You’ve probably guessed it: You’re going to hear that theme again. It’s all about waiting! But first: welcome to Year C, the year of Luke. We’ve been waiting for so long (actually for most of our lives) that the darkness may feel like home. Maybe we’ve become comfortable in our incompleteness. Now to leave home is downright scary! Change my ways of interacting with God and God’s people? Whew! Allow my rough edges to be smoothed – mmmm, sounds irritating. We are gifted with this Advent-time to do personal “Isaiah work” of filling in every valley; leveling every mountain so the hills will become a plain, and the rough ways made smooth. As the familiar banner asks: If not now, when?
And if there is an answer, are we really waiting? No! You see, Advent is not a sit-on-your-hands-to-see-what-will-happen kind of waiting. Nor is it waiting for someone else who is talking to God to hang up. Saying that brings to my mind a memory of a home visit of my 3-year-old niece who was patiently waiting through what her mom had told her was my private time with God. She had lasted through her first lectio experience with her books for 40 minutes. She moved from the mat on her bedroom floor to sit just outside my doorway. Laurie heaved a heavy sigh and said: “OK, what do I do now God; she’s still talking to You!”
The wonderful part of waiting and talking with God is that it’s more like a glorious party line. You can pick up (or click ON the chat box) at any time, whenever you’re ready. It is wonderful! We do not have to take turns – we don’t have to wait to be in touch! At the heart of Advent is ACTIVE waiting. Even when we don’t know that we are waiting, or what we are waiting for, we’re waiting. Even when we can’t find words for what we are waiting for, we’re waiting.
If the liturgical readings these last couple of weeks did not shake you up enough, the Advent gospels will make you perk up your ears and pay attention: “It is high time for us to arise from sleep.” Take heed! Be on guard! Watch! Be alert, stay awake, and don’t grow careless. Don’t give up! And St. Benedict admonishes us: “Never swerve from God’s instruction but faithfully observe God’s teaching in the monastery until death.”
Advent offers us a new opportunity to awaken to the signs of the times. In the words of John the Baptist, we hear the voice of Isaiah warning us to be alert for “the voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord.” The last Gospel we heard as the liturgical year ended (this morning) and the first Gospel for the new liturgical year impress upon us the same warning: Be vigilant! Pray always! Beware that your heart does not become drowsy!
Remember Jesus berated the crowd for knowing how to interpret the signs in nature, but not the present time, the already. This is where we too may fall short. This kind of waiting requires a common-sense alertness to natural signs. But the kind of waiting Jesus is talking about requires a deeper discernment and alertness to the signs of His appearance – the signs of the times, our times. It’s that kind of waiting that Paul is talking about in the second reading: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another … to strengthen your heart. I earnestly exhort you in the Name of Jesus to conduct yourselves to please God and be blameless in holiness before our God. Amen!
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
Happy St. Nicholas Day on December 6th.
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