If it is one thing I hear most from everyone, it is thank God 2020 is coming to an end. Today, the First Sunday of Advent, is the beginning of the year of grace 2021. This is the time of preparation to celebrate the coming of the Lord into the world on that first Christmas. We also celebrate his coming into our hearts here and now at any time and in any way. He comes to us in word and sacrament, in our deeds of concern toward the poor and needy, in our personal prayer life and spiritual reading, and in the beauty and unfolding of all creation. And finally, we anticipate his coming again at the end of time when the Kingdom will be complete and Jesus will hand it over to the Father.
Our readings today, remind us that waiting for the Lord is not a passive exercise. Isaiah prays that God might meet us doing right, rejecting our sinful ways. Jesus warns his disciples that they must keep watch because, like servants not knowing when the Lord of the house will return, we don’t want to be asleep when we should be ready to receive him. Paul assures the Corinthians that they are not lacking in any spiritual gift as they wait. Let that same word of God inspire us to prepare our hearts for his arrival.
As we begin a new calendar, we start filling it with schedules. Maybe doctor or dentist appointments, various birthdays and anniversaries, checking the TV schedules. We want to be in control of our own lives as much as possible. Perhaps a better way to do it, is put God in control of our lives and schedules. We are the clay not the potter. We pray for the grace to accept how the Lord will mold us. May this year of grace, 2021, help us to find him in every person, place, and event in our lives.
Love, Peace, Joy
Fr. Bob
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