Happy Advent!
We are now in the time of renewal, of hopeful longing.
This season is a time to await the coming of Christ. But it can also be a scary time. For waiting is not easy.
When Waiting Feels Joyful
We know that from experience. In life, we can wait for good things, like a couple waiting for marriage.
I remember that experience well; my wife and I were engaged for 15 months. And each day I celebrated the countdown. 100 Days left, 50 days left, two weeks left! It was an exciting time because I knew what awaited us: the Sacrament of Marriage and union forever. But it was also difficult. Because we really wanted to be married!
Thankfully, that time of preparation required us to become more aware of what marriage would entail.
There is also the scary waiting, like a person waiting for medical test results, the answer of which could change their lives forever.
So life is full of waiting, and that is why this season of Advent resonates so well with our own journey.
Wisdom from St. John Paul II
As St. JP2 said,
[W]e must understand that our whole life should be an "advent." in vigilant expectation of Christ's final coming. To prepare our hearts to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, will come one day to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize his presence in the events of daily life. Advent is then a period of intense training that directs us decisively to the One who has already come, who will come and who continuously comes.”
How Advent Changes as We Grow
That is also the beauty of the liturgical calendar playing out in our lives at different stages. We celebrate the season of Advent now differently than we would have celebrated Advent as a teenager. In the liturgical year, we walk with Christ in the different stages of his life. And yet it is not simply to remember the historical events, but to reflect on them anew in our current state.
This Advent season, you are invited to reflect on:
- What is God helping me work through that is different from last year?
- How am I being asked to prepare my heart in my current station of life?
In that process of waiting, we trust that our God is one who always fulfills his promises. Our hope is not lost, and our strength is found in the beauty of longing.
May this Advent season be a time of growth, renewal, and hope. Let us lovingly await the birth of Christ and the role He will play in our lives.
Daniel Quintero is a stand-up comedian currently attending Mary, Mother of the Church Catholic Parish. His favorite motto: “Awkwardness does not exist.”
Pilgrim Center of Hope provides events, experiences, and media; initiating a desire in people to encounter Jesus Christ in their daily journey of life. See what’s happening & let us journey with you! Visit PilgrimCenterOfHope.org.
