Advent: What to do when you’re waiting?
Waiting. What to do when we’re waiting? That’s something I’m thinking about this morning for a couple of reasons:
1) I’ve got a new job – which I’m really happy with – and it doesn’t start until February so I have two months to rest. What will I do with the time? Right now am thinking about catching up with friends and on my reading.
2) More importantly it’s Advent, the season when we await the coming of God the Son in the human form of Jesus Christ. How do we properly observe this time?
I’ve been praying a lot and trying to do works of charity as much as possible. The other thing is to really meditate on the daily mass readings. The readings this week are focusing on John the Baptist as he is the one who announces Jesus’ public ministry.
By meditating on these readings and listening to my pastor’s homilies at Sunday mass the last couple of weeks I think I’ve realized the best way to welcome Advent: by being John the Baptist.
As I said above John announced Jesus’ public ministry and we need to do the same by living out the Gospel in our daily lives. I’m trying to do a work of corporal or spiritual mercy every day. Most often that means praying a decade of the rosary for someone or an organization.
It’s a small work of mercy, but it is helping me to live out the Gospel. I’m focusing on God and making Him the centre of my life. At the same time I’m loving someone else as I love myself and by doing so repeatedly I’m finding myself slowly but surely becoming less selfish, more giving and more patient with others.
And isn’t that what Advent and Christmas are all about? Waiting for and sharing the joy of the wonderful birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
God Bless and Have a Wonderful Christmas.
J.
