It feels like we are always waiting. We are just concluding Advent, an official time of waiting. Christmas will arrive and we will be joyful for many reasons, but once the big day has passed, we’ll be waiting for the New Year. Then whatever we anticipate next: a birthday, vacation, wedding, new birth… We will wait, it will eventually come, we’ll enjoy it for a time, and then begin waiting for the next thing.
These forms of earthly ‘waitings’ are gratifying, because the sun and calendar circle around and around, and by no effort of our own, our big days always arrive.
What can be more challenging is the divine waitings that God asks us to accept when we don’t know the date or the hour. They require more effort, plus receptivity, trust, and faith. The Jewish people were promised a savior from the days of their patriarchs and prophets, but God required them to wait for centuries and untold generations, for their Messiah to come. Countless fathers and mothers passed on their faith to their young, and never saw the fulfillment in their own lifetime. Those were the devout Jews who trusted that God was truthful and would come in due time.
Other Jews kept their Jewish heritage but lost their faith. We read in the Gospels how many of the chief priests, elders, and scribes show their lack of hope in the messiah. Certainly, many of the common folk had done the same. They had a routine of worship, perhaps, but it wasn’t lived in the spirit of true expectation and confidence. They had stopped waiting.
On Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah. We have received the gift of Jesus without the waiting. We have recorded proof that God fulfills his promises. Now it is our turn to wait, believe, and trust that Jesus will come again. We must not lose our faith; we must not stop waiting. So that the promises of Jesus will remain alive in our day-to-day lives, in our families; so future generations can continue to wait in confidence and hope.
Scripture: This week, read Lamentations 3:25-26. What is it saying to you?
Call to Action: On Christmas we will be giving out the Matthew Kelly book, The Seven Pillars of Catholic Spirituality and running a book discussion beginning in January. Join us, read it. It will help you wait. See the bulletin to register.
