December 3, 2006

Advent ~ A Season of Waiting

A number of years ago a good friend shared this reflection with me. She had written it for the parish bulletin where she was serving as Pastoral Musician. I share it with you because it so beautifully expresses the nature of this beautiful and joyful season of Advent.

Each of us waits for things to happen. We wait to grow up, to go to college, to be on our own, to get the prefect job, to buy a new car, to get married, to have children, to have the children grow up and be on their own, to retire, to finally enjoy life and on and on.

Yet most of us are not good at waiting. We are not patient people. Maybe it is because we live in a world that hates to wait. We seem to cultivate hyperactivity, road rage and competitiveness. Advertising moves us from style to style, from gadget to gadget, from season to season. We are a people of deadlines, timelines, appointments, and meetings. We must keep moving, living by our calendars and watches. We are frazzled, tired, and usually disappointed in the end.

The author of the letter of James says: “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand”.

Advent invites us into the silence of waiting. Advent is about joyful expectation like a woman who awaits the birth of her child. That is a wonderful time. She rests, she plans, she dreams. The birth of that baby is like nothing she has ever experienced. That is what life does to life. We are Advent people. You and I, who eagerly await the celebration of the birth of Jesus, also eagerly await the return of Jesus. The liturgies of the Church celebrate this moment in time. The Church listens carefully to the prophets – to Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist and Jesus. The prophets speak to us: a people who are at risk of being crippled by fears, being overwhelmed by work and of slipping into despair. We should listen to the prophets.

Good listening requires discipline, patience and silence. Advent is a time to develop the skill of listening. Advent’s somber character helps us to face our fears and to unite with those who suffer and are troubled. We can speak of Advent as the church’s winter and Christmas as a “second spring” – second only to Easter.

Keeping Advent is truly about being joyful. Keeping Advent is finding a “voice in the wilderness” and speaking words of comfort and cheer. Keeping Advent is listening to the silence of the December darkness. Keeping Advent is keeping traditions and making new ones. Keeping Advent is not celebrating Christmas but hoping for Christmas. It is getting ready for something wonderful and it is being awake in the readiness.

Janet Andrychuk-Tedesco

Advent Peace,