Today the third candle on the Advent wreath has been lighted, purple vestments are replaced with rose ones, as we celebrate Gaudete, Rejoice, Sunday, for the coming of the Lord is nearer. At this time in two weeks we will celebrate the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas. As we anticipate that joyful spiritual and family time, what does the coming of the Lord mean for us? What will Christmas mean to us. Someone cynically said that “Christmas is when people sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy from a sock.” Not an especially endearing description. There must be something more. There is, it is the coming of the Lord, the Messiah, the Savior who comes to save us.
In the first reading from Isaiah, the scribe describes what will occur when the Messiah arrives. “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared, then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Be strong, fear not.” But he does not suggest when the Messiah will come, only assures that he will come to save us.
James in the second reading referring to the second coming of Christ which we anticipate during Advent as well as the first coming at Christmas encourages us to be patient.
Advent is a season that reminds us to be patient. Most people around us are already heavy into Christmas events, including here where Christmas at the Cathedral concerts are in the offing this week. While we must actively prepare for Christmas day, we also hopefully are able to set aside a little time to prayerfully and patiently remember His coming into time in Bethlehem and to anticipate with joyful hope and with confidence that He will come again.
Patience is a virtue, often lacking. Patience, someone said, “is the ability to count down before blasting off.” We need to count down more, or at least I do. Our impatience is often shown in little things that may mask bigger ones. Think of some of the ways we show our impatience.
. Someone who took customer orders over the phone recalled answering a customer who had been on hold for quite a while. As he came on he could hear the annoyed customer grumbling about the wait. He apologized and asked the customer’s name. “O I am embarrassed,” was the reply, “My name is Sister Patience.”
When on my recent pilgrimage to Mexico to the site of the visitation of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we experienced the need for patience in a metro area of some 24 million people. We were scheduled to pray Holy Mass at a rural parish where Saint Michael was believed to have appeared. As our bus started and stopped along the busy highway, patience was challenged. Two hours late already, as we drove up the narrow road to the church, it was blocked by workers. So we had to walk the rest of the away up the steep hill. Needless to say, patience was tested. Fortunately a rosary was in my hands, Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners – not the other drivers or workers, but impatient me. It was worth the inconvenience for once at the Church in its expansive plaza we encountered deeply religious and welcoming believers.
Before I became a priest I remember sitting in the pew and when it was announced who the priest celebrant was to be someone in front of me groaned, “Oh no.” I wasn’t sure whether to expect a bad homily or a long Mass or both. That doesn’t happen here, of course. We know Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist, body and blood, soul and divinity, whoever the priest is.
James tells us that if we really want to be patient, we should follow the example of the prophets. Prophets having faith in God and hope in the future were comfortable in doing God’s will, trusting in God’s plan and open to God’s timetable.
Jesus in the Gospel points us to the prophet John the Baptist. While intense about his mission, he persevered patiently. Rejected and ridiculed, he continued to preach repentance and baptism with water, confident that the One destined by God would come who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. John, arrested and imprisoned, sent the message to Jesus that we might ponder as we anticipate him: “are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another.” Not dwelling on his own problems but with an optimistic vision of who was to come, he lived and ultimately died with patient anticipation.
In response to the question Jesus said, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” That litany reads like it was from the prophet Isaiah describing the Messiah.
The fact is that there comes into most lives at some point a heart wrenching burden that is hard to bear, that can leave us on edge, lead to impatience, when it is hard to rejoice in the moment. We might then look to the best model of patience and hope, the Blessed Mother. She declared “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me as God wills”. She gave birth to our Savior, she pondered as she traveled with him, she stood at the foot of the cross in sorrow, she rejoiced in seeing her Son risen, and is now with Him in glory.
Abraham Lincoln once remarked: “I’ve noticed that most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” I might reword it to say, “people are about as happy and patient as they make up their minds about how open to God’s will, God’s way and God’s timetable they will be.
“Be strong, fear not . . . he comes to save you” and us all. One more candle to light.