“Waiting With Joyful
Expectation” by Colleen O’Sullivan
Do you not know, or have you not heard?
The Lord is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his
knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives
strength to the fainting; for the weak, he makes vigor abound. Though young men faint and grow weary, and
youths stagger and fall, They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength,
they will soar as with eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk
and not grow faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)
Jesus said to the crowds: “Come to me, all you who labor and are
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you
will find rest for yourselves. For my
yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew
11:28-30)
Piety
Lord, help us take time this Advent to rest in you and to gratefully trust
in your promise to walk beside us, taking upon your shoulders some of the
weight of our burdens.
If you have time, take a few minutes to prayerfully
listen to this beautiful choral rendition of Jesus’ promise by Chris de Silva,
which I learned in the New Spirit Singers: Come to Me and Rest.
Study
For many in our fast-paced society, waiting is
difficult. We are ever impatient to get on
to the next thing. However, Advent is a
season that invites us to slow down amid secular, frenzied busyness, to wait on
the Lord with joyful expectation, not always an easy thing to do. Look at God’s people, in exile for
generations, addressed in today’s first reading. Their hearts are heavy, watching generations
dying and new ones being born in this foreign land, not sure when, or if, they
will ever see their homeland again. Yet
God asks them, and sometimes asks us, to be patient, to have hope and trust in
our hearts that God has always been and always will be with us in every trial.
Maybe some of us are undergoing exile experiences
of some sort. I know that as I look
around, I can see many others who are.
In spite of television advertising showing happy faces, people Christmas
shopping and families decorating their trees, many people feel isolated, lonely
and forgotten, even by God, at this time of year. It’s a myth that during December and the
run-up to Christmas that everyone is having a good time.
Isaiah reminds us that even though God is the
awesome Creator of the stars, God also cares very intimately for each of us and
what is going on in our lives. When we
are weak and feeling faint, the prophet assures us that God will renew us,
enabling us to soar like eagles, to run without tiring, and to walk through
life without fainting.
Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that he will be
the one to yoke himself to us, that he will help us with the weight of whatever
burdens we are carrying. God sent his only Son into our midst,
to be one of us, to share in all the trials and tribulations we endure. Jesus knows what it’s like to be you or me. God never has and never will leave us
forsaken in our human weakness.
Action
It is for the coming of
this very Savior that we prepare this Advent.
We ready our hearts to remember his coming into our world in Bethlehem as
humanly frail as any of us, except for sin.
We open our hearts every day to welcome Jesus through our prayer
lives. And during this season, we also look
with joyful hope for Christ’s return as King in glory!
What are you doing to be
ready?
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