Waiting, But Not Alone
By Fr. Joe Tetlow, SJ
Everything about Advent points to the future. Here are some thoughts about that. First, getting to the future means waiting. You have to wait. Mary had to wait, and Joseph, too. He had to wait because he's the one who will give the baby His name. And then, Jesus had to wait. He had to grow in wisdom age, and grace - and that meant He had to wait to learn words, wait to learn to walk and play, wait to find out what he was to do when He hit His 12th birthday. He thought he'd be a lawyer, but His parents made Him go back to Nazareth. And then He had to wait for 18 years before He could start telling The People the message that the Father gave Him to bring us. Beyond important-and He had to wait.
And then, there's the biggest wait of all: God, Himself, waits. For God has chosen to evolve things, to let seasons follow in order, the little flowers slowly bloom, all little lives begin and mature. And God waits for us to decide to know and love Him. God waits.
So in Advent, we're not waiting alone. God gives us time - generously, magnanimously - and God has given us enough time. Like rain and sunshine, He gives us plenty enough time. But we know that God has allotted to us a definite, limited time—and He will come to call us when our time is up. Until then, we wait—like the Lady Mary, like Joseph, like God—we wait. In the sure hope that His Advent is near.
