December 1, 2024
Dear Parishioners,
Advent means arrival. During Advent, we prepare for Christmas, the commemoration of the first arrival of Jesus, and for the second coming of Jesus in glory. The preparation is also called waiting for the Lord.
But when we pause and think carefully, we realize that our entire life is a series of waiting. Parents wait for their children’s graduation, marriage, and for grandchildren. When we get a job, we wait for salary increase or promotion. When we achieve one goal or one milestone, we wait for the next. We cannot wait until we own a home, and then when that is accomplished, we start looking for a larger one. It goes on forever, for one thing arrives, many more are on the horizon.
So, the question is: How is the waiting of Advent different from all other waiting? All non-Advent waiting is for the purpose of relieving some burden or acquiring some desirables. We wait to get something off our back or to possess something we want. But when we get rid of something from our back, something else will jump on, and when we get something we desire, we start seeing something better that we also want. Thus, non-Advent waiting is relentless, endless, and unsatisfactory. It is a perpetual chase after something.
Advent waiting is different. We do not wait for Jesus to get rid of some problem or to possess him or anything else. Advent waiting is not a chase but a pause. During Advent, we pause to be found by God.
In the Gospel, remember the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son? It is always God who actively looks for us, seeks us out to bring us home, and embraces us to restore us to wholeness.
It is no wonder why Christmas night is called Silent Night. All noises, external and internal, must be silenced for us to hear God’s voice. We must pause everything else to wait for God’s arrival. Even gifts, music, and food can distract us from our pause for God. Worries, anxieties, and fears easily block our sensitivity, anticipation, and hunger for God.
Teresa was a single mother whose husband died a few years earlier, leaving her with an autistic son. Since he left her with enough money to live, Teresa decided to quit her job to take care of her son. Then her elderly widowed father had a stroke and became bedridden. The family wanted to put him in a nursing home, except for her. She was close to him, and she believed that a home would be much better for him. So, she agreed to have him stay with her and her son.
In the first few months, she was able to handle things well. But the burdens of caring for an ADHD boy with an eating disorder and an invalid father became harder and harder. Though a devout Catholic, Teresa began to question: what serious sins she had committed to be punished with these unbearable burdens. So, sometimes she lost her temper not just with the boy but also with her father.
One evening, after placing a plate of macaroni cheese in front of the boy, she went to clean up her dad. She frowned as the odor of urine reached her nose. Then she heard “Bang!” The boy slammed his fist on the plate, scattering the macaroni all over the floor. He kept shaking his head and banging on the table. Quickly resting her father down, she rushed over, her shin hitting a stand on her way, throwing her father’s Bible to the floor. She cried in pain, crawling to reach for the Bible.
Her fingers grabbed on a page, and they ripped it off. She burst into tears, “God, when will you free me from this hellish place? Why does it take you so long to come again?”
As if to answer her question, through her tears, she still could make out the text, “‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’”
A chill ran along her spine. She darted a shocked glance at the boy and then the old man – one being fed, and one being clothed. Had she ever considered feeding her son and cleaning her dad as caring for Jesus himself? No, her home is not a hellish place, it has already been part of God’s kingdom.
Tears streamed down her face. She found herself babbling, “Jesus, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you have come to me for a long time!”
Sometimes God hit us on our shin, or on our face, to wake us up from our slumber and our numbness, to help us pause and recognize that God is waiting for us. Indeed, God never stops seeking us and waiting for us.
So, during this Advent, let us pause now and then. Let us be still and know that God is near, nearer to us than we are to ourselves.
In the Most Holy Trinity and in solidarity with you all,
Fr. Duc
