this middle coming, He strengthens us.”

CCC 686, 1088: Christ is present now in His Spirit and in the Sacraments — especially in the Eucharist.

Explanation:
Advent, therefore, is not nostalgia or fear, but awareness: Christ comes continually into the believer’s soul.
This is the mystical Advent — the daily “visitation” of grace through Word, Sacrament, and conscience.

Contemplative Practice:
Each morning, before beginning work, pray:

“Lord Jesus, come to me today.
Speak in my silence; dwell in my heart; sanctify my labour.”

Day 4 – The Eschatological Character of Christian Life

1️Living Between the Comings

The Christian life is an Advent existence — poised between fulfilment and longing, redemption and completion.

CCC 1042–1050: “The universe itself will be renewed… The righteous will reign with Christ forever.”

Spiritual Principle:
We live in the tension of the already and the not yet:

Already redeemed, not yet glorified.

Already sanctified, not yet perfected.

Already citizens of heaven, still pilgrims on earth.

Practical Implication:
This tension purifies hope. It prevents both despair (“God has forgotten”) and presumption (“I am already finished”).

Patristic Echo:
St Cyril of Jerusalem: “We do not preach only one coming, but a second also, far more glorious than the first.”

Day 5 – Advent in the Liturgy and the Interior Life

1️Liturgical Expression

Violet vestments: sign of repentance and royalty.

Advent wreath: evergreens = eternal life; four candles = four weeks of waiting.

Gaudete Sunday (Third Week): rose colour = joy amid penance.

The “O Antiphons” (Dec 17–23): ancient cries for the coming Messiah.

Theological Focus:
Liturgy is not mere remembrance but participation in salvation history.
Each Advent re-immerses the Church in expectation — not of repetition, but of renewal.

Interior Focus:

Silence is Advent’s key discipline.

Daily Scripture (especially Isaiah and the Gospels) nourishes expectation.

Frequent Confession cleanses the path for the Lord’s coming.

Contemplative Challenge:
Do not simply decorate your house — decorate your soul.
Let every ornament of your home remind you of an interior grace.

Weekend Synthesis

AspectTheological MeaningSpiritual Application
First ComingIncarnation – God enters history.Gratitude for redemption.
Second ComingJudgment – God reveals justice.Live in readiness and hope.
Third (Mystical) ComingGrace – God dwells in the soul.Daily renewal through prayer and Sacrament.
Eschatological TensionThe “already–not yet” of salvation.Perseverance and longing for heaven.
Advent LiturgyTime of expectation and mercy.Silence, repentance, joy.

Apologetic & Theological Summary

QuestionCatholic Response
“Why still wait for Christ if He already came?”Because salvation is real but incomplete; creation still groans for fulfilment (Rom 8:22).
“Is the Second Coming literal?”Yes — the same Christ who ascended will return bodily in glory.
“Why does God delay?”Out of mercy — every moment before the end is a chance for repentance (2 Pet 3:9).
“What is meant by ‘judgment’?”Judgment is the unveiling of truth, not arbitrary punishment. Love itself will be the standard.
“What difference does Advent make?”It reminds the Church to live awake, repentant, hopeful, and Eucharistic — expecting the Lord in every moment.

Key Magisterial Texts

CCC 456–460 – The Incarnation.

CCC 1040–1050 – The Last Judgment and the renewal of creation.

CCC 1088 – Christ’s presence in the liturgy.

St Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermon 5 on Advent.

Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi (On Hope).

Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes §45: Christ as the goal of human history.

Recommended Reading

St Augustine, City of God, Book XXII.

St Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures XV.

Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life.

Hans Urs von Balthasar, Mysterium Paschale.

Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives.

Romano Guardini, The Lord.

Closing Prayer

Come, Lord Jesus,
You who once came in weakness and will come again in glory,
dwell in me now through grace.
Awaken my heart from indifference,
strengthen my hope against despair,
and purify my longing for the things of heaven.
May this Advent renew my faith, deepen my charity,
and prepare me for the joy of seeing You face to face.
Amen.