November 27, 2024

Dear Parishioners,

Happy New Year! No, I am not losing my mind. The First Sunday of Advent in the Church’s calendar is the beginning of the new liturgical year.

Advent is a time where we are actively waiting for God. Active waiting implies being fully present to the moment with the conviction that something is happening where we are and that we want to be present to it. A waiting person is someone who is present to the moment, believing that this moment is the moment.

In our personal lives, waiting is not a very popular pastime. Waiting is not something we anticipate or experience with great joy and gladness! In fact, most of us consider waiting a waste of time. Perhaps this is because the culture in which we live is basically saying, “Get going! Do something! Show you are able to make

a difference! Don’t just sit there and wait!” So, for us and for many people, waiting is a dry desert between where we are and where we want to be. We do not enjoy such a place. We want to move out of it and do something worthwhile.

In our particular historical situation, waiting is even more difficult because we are so fearful. One of the most pervasive emotions in the atmosphere around us is fear. We as a people are afraid – afraid of other people who may be different, afraid of inner or uncomfortable feelings, and also afraid of an unknown future. As

fearful people we have a hard time waiting, because fear urges us to get away from where we are. If we find that we cannot flee, we might fight instead. We are aware of the many destructive acts that arise from our fear that something harmful will be done to us.

However, our time of Advent shouldn’t be a waiting time of fear. We need to be people of faith who are actively waiting for the coming of God. If we wait in the conviction that a seed has been planted and that something has already begun, it changes our attitude in the way we wait. I pray that this beautiful season of Advent will offer you the opportunity to deepen your memory of God’s great deeds in time and will set you free to look forward with courage to the fulfillment of time by him who came and is still to come.

 

God Love Ya!                                                                       

Fr. Reilly