This weekend we will celebrate the first Sunday of Advent. In the Church, with the arrival of Advent we begin a new liturgical year. 

 

In doing so, at Mass both on Sundays and during the week, we move into a different set of readings from last year. That helps us to be reminded of different lessons of faith and to reacquaint ourselves with the whole of the Bible.

 

Most particularly, Advent is a season of preparation. We prepare once more for the celebration of Christmas. On the day of His birth, Jesus the Son of God visibly entered into our world. 

 

He thus began the final stage of God’s plan to renew the world and offer us redemption from the disastrous sin of Adam and Eve.

 

The Church also uses Advent to strengthen our faith in preparation for the second coming of Jesus. Just as truly as Jesus came 2,000 years ago, being born poor in a stable in Bethlehem, He will come again at the end of the world. 

 

He will come once more visibly, but now He will be seen in His full power, majesty and glory. And as we pray in the Creed each Sunday, He will come to judge the living and the dead.

 

It is natural then, that one of the great overarching themes of Advent is that of waiting. We are waiting for Christmas and for the Second Coming.

 

We do well to understand that our life in this world has a trajectory. It has a meaning to be played out through waiting, over time and going forward as we grow and age. 

 

Every moment, every thought and every action of ours is played out against the backdrop of Jesus not only having come once and died for us, but of His coming again on high. 

 

It means that every moment of life presents to us a constant question, “Will I be ready?”

 

We should not underestimate the challenge we face to be those who wait attentively for our Lord. 

 

Waiting, especially in modern society goes against our natural inclination. Who likes to go to the bank and stand in line in order to be helped? 

 

How about putting up with how long it takes to check out in the midst of a lineup at the grocery store or, in these days, at the mall? 

 

How about waiting in our cars during the morning and afternoon rush hours? It all seems so frustrating and pointless.

 

Our impatience is encouraged by our age of technology. One of the constant selling points for computers or smart phones is, we can get one that will be faster. It will make us wait less.

 

Our impatience that is so encouraged by modern society is made to be a further challenge by our secularized world. The effort to distance us from God, to silence talk of Jesus, His coming and the life to come creates a doubt. 

 

It constantly suggests that our waiting in faith is useless because the promise of heaven is not real. 

 

We must resist the pressure to doubt that our waiting has any purpose at all. We need constantly to offer to Christ the joys and the sacrifices of waiting during this life. 

 

We must remind ourselves and our family members and friends that, silently but relentlessly, Jesus uses this time of waiting to transform our hearts. If we are faithful in this life, we are continuously being prepared in hope for what we are waiting for.

 

Thank God, truly, for the season of Advent and its annual reminder. We are waiting, but it is with a purpose and it is worth the wait. Jesus will make sure of that.