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The calendar on the wall says 1st December, the first day of the last month of the calendar year.
The supermarkets, billboards and television ads have long ago announced the beginning of the Christmas season. They tell us to spend more, to buy that perfect gift “while supplies last.”
The Church calendar tells me that today, The First Sunday of Advent, marks the start of a new year of scripture readings and the beginning of Advent. Today we begin to prepare for Christmas, the first coming of our Lord and for the final coming at the end of time.
Our culture says, “Now,”. Advent says, “Not yet.” The Advent season’s message is counter-cultural; Advent is about waiting. It says,
- “don’t rush into Christmas without preparation of heart and soul;”
- “savour the moment of mystery in these coming weeks;”
- “go beyond the commercialisation and rush that robs so many people of the joy of peace that we seek at Christmas.”
The call to wait of the Church’s liturgy isn’t to frustrate us but to the discipline of waiting – the kind that builds character. It’s what responsible parents do when they train their children to wait to share a healthy family meal, instead of filling up on snacks. Modern-day culture resents this wait. We dislike the imposition on our time as we wait in line at the clinic, airport or the check-out counter, or in slow traffic.
The body, mind and spirit need to know how to wait – it’s part of life’s journey. Waiting allows our spirit to become more sensitive and stronger. At Advent, it allows us to slow down this hectic Christmas rush and to cherish the meaning and memories of this holy season. Waiting carves out a whole space of expectation in our souls. This is the season of great expectation.
Notice the Old Testament reading for today. Jeremiah tells the people of Israel, in exile and defeat, that one day God will bring restoration and victory. He assured them that God had not forgotten His promises. He urged them to wait in faith and hope for the coming of the Messiah.
Note the prophet’s language. He says that the Messiah will come not with loud music and bright lights but softly like new growth, beginning with a smallness and vulnerability that could be missed if people did not wait patiently and look carefully. And for the next 600 years the people waited. And then one day, the Messiah came – again, without loud music or bright lights – to a young Jewish girl in a remote village in 1st century Palestine. For nine months she had waited with a sense of wonder and mystery. Then God came in the person of a vulnerable tiny child.
Another Advent season. We have been here before. But 2024 can be different if we:
- wait,
- pray thoughtfully, and
- watch closely.
As our parents taught us, “good things come to those who wait.”
Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash
Paschal Kearney C.S.Sp.
