Advent – A Time of Quiet Anticipation
I shared in last week’s homily that there are three different moments of the Lord’s coming. There was the coming at Bethlehem, his coming at the end of time, and the coming of Jesus into our hearts. So, as the Baptist would say, how do we “prepare the way” for the coming of Jesus into our hearts? In his monthly video message Archbishop Hebda shared how when he was small his mother would give him a small seed of what they called “Lucy Wheat”. Every day he’d watch to see if if anything was coming up. And sure enough, after a time there was the miracle of a tiny green shoot poking its way through the dirt. By the time Christmas came the blade of Lucy Wheat was the offering he’d lay in the crib of the manger scene. Advent is like that. It’s meant to be a time of quiet anticipation, a time when we anticipate something beautiful to happen because we’ve taken time to notice the miracles happening right in front of us. Quiet anticipation, maybe that’s the best way to describe Advent. In a busy time of year how do we reclaim Advent as a season of quiet anticipation? I name four things you can do this week. Two are in the historic church, and two are at home. One, come to our Advent reconciliation service this Tuesday evening. At 6:30 pm, I’ll give a reflection and then there’ll be four of us priests hearing confessions. You know the sacrament is walking when you can walk out feeling 500 pounds lighter. Call it an Advent miracle. Two, this Thursday as there is most every Thursday in the historic church there’s Eucharistic Adoration until 8:00 pm. The quiet there might just be what your weary soul needs. Call that another Advent miracle. Three, every day at home take time for a few minutes of quiet. Read the Gospel for the coming Sunday. You’ll find the verse in the bulletin under “Pondering with Prompts”. Know that in the word that gets your attention God is speaking to you. Call that another Advent miracle. Four, at a family meal together light the Advent wreath. If don’t have one, then light a candle. It’s a reminder that as Jesus is light for us, we can be light for others. Then who knows? The next time you get cut off on the freeway because of that simple practice instead of grumbling at the guy you’ll bless the guy. Call that another Avent miracle. Reconciliation, Eucharistic Adoration, time alone for prayer, and family prayer at a meal together, these are some of the miracles that make Advent a time of quiet anticipation. Don’t miss out on them. Christmas will be here before you know it.
