Like so many other things throughout 2020, this Advent is not going to be like any other before it. We’re entering it while we are in lockdown. We’ll be missing out on the special Advent liturgies, the Advent hymns speaking to us about waiting and gently guiding us into an atmosphere of eager expectation ... together with the candle on the Advent wreath, and the colour purple. And yet, in a few weeks’ time we shall still celebrate Christmas. Again, it will be a different one than the ones before it – no big parties or large family gatherings. Our children won’t be doing their Christmas plays to the delight of a packed hall or church. We’ll only have the essential and, probably, that won’t be a bad thing! The prayer-cry of the prophet in our first reading for this Sunday echoes in the silence of our homes: “Return, for the sake of your servants ... Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down!”
The prophet’s prayer will surely be answered. On Christmas Day we shall be celebrating the fact that our God is the Emmanuel, the “God-is-with-us”. Rather than reminding God to come to us, the prophet’s cry is a reminder to each one of us the our God is always with us. Our God never deserts us.
The gospel of today invites us to get ready, to be prepared, to “stay awake”. Let us not allow the fact that we are not going to church lead us into a spiritual slumber. During Advent we are reminded of the beautiful fact that God is always with us. Sometimes we tend to forget this reality. God is with us in so many different ways in our lives. He is with us in the sacraments – even though we cannot celebrate Mass, we can still pay the occasional visit and spend some time with Him in church. It helps! He is with us through His word, which we can read any time during the day. He is with us in the silence of our homes whenever we decide to take some time off from our normal routine and use it for a short prayer-break.
Then He comes to visit us in other ways too. Remembering the gospel when he told us “whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”, he comes to visit us in the face of the other person: the relative who is in trouble (whether it’s his fault or not, it doesn’t matter!), the beggar on the street, the neighbour who needs some help, the sick or lonely person who is longing for a visit or a phone call. Indeed, our God is never too far from us!
Whether our churches will open again or not during this Advent, let us make sure that we are prepared to meet Him whenever He decides to pay us a visit. May this Advent lead us to a true encounter with our God, whose name is “God-is-with-us”.
The prophet’s prayer will surely be answered. On Christmas Day we shall be celebrating the fact that our God is the Emmanuel, the “God-is-with-us”. Rather than reminding God to come to us, the prophet’s cry is a reminder to each one of us the our God is always with us. Our God never deserts us.
The gospel of today invites us to get ready, to be prepared, to “stay awake”. Let us not allow the fact that we are not going to church lead us into a spiritual slumber. During Advent we are reminded of the beautiful fact that God is always with us. Sometimes we tend to forget this reality. God is with us in so many different ways in our lives. He is with us in the sacraments – even though we cannot celebrate Mass, we can still pay the occasional visit and spend some time with Him in church. It helps! He is with us through His word, which we can read any time during the day. He is with us in the silence of our homes whenever we decide to take some time off from our normal routine and use it for a short prayer-break.
Then He comes to visit us in other ways too. Remembering the gospel when he told us “whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”, he comes to visit us in the face of the other person: the relative who is in trouble (whether it’s his fault or not, it doesn’t matter!), the beggar on the street, the neighbour who needs some help, the sick or lonely person who is longing for a visit or a phone call. Indeed, our God is never too far from us!
Whether our churches will open again or not during this Advent, let us make sure that we are prepared to meet Him whenever He decides to pay us a visit. May this Advent lead us to a true encounter with our God, whose name is “God-is-with-us”.
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