Wait for the Lord: He is near!

1ST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

[ Mark 13: 33-37 ]

   Waiting: a daily-lived experience.

Waiting is part and parcel of life, a daily-lived experience. We spend a lot of time either waiting for someone or waiting for something. We wait in line, we wait for responses, we wait for our salary, we wait for our online-shopping delivery… Among all the waiting, we wait for the restoration of good governance in the country, the end of corruption, racial and religious fanaticism, terrorism, war and evil… We wait and wait. However, there is a new waiting list every day. Worst still, the waiting list keeps extending and expanding, and it never seems to end.

   Advent: a season of waiting.

Come, Lord Jesus.

Here we are, as we begin the new liturgical year of the Catholic Church, we enter into the season of Advent. Advent (or Adventus in Latin) means ‘coming’ or ‘arriving’. It is a season of ‘waiting’ for the coming and arriving of our Lord Jesus Christ. As Christians, Jesus should be and must be the highest priority in our waiting list.

   Advent: waiting for the Lord.

How should we wait for the Lord?

   1) Waiting with PATIENCE.

   Abraham, the father of faith, was 75 years old, when God promised Him an heir. He waited for 25 years, and finally at the age of 100, Isaac was born.  Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised. [Heb 6: 15]

   2) Waiting with FAITH and TRUST.

   Lazarus was seriously ill. His sisters, Mary and Martha, immediately sent news to Jesus. Jesus received the news, but He did not hasten to visit Lazarus, instead He ‘purposely’ stayed on at the place where He was for two more days. We can imagine the level of anxiety, frustration and stress that Mary and Martha had while waiting for Jesus. They hoped in the Lord, but the Lord was seemingly taking His sweet time. By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus was already four days in the tomb. And Jesus, being the Resurrection and Life Himself, raised Lazarus from the dead. Yes, if we wait in faith and believe in the Lord, we will see the glory of God! [cf. Jn 11: 40]

   3) Waiting with PERSEVERANCE.

   There was a paralyzed man longing to be healed. He was waiting at the pool of Bethesda for a long time. According to belief, the angel of the Lord would descend every now and then into the pool, and when the water was disturbed, the first person who got into the pool would be healed. He had been paralyzed for 38 years, and had been waiting and waiting, but there would always be someone cutting queue. Imagine the hopelessness and helplessness in him, and his waiting seemed futile and fruitless – God seemed to be absent in his life for 38 years. Finally, Jesus found him, took pity on him, and healed him. Yes, God may be slow, but He is always on time. In His time and in His way, God will act. If we wait with perseverance, we will never wait in vain.

   4) Waiting with WATCHFUL HOPE

Waiting is a litmus test of our relationship with the person whom we are waiting for. While waiting for the Lord, it can be agonizing especially when the tunnel is dark, and we cannot see His light at the end of the tunnel… While waiting, there will always be temptations distracting us and diverting us from believing in God and His promises.

When Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God but did not return for 40 days and 40 nights, the Israelites grew impatient and made themselves a golden calf. They bowed before the golden calf, hailing it as their God who brought them out of Egypt. They even offered burnt offerings and communion sacrifices; they ate and drank, and amused themselves. [cf. Gn 32: 1-6]

Like the Israelites, when our patience and perseverance wear out, we tend to choose the easy way out – to replace the one true God with ‘other god(s)’ or even make ourselves Gods, and we indulge ourselves in unrestrained eating and binge drinking, inordinate attachments and sinful addictions, extreme fun and excessive entertainment...

“The Bridegroom is here: let us go and meet Him!” [Mt 25: 6]

As true disciples of the Lord, we must not let the noise around us drown the voice of the Lord. If we cannot see His hand, then we must always trust His heart. We must strive to stay awake, because we do not know when the Master is coming. [Mk 13: 35]

   Advent: a hopeful future rooted in a concrete past.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has this to say, “In Advent, Christians relive a dual impulse of the spirit: on one hand, they raise their eyes towards the final destination of their pilgrimage through history, which is the glorious return of the Lord Jesus; on the other, remembering with emotion His birth in Bethlehem, they kneel before the Crib. The hope of Christians is turned to the future but remain firmly rooted in an event of the past (the Incarnation) … This is the season Christians must rekindle in their hearts the hope that they will be able with God’s help renew the world.”

Let our fervent prayer be:

   “O come, divine Messiah! We in silence wait the day.”

Let us also pray that God’s justice, peace, truth and love may prevail in Malaysia, Israel-Palestine, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.

   [Note: This Gospel reflection was adapted from Porta Fidei, Gospel Reflection, 29 Nov 2020.]