1st Sunday of Advent
(Sunday 27th November 2016)
If it is worth having, it is worth waiting for – Matthew 24:37-44
We are beginning a new Church year. Generally speaking each Sunday (outside of the Easter season) during this year (Sunday Cycle A) we will read from the Gospel of St. Matthew.
Walking through the streets of Dublin, it is obvious that Christmas has already begun. The windows of the shops are filled with Christmas scenes, the lights are on and the Christmas trees are fully dressed. What is there to wait for? It is all here. This is a perfect symbol for modern culture; we want everything now, our information, our pleasures, etc. We don’t like waiting. We can buy our groceries on line so we don’t have to queue, even at the bus stops we are told how close the next bus is, so we don’t have to wait in suspense.
And here we are in the Church, totally out of syncopation with the modern world (typical of the Church some might say). We are beginning a season of waiting. But learning how to wait is very important for us as human beings and especially as Christians. It teaches us that we are not in control. God is the true master; he is not at our beck and call. God is not our play thing, who dances to our tune. We must learn to be open and trusting to God if we are ever to meet the true God.
You will never make progress in prayer and in your relationship to Christ if you don’t master the discipline of waiting. These four weeks of Advent is a perfect time for us to grow up in the spiritual life. While all around us the world is frantic looking for immediate pleasures and happiness, we know that it is only by waiting on the Lord that we can receive full joy and happiness. Enjoy these weeks but in the midst of all the comings and goings, “wait”, each day spend a few moments in silence and wait on the Lord.
The old saying says: ‘if it is worth having, it is worth waiting for’. This in many ways is the lesson of Advent.
Fr. John Harris O.P.