RBWords

     There is an old joke about the Lord appearing in New York City outside the headquarters of the Catholic archdiocese.  A daydreaming cleric suddenly realizes who is at the front door and panics.  He runs to the next higher up and his question:  "Our Lord has come again!  What do we do?" makes its frantic way up the chain of command to Rome and finally to the Pope, who responds to the anxious cardinal:  "Tell them I said to look busy!"   In the immediate aftermath of Jesus' death and resurrection, the question of what to do till he comes again was a very anxious one because it was felt that this return would be soon!  Two thousand years later, we are still waiting.   Perhaps we should look to what happened before Jesus came the first time!  

     Advent is a liturgical season that celebrates the "waiting" that occurred before Jesus' first coming!  It seemed to happen without anyone realizing it.  When the Magi showed up and asked about it, Herod had to consult the scribes, who could only speak to the location!  A Messiah in a stable was not exactly what anyone expected.  The world "waited" a long time before this surprising turn of events.  

     How does one maintain a constant state of "readiness" over a long period of time without losing one's "edge" of alertness?  How long can we "look busy?"  The Advent season can lose out to the frantic foolishness of "Black Friday" or "Cyber Monday."  Is Christ's first coming (or his second) falling victim to the anticipation of a first or second shipment of the year's most favored toy?  I think one thing needs to be kept in mind.  Advent (and all the liturgical year, for that matter) is not a celebration only of something that happened in the past!  It is a celebration of the present and the future!  If Christ were to return this year - this Advent - would he find us celebrating his first coming?  What kind of party would he walk into?  Would he find us in the line outside the store?   Or would he find us lighting one of those candles on the Advent Wreath and praying that we can understand what it means to wait and anticipate HIM as gift instead of the package under the tree?  Advent brings many ways of "looking busy" and it also brings a lot of good questions we can ask ourselves!   AMEN