Let's Go, What Are We Waiting For

Kevin Gingras

December 20, 2020 - 4th Sunday of Advent

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122020.cfm

The other day, I was at a red light, trying to cross Route 44 to get to Church.  There were two cars in front of me and the light turned green - and nobody moved.  Now, I’m not known for the virtue of patience.  My first mildly aggravated thought was “LET’S GO - WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR!?”  Then, when my agitation subsided, I thought, “that’s a good question to ponder during Advent”, especially for today, the last Sunday of Advent.  

What are we waiting for?  Are we waiting for that perfect gift to arrive from Amazon that we got for Aunt Bethany and Uncle Lewis?  Are we waiting for time to finish decorating?  Are we waiting to be finished wrapping presents? Are we waiting to go get your ingredients for that perfect Christmas dinner? [Not that I’ve ever experienced one of those at home!]  I know that most kids, and some adults too are waiting for PRESENTS!

Christmas is just five days away!  Are we ready for Christmas?  If not - LET’S GO - WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR!?

Was Mary was ready when the angel appeared to her and proclaimed:

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Highest.

Mary didn’t need to be told LET’S GO - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR.  Mary simply replied:

Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word

Mary was ready for that first Christmas, even when things didn’t work out exactly as she had planned.  All her preparations revolved around her son and God’s son Jesus.  There is no better way to prepare than to make Jesus our primary focus right now.  

Over 2,022 years ago, this is what a lot of people were waiting for, a savior, Jesus, the Christ.  We hear a preview of what they were waiting for in today’s first reading from Samuel:

And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.'

Paul is trying to explain this to the Romans as he writes to them:

...according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages but now manifested through the prophetic writings and, according to the command of the eternal God, made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith, to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ.

There’s the key for us - all of this was “through Jesus Christ”.  Some of the Jews missed this even though it was right under their noses.  

With all of our hectic preparations are we missing it too? If that is true for us then, LET’S GO, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? We shouldn’t miss who Jesus is and even though this Advent season is almost over it isn’t too late to take some quiet time with Jesus. We are given extra Advent time this year my friends, use it wisely. Spend it in Adoration if you can.  If not, spend some quiet time at home, tell Alexa to stop playing Bing Crosby Christmas playlist, turn off the Hallmark channel, turn down the lights, silence your phones, turn on the Christmas tree and spend some time in prayer pondering Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the Holy Family, after whom are Church is so aptly named.  

If it helps read the Gospel of Luke, Chapters 1 through 3 or Matthew, Chapters 1 and 2.  Pay close attention to the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew.  Remember, Matthew was writing in Hebrew for a Jewish-Christian audience and Luke was writing for a Greek-speaking audience of Gentiles and Jews.  This is why the genealogies are different, they were for different audiences but either way, they are there to illustrate that Jesus was the savior promised in the Old Testament from the very beginning.  He’s our savior today as well.

Sure, this Christmas probably won’t be like any other we have experienced in our lifetime but try and count that as a blessing and not a curse.  Try to find that silver lining. Remember what Paul told the Romans:

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose

Usually, I end with a quote from a Saint but this time I will leave you with this quote from our very own Bishop of Fall River - Bishop da Cunha, who recently said:

But maybe because there will be less [family holiday gatherings] there will be more celebrating what Christmas is about. “That could be a source of joy and hope and peace for all of us.

Patience is a Virtue

So Tom Petty sang "the waiting is the hardest part".  I remember waiting for Christmas as a kid.  It was never easy!  Once you started seeing decorations in stores and on houses you knew it was coming.  I feel bad for kids today, the wait they have once decorations come out in stores is prior to Halloween now!

There is a bible reading I keep hearing of late from Habakkuk.  I'll be honest, the first time I heard it and where it was from I didn't even know Habakkuk existed!  Anyway here it is:

Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is a witness for the appointed time,a testimony to the end; it will not disappoint. If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.

I've heard this because it is the theme for a retreat I'm part of in May/July of 2014 (check it our here!), it has come up while teaching CCD and even once at bible study.  I'm not a patient individual and I have been praying for patience a lot lately.  Patience on the commute to work while I wait in traffic, patience with coworkers, family members and just general patience when things don't go according to my precise timeline.

Psalm 37:7 Be still before the LORD; wait for him. Do not be provoked by the prosperous, nor by malicious schemers.

James 5:8 You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand 

I still get excited about Christmas but perhaps, regardless of what many of my friends and family may think I have matured a bit here.  Now the excitement is more prayerful and focused on God.  I enjoy the Advent season, I enjoy the prayers and I enjoy the bible readings during this time of year.  Don't get me wrong, there is still nothing like decorating the house and watching Rudolph and all that but it is also a more prayerful time of year. 

When I get impatient I try to think of how difficult it must have been for Joseph to be patient as he takes his very pregnant wife to Bethlehem.  How hard it was to be patient when there was no where for them to stay.  They probably arrived after everyone because the fact that Mary was pregnant.  Travel must have been difficult without adding pregnancy to the picture.  How much patience Joseph must have had then. 

How much patience should I have when traffic on my commute backs up?

How much patience should I have when something doesn't go just right at work or home?

Perhaps I need to turn more to St. Monica, the patron saint of patience!

An Advent Thought

In Isaiah 40 we read : 

A voice proclaims in the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!

I don't think Isaiah meant to make straight a path to WalMart.  To prepare the way of the Lord we must make straight the path to our heart. It feels like more than ever we need a new John the Baptist standing down by the river wearing camel hair and eating grasshoppers warning us to get ready!

What have I done to make this possible?  Have I done enough?

My Christmas preparation list this year has included the following:

• Get to confession  [x]
• Adoration  [x]
• Show more patience (especially when driving!) [always a work in progress]
• Compassion [still working on it!]
• Prayer  [x]
• Study the Bible more (Isaiah 40, Luke 2, John 1, Matthew 1...)  [will never end]

I haven't been able to check them all off yet but I am working on it.  My list also includes things such as shopping (actually that's more of my wife's department), going places to see the Christmas lights, putting up the Christmas tree, rigging up our own lights, fun and parties and all that but I am trying to make those things come after the list above.  Luke 10:27 reminds us:

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Number one must be God.  I was thinking back to when I was a teenager and how Christmas used to be such a letdown and a confusing time for me.  I used to get tons of gifts so that wasn't the problem!  I look back now and realize it was a transition period for me.  Christmas was a letdown because it wasn't all about the gifts anymore but I hadn't fully realized that yet.  I wanted it to be about the anticipation of the presents but my brain told me otherwise.  Christmas was about the anticipation of something greater than worldly presents.  Something more eternal.  I only hope I can convey that eloquently to my own kids.

I think I've realized that now, much like the Grinch when he thought:

"Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more!" 

Funny but as I was thinking this over I saw on my Facebook wall one of my friends (who happens to also be a priest) had posted something from Pope Benedict XVI:

"I know that people have many commitments, but getting ready for Christmas does not only mean shopping and making preparations, it means being in contact with the Lord, going out to meet Him. I feel it is important not to forget this dimension...This is not an additional burden, but the power that enables us to do all we need to do. I hope you maintain permanent contact with Jesus, that His joy and strength might help you to live in this world."  

Merry Advent season everyone!