Lord’s coming

The sound is becoming louder as we are nearing Christmas. And yes, we cannot stop it even if the situation we may be in is bad. Commemorating our Lord’s coming is in the air. But such coming is symbolic as he is already or supposed to be in our hearts.

Lord Jesus, being born to a human, expressing the truth and doing the work of salvation of man in the flesh. The salvation he offered to us, through his death, is not only for his time but for all the generations, now and in the future. And so we must be grateful for this ultimate sacrifice.

God is coming! This short exclamation is heard in a special way during the four weeks, and throughout the entire liturgical year. God is coming! It is not merely that God came in the past, nor a simple announcement that God will come in the future. It is something actually happening. It is happening now, and it will go on happening as time passes. At every moment, “God is coming”; in each moment of history, our Lord says: my Father is working still, and I am working.

The fundamental note then is one of waiting. But it is a waiting that our Lord comes to turn into hope. Experience shows us that we go through life waiting and hoping. When we are children we want to grow up. As young men and women we wait in hope for a great love to fulfill us. When we are adults we hope for professional fulfillment, a level of success to shape the rest of our lives. When we grow old our hope is for some well-earned rest. Nevertheless, when these desires are fulfilled, and also when they fail, we realize that the thing hoped for was not everything. We need a hope which goes beyond what we can imagine, which will surprise us. And so, although we have great or small hopes which keep us going from day to day, without the greatest hope of all, born of the love the Holy Spirit has placed in our hearts, everything else is insufficient.

Our Lord’s coming is certain. And as we wait, we also hope for peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance which will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.

We shall understand that the unexpected turns a day can take are very personal touches from God, signs of his attentive watchfulness over each of us. Our attention is often drawn to problems and difficulties, and sometimes we scarcely have any energy left to perceive the many good, beautiful things that come from God. Advent is the time to consider more frequently how he has protected, guided, and helped us throughout our life; to praise him for all he has done and continues doing for us.

The Lord is coming. He has come and live in our hearts. And he will come to remind us of his great love for all of us. Merry Christmas to one and all! [email protected]