There are different examples of waiting. We may wait in dread (on the highway that is backed up for miles, the long lines in the stores). We may be waiting in excitement (at an amusement park, for a play or symphony, for a delicious dinner at our favorite restaurant). We also may wait in joyful hope for a loved one to visit, a child to be born or returning home after a long business trip.
Christmas is my mother’s favorite season. Every year she spends money on another gorgeous Christmas decoration. My parents will be celebrating their 50
th wedding anniversary this year – so the house has bins of beautiful Christmas décor. Growing up, the day after Thanksgiving we would start to pull out the bins and decorate. By the first Sunday of Advent – the tree was always decorated and fully lit.
Because of this, I never grew up with the season of Advent – outside of seeing the big candles lit on the ‘Christmas Wreath’ at Church. I don’t remember learning that it was an ADVENT wreath until I was much older.
Through the years the understanding of Advent has developed and grown by both reading and meditating on the mysteries of Advent – but the light never truly came on until I decided to do a daily meditation on the readings from Advent in a book by Mother Mary Francis.
Day by day Mother Mary Francis broke down and explained the beautiful readings of the Mass. She brought them to light in a deep and meaningful way. "Advent is a ‘season of the child, the joy of the Child who came to give joy to the world. It is a season, certainly, of the family, of the community. Family life was solidly established in a lowly, humble, poor place, with three person who loved utterly and were utterly given – even the Child, from the first moment, because he was divine. It is a season of great tenderness, and a season of hush. It is a season for everyone… It is a precious season. Advent summons us to fold the wings of our souls. There is rich meaning in the expression ‘folded wings’. Wings that remain always folded and are never spread to fly in giving would be wings that would deteriorate in atrophy, whereas wings that are always spread and never folded... would be wings quickly spent or perhaps, misspent. With all of this – the joy, the tenderness… – Advent is a season of tremendous prayer."
The main attitude of Advent is that we remember that Jesus came once in humility as a baby in a stable but Jesus is coming again. He will come to judge the living and the dead. He will come and separate the goats from the sheep (Matthew 25). He will come in power and might as the King.
As we begin the new liturgical year, the Advent readings are very beautiful. The Advent readings begin with the proclamation to awake from our sleep and cease sinning, we are challenged to be prepared for the second coming of Christ.
There is an abundance of grace available through this ‘mini’ penitential season. Don’t waste it. Our lives are a journey to God. We wait in patience and vigilance for Jesus to come again. We need to prepare ourselves – and we have an abundance of help! We are not alone. The Holy Spirit is active and pouring forth an abundance of grace in our daily lives. We just need to say YES to it. How?
If life is agreeable, it is nothing for me to be agreeable with others. If no one is rude or coarse towards me, it is nothing to be kind and pleasant to others. I can be very prayerful when I am not disturbed. But when people are not kind, or the day is filled with stress and difficulty – how charitable, prayerful and kind am I?
When people are rude, offer it as a beautiful gift to the Lord. You can say, “Lord, I give you this small treasure in thanksgiving to participate in your sufferings and place it at the feet of Jesus on the cross.” When the day is filled with stress and difficulty, we have a choice. We can give into the devil’s little nudges to throw us off or we can turn them into little gifts to offer the Lord – like St. Terese and her little way teaches us. Let this become habit forming during Advent.
We wait like children in joyful hope and anticipation of what is to come when we trust and say yes to God’s grace. After this mini penitential season then we are able to fully enter into the joy of the Christmas season.
If you want a little help to start your Advent, St. Louis de Montfort parish is offering a three day silent retreat December 6 th to December 8 th. Please visit www.sldmfishers.org/spiritual-opportunities for more information.