Our Final Week of Waiting

It is the final full week of Advent. Our time of waiting is nearly over and soon dawn will break. We will celebrate the day the Word became flesh: the Incarnation. During this time of darkness that is Advent, we are reminded that we are not home. In the long nights, bare trees, and unfortunately, tragedy, we are reminded that we are on a pilgrimage. We are reminded that we need a Savior. The longer I travel on my own pilgrimage, the more apparent it becomes to me that I need saving and that our world desperately needs a Savior. We are twisted and enslaved in our own sin. My trips to the confessional demonstrate how "attached" I am to certain sins, whether it be through habit or will.

Advent is the season where we focus on our need for a Savior. It is a time of waiting, both for the Incarnation and the Second Coming. We light candles because we dwell in darkness. We lament, yes Advent songs are a lament, as we wait joyfully and patiently for our rescue. Imagine for a moment the early Jews who waited and longed for the awaited Messiah for thousands of years. We are blessed. We have received the Messiah. We have seen his triumph over sin and death. We have Christ with us in the Eucharist. He has come to us.

It can be difficult in moments of pain and suffering to remember that we live in a Fallen world. It can be maddening. We may cry out at God in anger and frustration. It is ok. God can take it and He mourns with us. He knows how much we need Him. He knows why He had to come save us from ourselves and our sin. Evil is the absence of good. It is not in conflict with God. It is the abandonment of God who is love itself. We have to try to focus on this fact. God does not commit or will evil upon us. He does allow evil as a consequence of our free will and his loving nature.

We must remember that Christ came into the world to die. He came to suffer injustice at the hands of evil. Christ experienced all of human dysfunction and sin on the Cross. The Incarnation is overshadowed by the Cross. The baby in the manger is born with the Cross to come. None of us, not even Our Lord, will pass through this life unscathed by suffering.

As we go through this final week of Advent and rejoice at the coming of our King, let us remember to pray for those who are suffering throughout the world. As Americans we can easily become isolated from the rest of the world. Each day millions of people live in violence, poverty, famine, and war. People in our own country live under these burdens. The people of Newtown, CT will go into this Christmas season in devastation. We must pray that Christ, the Word made flesh, comforts these afflicted souls. And we ourselves must pray for Christ to come more fully into our own hearts. We too sin and do evil in our daily lives and we need Christ to save us day-in-and-day-out. May God bless you richly in these final days of Advent.

*I know that the priests of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Newtown, CT could use our prayers and support. Their parish has been deeply impacted by the tragedy of last Friday. Here is their address if you want to send them a card or spiritual bouquet. I was a 9-11 relief worker and I can tell you that outside support means the world to people who are suffering. It is a reminder that they are not alone and that our prayers are with them. Pray for all the living and the dead. We must also pray for the young man who chose evil. We are followers of Christ and Christ loves all people, even the ones who choose evil.

St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church
46 Church Hill Road
Newtown, CT 06470

Here is some music to help you prepare for the coming of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.