Juntos en el camino: Palabras semanales del Arzobispo Hebda
Espero que todos hayan disfrutado de la vela de color rosa en la Corona de Adviento este fin de semana, cuando la Iglesia celebró el Domingo de Gaudete. Mientras seguimos esperando con la Iglesia la venida de Jesús, probablemente habréis percibido que había un énfasis especial en este Tercer Domingo de Adviento, un énfasis en encontrar la alegría en la anticipación.
The Church wasn’t subtle in communicating that emphasis. Almost all of the readings this weekend spoke explicitly of joy: the joy of today and the joy that is to come. You might remember that the passage from the prophet Zephaniah was a rousing cry to the Israelites to “shout for joy” (Zep 3:14) and the psalm response invited us to, “Cry out with joy and gladness: for among [us] is the great and Holy One of Israel” (Is 12:6). Our second reading, from Paul’s letter to the Philippians (Phil 4:4), began with the command, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” It’s from the Latin version of that reading that the Sunday draws its traditional name: Gaudete Sunday, “gaudete” being the Latin word for the English imperative “rejoice.”
Some of this weekend’s joy points just beyond the horizon—think, for example, about the joy that will be associated with Christmas, our celebration of the birth of Jesus, which we will be marking in just over a week. But there’s also a more long-range joy, the joy that is to come when we will be in heaven with Jesus. In the midst of a culture that glorifies hurry and instant gratification, how can we continue to find joy in the waiting?
Waiting has been deemed an inconvenience in our contemporary culture – an obstacle to be avoided. But waiting can have its purpose: When we wait for something good, we can be better prepared to receive it well when it finally comes. If we skip the waiting, we won’t be prepared.
Being a somewhat “delayed” vocation, I was self-conscious that I was older than most of my classmates and was always looking for shortcuts to shave off some time from the formation process and speed up the ordination. When the day of my ordination finally came around, however, I realized that I still had a great deal to learn. Had the Lord answered my prayer by shortening the path to ordination, I would have really been unprepared. I now know that there was great value in the wait.
In the Gospel we heard on Sunday, John the Baptist tells those wondering if he is the Messiah that they must wait a bit longer to encounter the promised one. Like so many prophets before him, John is pointing to Christ and is asking his listeners to use well the time they have to prepare for the Lord’s coming. For those in need of conversion, it’s a productive waiting. John has confidence that the Lord is coming; that’s the source of his joy.
Each year, the Church “gifts” us this period of Advent waiting so that we can be better prepared to welcome Christ into our hearts. The rose candle reminds us that the wait is almost over. Please join me in praying that we might use well and joyfully these final days of preparation.
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