FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT - B
WAITING IN EXCITEMENT
Waiting
brings about different reactions.
Some
wait in boredom. Some wait full of apprehensions. Some wait in anger. There are
even those who have been traumatized by long and fruitless waiting.
Advent
is a period of waiting, but certainly a lot different than our ordinary
experiences of waiting in life.
Advent
is waiting for God, waiting to see his power unfold, waiting to meet him who
bends to embrace his children in love.
So
for a Christian, the waiting of Advent is full of excitement, of great
anticipation, of joy. Yes, even if
we wait in pain and sorrow because of life’s toils and troubles, we still
manage to wait full of hope because it is God who will come to meet us. And God
has always something good and new and beautiful to offer.
I
was walking along a busy highway when I saw a small boy standing in their
house’s porch giggling, jumping and smiling at something at the other side of
the road. I followed his gaze and I saw a man, surely the boy’s father, who for
his part, while trying to cross the street, was also smiling and waving to his
excited son. Maybe the boy was waiting all afternoon for his dad, and how happy
he was to see that he is very near, that he is almost home.
Are
you still excited about Christmas? Does the spirit of Advent still fill you
with an excitement to welcome the Lord in your life? What are you really waiting for in life? Is God part of what you expect?
Lord,
give me the grace of being excited to meet you and find you in this season.