The word "advent" means "coming". There is the historical fact that God became man in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ who was conceived by Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. This is the Advent of Christ that we celebrate every Christmas. There is also another advent of Christ. That is His second coming in glory. His second coming will be the consummation of His first coming. In His first coming He saved us from death, sin and Satan. In His second coming there will be no more death, (the dead will rise with imperishable and immortal bodies); there will be no more sin (all things will be new); and Satan with his demons will be made powerless (Satan will no longer be the Prince of this world but our Lord Jesus Christ will reign over a restored and renewed Heaven and earth). The gospel, the good news, is that Christ's first and second coming are present now. He who came to save us and will come again to complete His saving work is present in His Church. Most particularly, He is present in His Church through the sacrifice of the Mass. At every Mass He is born to us on the altar of sacrifice. Just as Mary gave birth to our Savior in Bethlehem so the priest gives birth to Christ on the altar when he speaks the words of consecration; "This is my, body.... This is my blood". At every Mass Heaven and earth are joined so that we have a foretaste of glory. The Mass is the participation in our future with our Savior, Jesus Christ, 

The experience of Christ's two comings at Mass is expressed in the familiar words of St. John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." The first half of this scriptural verse speaks of His first coming. "God so loved the world, He gave His only son...'' .The Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, took human flesh and gave Himself on the Cross for love of us. This fact, this reality, is present at every Mass. He is born on the altar by the priest's recitation of Christ's words; "This is my body.... This is my blood ..., " and then He is offered to the Father as the sacrifice for sin. We correctly say that the priest's words and actions bring Christ down to earth and sacrifice Him. In a deeper sense Christ Himself through the priest comes to our altar to give Himself in sacrifice for us. The second part of John 3:16 expresses the future glory we share now at Mass: "Whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. As we place our faith in Christ as our Savior and receive Him in Holy Communion we will live forever He is the Bread of Heaven come down to earth to give us life. We already have eternal life. We anticipate our future in glory as He reveals His glory to us in the Mass.

This participation in the two advents of Christ at Mass requires that we believe in Jesus Christ, that we believe that He who was born and died and will come again for us is our Savior who gives us at every Mass Himself for our salvation.