Reading I: Jeremiah 33:14-16
Reading II: 1 Thessalonians 3:12–4:2
GOSPEL: Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
Jesus is Coming! Look Busy!
Maybe you’ve seen it while cruising down the highway: that bumper sticker that says, “Jesus is coming! Look busy!” I’ve seen it myself a number of times, chuckle to myself and think, “how silly.” This weekend, as we celebrate the first Sunday of Advent, the scriptures are kind of telling us the same thing, but with a slight twist: They’re telling us to actually BE busy!
Advent is a season of preparation － preparing our hearts for the celebration of Jesus’ birth. In our modern times, however, it has become a time of preparing our homes for a celebration of gift-giving (not that there’s anything wrong with that). This is where the bumper sticker comes into play.
In our Christmas preparations of buying gifts, baking cookies and decorating the tree, we certainly look busy; but it’s in our Advent preparation of reconciling our hearts and praying that we truly are busy.
The Waiting Is The Hardest Part
Advent is not just about the preparation, it is also about the waiting, the antici……pation for the arrival of Jesus. But waiting isn’t easy. When I was a little kid, it seemed like waiting for Christmas was the most impossible task ever asked of me!
The promise of Christmas and everything that went with it (barley sugar pops, Cabbage Patch Kids and My Little Ponies) loomed in front of me, larger than life. I would count down the days, each one seeming longer than the days that went before it, and Christmas Eve was the longest one of them all. And through all that time, I never seemed to know just what to do with myself.
In the first reading, the promise of a messiah to the Israelites is just as big to them as Christmas was to me.
While You Are Waiting
This weekend’s readings give us hints of what we should do while we wait. Saint Paul tells us to be on our best behavior and to love everyone. These seem like really good ideas to prepare your heart for Jesus’ arrival.
The Gospel tells us to be on watch for the coming of the Son of Man. It tells us how glorious an event it will be, and how it just may take us by surprise if we aren’t careful.
Spiritual Homecoming
So this Advent, be careful not to just look busy in your preparations for Christmas. Remember to BE busy preparing your heart for the true gift of Christmas: That God loved us so much that he became one of us, lived a life like ours, and gave himself up for us so we could live forever.
Many people travel home over the holiday season. It is a chance for them to get reacquainted with family and friends. Advent is also the perfect time to get reacquainted with God! Celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation, spend some time reading scripture or just spend a little extra time praying or meditating.
God wants you to come home to Him for the holidays.
Happy Advent!
Life Applications:
How do you prepare for Christmas?
How much of that preparation is spiritual?
What is one extra thing you can do to prepare yourself spiritually this year?
Copyright 2003-2018 by Jacki Popadich
All rights reserved.