We Must Wait as Fast as We Can
2023년 12월 3일We Must Wait as Fast as We Can
< First Sunday of Advent >
Americans are good at many things, but waiting is not one of them. Ours is an instant society: instant messaging, instant answers via Google, instant gratification. We want and we expect our wishes and desires to be fulfilled yesterday. Advent is a season of waiting but we don’t wait very well. Our world and our lives demand we wait for many things: newly weds wait to be pregnant; a pregnant mother waits nine months for her baby to be born; fearing the worst, a patient waits for the results of their medical tests; students can hardly wait to get out of school, while seniors wait to receive a letter of acceptance or rejection from their desired college. Prisoners wait to be set free again, while those on death row await execution. Even our everyday lives force us to wait: for the subway or bus; for a text or phone call from a special friend; and many elderly or terminally ill people wait for death.
Advent is the season of holy waiting. In the next four weeks the Church asks us to eagerly await the coming of Christ. Unfortunately the closer we get to Christmas, the more things we have to do: shop for Christmas presents, write Christmas cards, practice for Christmas shows, and if we have extra time, maybe go to church. For more than 2,000 years the Jewish people awaited the Messiah. We may be tempted to say, “But most failed to recognize him when he came.” Well what about us? While we await the Second Coming of Christ, we also risk failing to recognize Jesus when he comes again. Why? Because we are so busy preparing for the birth of Christ that we forget Jesus already came. That is why the Church gives us the four weeks of Advent: to take time and wait. Advent is the time to clean up our messy lives and prepare for the birth of Jesus in our hearts. Advent is a time for active waiting. Waiting during Advent doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means doing everything with an eye to the time when Christ will come again. Until that day, let us wait as fast as we can.