Isn't it ironic that the season of Advent, which calls us to patience, creates such impatience in so many? I remember one of my nephews, who at that time was five or six years old, plopping down in a chair and announcing to the room that he hated Christmas. A bit surprised, I asked him why. He said, "I hate it because it's never going to get here!" I think it was just a day or two before the holiday. I had to chuckle but realized his impatience led him to frustration, anger, and hopelessness, albeit it was short-lived.
I remember this incident every year as I reflect on the season. Advent invites us to patience, to vigilance. In the words of Advent scriptures, "stay awake." After many years of waiting, Christians realized the second coming of Christ was not likely to occur in their lifetime. So, the Church moved from expecting the second coming imminently to understanding the vigilance expected focuses more on the moment we leave this world. Advent invites us to prepare for the moment of our death, which is unknown and yet will come to each one of us.
More profoundly, the invitation to vigilance is an invitation to enter the fullness of life right now, to resist distractions that block us from being attentive to God's grace and presence in the present moment. The invitation calls us to be patient and to know that whatever "will come" is not as important as "the now.”
And so, my posture this Advent is to try to rest in the present moment. St. Francis de Sales wrote, "The practice of patience leads us to accomplish the will of God into which our soul should melt and be dissolved." This practice leads us to gratitude for the love of those around us. It helps us appreciate the opportunities for reconciliation and forgiveness. It grants us the opportunity to see lives as Christ sees them. It leads us to a deeper awareness of the joy that touches and forms our lives through the grace of family, friendships, and the embrace of God.
Have a blessed Advent!
Fr. Jack Loughran, OSFS
Provincial
Toledo-Detroit Province
